[1]LI Fucheng,JIANG Rentao,HUA Xiaoye.Effect of Contour Plowing Orientation on Soil Redistribution on Hillslope in Purple Soil[J].Research of Soil and Water Conservation,2016,23(03):106-111.
Copy
Research of Soil and Water Conservation[ISSN 1005-3409/CN 61-1272/P] Volume:
23
Number of periods:
2016 03
Page number:
106-111
Column:
Public date:
2016-06-28
- Title:
-
Effect of Contour Plowing Orientation on Soil Redistribution on Hillslope in Purple Soil
- Author(s):
-
LI Fucheng, JIANG Rentao, HUA Xiaoye
-
College of Resources & Environment, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan 621010, China
-
- Keywords:
-
tillage erosion; contour tillage; magnetic tracer; tillage translocation; soil degradation
- CLC:
-
S157.1
- DOI:
-
-
- Abstract:
-
A hillslope with a length of 15 m and a slope gradient of 14.16% was selected as the experimental site in the hilly areas of the Sichuan Basin, China. The magnetic tracer method was used to determine the rates and patterns of soil redistribution for downward contour plowing (i.e., downslope turning the soil) and upward contour plowing (i.e., upslope turning the soil), respectively. Consecutive tillage by ox-drawn ploughing was performed 15 times for downward contour plowing and upward contour plowing, respectively, to simulate the impact of long-term tillage on soil profile transformation and microtopography evolution at different slope positions. The results showed that downward contour plowing caused only downslope soil translocation. Soil translocation rates ranged from 15.62 to 28.70 kg/m and no significant correlation was found between soil translocation rates and slope gradient for downward contour plowing (p=0.93). For upward contour plowing, the soil extended to both sides of plough blade, i.e. the soil moved both upslope and downslope simultaneously. Net downslope translocation rates ranged from -10.91 to 8.23 kg/m. Soil translocation rates were significantly correlated with slope gradients for upward contour plowing (p < 0.001), and net displacement direction turned from uphill to downhill when slope gradient increased to 14% under this study condition. The eroded depth of soil profile at the summit position after 15 times downward contour plowing was 132% more than its original depth of pre-tillage soil profile, and the depth of post-tillage soil profile was equal to tillage depth, indicating that the downward contour plowing plays a dual roles: enhancing soil erosion and accelerating pedogenic processes when the depth of soil profile was less than tillage depth. For upward contour plowing, the depth of post-tillage soil profile at the summit position increased by 12.7%, indicating that it plays an important role in protecting soil profile. Upward contour plowing could be an effective protective measure in reducing tillage erosion and preventing soil from degradation on the sloping land in such as purple soil with thin soil over bedrock.