On the recent trend in erosion within the steppe and forest-steppe of the East European Plain

Abstract

A conclusion drawn by a team of the Moscow State University (Golosov V.N., Ostrova l.V., Silantyev A.N., Shkuratova L.G.) on the increase of erosion by factor of 2,5 to 3 during the last 30-35 years within the steppe and forest-steppe of the East European Plain is erroneous in the authors opinion. Suspended load measurements in the forest and forest-steppe in the east of European Russia do not show any acceleration of the erosion. The paper discusses a series of reasons which may account for the error in the conclusion. The question - whether the erosion rate rises, falls, or remains stable - is still open.