Andrea FARSANG, Gergely KITKA, Károly BARTA & Irén PUSKÁS
Department of Physical Geography and Geoinformatics, University of Szeged, POB 653, Szeged H-6701,
farsang@geo.u-szeged.hu, kitka@gmail.com, barta@geo.u-szeged.hu, puskas@geo.u-szeged.hu

ESTIMATING ELEMENT TRANSPORT RATES ON SLOPING AGRICULTURAL LAND AT CATCHMENT SCALE (VELENCE MTS., NW HUNGARY)

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The erosion-induced spatial redistribution of macro- and microelements in the surface soils is rarely investigated. The 14-km² study area is located in the drainage basin of Lake Velence in NW Hungary. At the micro-scale on two study plots of a vineyard and arable land, we measured element redistribution rate due to rainfall with sediment collectors. At the meso-scale, the amount of soil motion was determined with the soil erosion model Erosion 3D. The soil erosion model was validated by comparing measured (collector) and estimated (model) values of eroded soil in the two study plots. Subsequently, the erosional losses of each element were calculated with the help of the element maps and enrichment ratios. The enrichment ratio (ER), as a quotient of the concentration measured in the topsoil and that in the sediment, was calculated. There were slight differences between enrichment ratios calculated from the two study plots with distinct land uses. Organic matter (OM) (ER=2.1-2.2), P₂O₅ (ER=1.8-2.1) and Ni (ER=2.2) accumulated the most in the sediment moved by erosion. The Cu, Pb, Zn and Co accumulated moderately (ER= ~1.2), whereas Cr has not accumulated at all. The AL-P₂O₅ wash-off was significant, primarily in arable lands with higher phosphorus contents than the surrounding areas. The average AL-P₂O₅ wash-off during the studied rainfall events was 5.5 – 15.1 mg m^-2, the estimated Zn transport was 14.3-39.1 mg m^-2, Cu 5.02-13.75 mg m^-2, Pb 4.1-11.3 mg m^-2. Our final element loss maps are excellently used in environment-friendly nutrient management in order to delimit the areas of the nutrient accumulation.