Estimating soil erosion from the redistribution of fallout cesium 137 in an agricultural land of province of Camaguey

The redistribution of soil has a profound impact on its quality and ultimately on its productivity for crop growth. Significant amounts of fallout Cesium-137 ( Cs) from nuclear weapons tests were introduced to the landscape during the 1950s and 1960s. Once Cs reaches the soil surface it is strongly and quickly adsorbed by clay particles, and is essentially nonexchangeable in most environments. Thus, in recent years, the fallout Cs has found increasing application in investigations of soil erosion on agricultural land. By comparing Cs inventories from different points in fields with the reference inventory for the area it is possible to assemble information on the rates and patterns of soil loss. An investigation of soil erosion was undertaken in the 4 ha field of La Victoria 1 Farm. Three models for converting Cs measurements to estimates of soil redistribution rates on studied cultivated field have been used, The Proportional Model, The Gravimetric Approach and Simplified Mass Balance Model. Using the first one net soil erosion was calculated to be 9.6 t.ha .year . Estimates of soil loss using the gravimetric method and simplified mass balance model were found to be 9.5 and 14.9 t.ha .year ,respectively. Preliminary results suggest that Cs technique may be of considerable value in assembling data on the rates and spatial distribution of soil loss