Assessment of contemporary erosion/sedimentation trend within a small cultivated catchment in the Republic of Tatarstan (European Russia)

An analysis of sedimentation at first-order-valley bottoms allows the gathering of a sufficiently reliable quantitative evaluation of soil losses from a catchment area for two time intervals (1963–1986 and 1987–2015) and its temporal variability. The catchment studied (Temeva Rechka, 1.13 km²) is located in the River Myósha basin, the northwestern part of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Combination of methods and approaches was used for estimation of sediment redistribution for the both time intervals, including detail geodetic survey of main morphological units of the catchment dry valley, large scale geomorphological mapping, caesium-137 technique for sediment dating in typical locations of the valley bottom, calculation of soil losses using modi fied version of USLE and State Hydrological Institute (Russia) models. In addition, available information about dynamics of some climate characteristics for the period 1950–2015 was collected from regional weather stations. LandSat images were applied for evaluation of possible land use changes. Crop management coefficients were calculated separately for the rainfall and snow-melt periods using available data about crop-rotation dynamics for the last 55 years. A significant decrease of average annual soil losses from the cultivated part of the Temeva Rechka catchment was found for the period 1987–2015 compared to the period 1963–1986. Such conclusion was mainly based on different sedimentation rates in the valley bottom: for the period of 1963–1986 the average sedimentation rates were 0.92–1.81 cm per year, while for the period of 1987–2015 these rates were only 0.17–0.50 cm per year. The main reason for this significant decrease was the reduction of surface runoff caused by climate warming in the region. The warming led to a reduction of soils freezing depth before the snow-melt period, and to a decline in frequency of extreme (rainstorm) precipitation (40–50 mm per a rainstorm). The influence of agricultural activity on the erosion and sedimentation rates changeabi lity was insignificant, although some regional variation of crop rotation including a increase in proportion of perennial grasses obviously caused a decline in soil losses during warm period of year. The same trend of erosion/sedimentation rates due to mostly climate changes was identified in some regions of the European Russiaʼs southern half.

1. Golosov V.N., Ostrova I.V., Silantye A.N., and Shkuratova I.G. Radioisotope technique of assessment of the present-day deposition rate within drainage basins. Geomorfologiya (Geomorphology RAS). 1992. No. 1. P. 30–36. (in Russ.)

2. Golosov V.N., Belyaev V.R., and Markelov M.V. Application of Chernobyl-derived 137Cs fallout for sediment redistribution studies: lessons from European Russia. Hydrological Processes. 2013. Vol. 27. No. 6. P. 781–794.

3. Golosov V.N., Panin A.V., and Markelov M.V. Chernobyl 137Cs Redistribution in the Small Basin of the Lokna River, Central Russia. Phys. Chem. Earth (A). 1999. Vol. 24. No. 10. P. 881–885.

4. Loughran R.J. The use of the environmental isotope caesium-137 for soil erosion and sedimentation studies. Trend in Hydrology. 1994. No. 1. P. 149–167.

5. Higgit D.I. The Development and Application of Caesium-137 Measurements in Erosion Investigation. Sediment and Water Quality in River Catchments. Ed. by I.D.L. Foster, A.M. Gurnell and B. W. Webb. Chichester (UK): John Wiley& Sons Ltd, 1995. P. 287–305.

6. Porto P., Walling D.E., and Callegari G. Using 137Cs measurements to establish catchment sediment budgets and explore scale effects. Hydrological Processes. 2011. Vol. 25. P. 886–900.

7. Walling D.E., Golosov V.N., Panin A.V., and He Q. Use of radiocaesium to investigate erosion and sedimentation in areas with high levels of Chernobyl fallout. Tracers in Geomorphology. Chichester (UK): John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2000. P. 183–200.

8. Golosov V.N. Radiometric dating in the studies of erosion and accumulation. Geomorfologiya (Geomorphology RAS). 2000. No. 2. P. 26–33. (in Russ.)

9. Atlas radioaktivnogo zagryazneniya Evropeyskoy chasti Rossii, Belorussii i Ukrainy(Atlas of Radioactive Pollution of the European Russia, Belarus and Ukraine). Yu.A. Izrael'. Ed. Moscow: Rosgidromet-Roscosmos (Publ.), 1998. 144 p.

10. Dedkov A.P.Neotectonics and geomorphology of Tatarstan, in Geologiya Tatarstana: stratigrafiya i tektonika(Geology of Tatarstan: Geology and Stratigraphy). B.V. Burov. Ed. Мoscow: GEOS (Publ.), 2003. P. 337–364.

11. Butakov G.P. Neopleistocene, in Geologiya Tatarstana: stratigrafiya i tektonika(Geology of Tatarstan: Geology and Stratigraphy). B.V. Burov. Ed. Мoscow: GEOS (Publ.), 2003. P. 253–270.

12. Perevedentsev Yu.P., Vereshchagin M.A., Shantalinskii K.M., Naumov E.P., and Sokolov V.V. Klimat i okruzhayushhaya sreda Privolzhskogo federal'nogo okruga(The climate and environment of the Volga Rigion Federal District). Kazan: Kazan University (Publ.), 2013. 300 p.

13. Yermolaev O.P., Igonin M.E., Bubnov A. Yu., and Pavlova S.V. Landshafty Respubliki Tatarstan. Regional'niy landshaftno-ekologicheskiy analiz(Landscapes of the Republic of Tatarstan. Regional landscape and environmental analysis). Kazan: Slovo (Publ.), 2007. 411 p.

14. Yermolaev O.P. Poyasa erozii v prirodno-antropogennyh landshaftah rechnyh basseynov(The zones of erosion in natural and anthropogenic landscapes of river basins). Kazan: Kazan Universuty (Publ.), 1992. 150 p.

15. Yermolaev O.P. Geoinformation mapping of soil erosion in the Middle Volga region. Eurasian Soil Science. 2017. Vol. 50. No. 1. P. 118–131.

16. Larionov G.A. Eroziya i deflyatsiya pochv(Erosion and deflation of soils). Moscow: Moscow University (Publ.), 1993. 200 p.

17. Panin A.V., Walling D.E., and Golosov V.N. The role of soil erosion and fluvial processes in the post-fallout redistribution of Chernobyl-derived caesium-137: a case study of the Lapki catchment, Central Russia. Geomorphology. 2001. Vol. 40. No. 3–4. P. 185–204.

18. Golosov V.N. Erozionno-akkumulyativnye protsessy v rechnyh basseynah osvoennyh ravnin (Erosion and deposition processes in river basins of cultivated plains). Moscow: GEOS (Publ.), 2006. 296 p.

19. Golosov V.N., Ivanova N.N., Litvin L.F., and Sidorchuk, A. Yu. Sediment budget in drainage basins and decay of small rivers on the Russian plain. Geomorfologiya (Geomorphology RAS). 1992. No. 4. P. 62–71. (in Russ.)

20. Ivanova N.N., Golosov V.N., Zhokhova A.V., and Tishkina E.V. Agrogenic transformation of the soil cover within a small catchment area (by the example of the forest-steppe part of the Oka-Don plain). Eurasian Soil Science.1998. Vol. 31. No. 2. P. 197–204.

21. Tishkina E.V., Belyaev V.R., Golosov V.N., and Gurarii E.M. Transformation of Soil Cover Within a Small Catchment Area Over 300 Years of Agricultural Development (Tver Oblast). Eurasian Soil Science. 2006. Vol. 39. No. 8. P. 892–904.

22. Edwards W.M. and Owens I.B. Large storm effects on the total soil erosion. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 1991. No. 46. P. 75–78.

23. Golosov V.N., Ivanova N.N., Gusarov A.V., and Sharifullin A.G. Assessment of the Trend of Degradation of Arable Soils on the Basis of Data on the Rate of Stratozem Development Obtained with the Use of 137Cs as a Chronomarker. Eurasian Soil Science.2017. Vol. 50. No. 10. P. 1195–1208. DOI: 10.1134/S1064229317100039.

24. Golosov V.N., Belyaev V.R., Markelov M.V., and Shamshurina E.N. Specifics of sediment redistribution within a small arable catchment during different periods of its cultivation (Gracheva loschina catchment, the Kursk region). Geomorfologiya (Geomorphology RAS). 2012. No. 1. P. 25–35. (in Russ.)

25. Golosov V., Gusarov A., Litvin L., Yermolaev O., Chizhikova N., Safina G., and Kiryukhina Z. Evaluation of soil erosion rates in the southern half of the Russian plain: methodology and initial results. Proc. IAHS. 2017. Editor(s): A. Collins, M. Stone, A. Horowitz, and I. Foster, ICCE Symposium 2016 – Integrating monitoring and modelling for sediment dynamics, Okehampton, UK, 11–15 July 2016. Vol. 375. Copernicus Publications. P. 23–27. DOI:10.5194/piahs-375-23-2017.