IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i3p1560-d737167.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Thaw Depth on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Loss in Runoff of Loess Slope

Author

Listed:
  • Feichao Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China)

  • Zhanbin Li

    (State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
    Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration on Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China)

  • Yuting Cheng

    (College of Life Science, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, China)

  • Peng Li

    (State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China)

  • Bin Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China)

  • Hui Zhang

    (China Jikan Research Institute of Engineering Investigations and Design Co., Ltd., Xi’an 710043, China)

Abstract

Seasonal freeze-thaw erosion is a form of soil erosion caused by the topographical characteristics and climatic factors of the hilly and gully loess regions. Seasonal freeze-thaw can damage the soil pores and cause its bulk density to change. The effects of thawing depth on runoff and Nitrogen and Phosphorus loss on the rainfall erosion of an artificial slope filled with loess soil were analyzed after a rainfall test that simulated the spring thaw period in China. The results showed that: (1) The maximum runoff yield was 33.35 mm at 4 cm thawing depth, and the minimum was 12.95 mm at 6 cm thawing depth. With the increase in runoff time, the slope infiltration rate had a decreasing trend. The loss rate of available and total Phosphorus increased with the increase in runoff rate. The rate of increase was fastest when the thawing depth was 4 cm. (2) The relationships between runoff rate and Nitrogen loss and Phosphorus loss rate can be explained by linear regression equations, and the loss rate increased as the runoff rate rose for all thawing depths. Within the 0–6 cm thawing depths, the loss of total phosphorus was the largest when the thawing depth was 4 cm, and the loss of available phosphorus was the smallest when the thawing depth was 6 cm. At the shallower thawing depths, the available Nitrogen loss represented a smaller proportion of the total Nitrogen loss compared to nitrate Nitrogen loss. However, there was a gradual rise in the available Nitrogen proportion in the total amount of inorganic Nitrogen as the thawing depth increased. (3) Total Phosphorus was the available Phosphorus with a quadratic function relationship with runoff energy and runoff power. Runoff energy mainly affected the total Nitrogen and available Nitrogen loss in runoff, whereas runoff power mainly affected total Nitrogen loss in runoff. The results of this paper can improve the understanding of runoff and Nitrogen and Phosphorus loss caused by runoff during freeze-thaw conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Feichao Wang & Zhanbin Li & Yuting Cheng & Peng Li & Bin Wang & Hui Zhang, 2022. "Effect of Thaw Depth on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Loss in Runoff of Loess Slope," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1560-:d:737167
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1560/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1560/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1560-:d:737167. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.