Distributions of Particle Sizes in Black Soil and Their Environmental Significance in Northeast China

Binghe Yan, Yulan Zhang, Shuying Zang, Qiang Chen and Li Sun
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Binghe Yan: Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China
Yulan Zhang: Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China
Shuying Zang: Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China
Qiang Chen: Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China
Li Sun: Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: In recent years, black soil has decreased and degenerated heavily due to complicated functions of natural and artificial factors. Hence, characterizing distributions of particle sizes in black soil and their environmental influencing factors is important for understanding black soil degradation. A total of 116 surface soil samples in the top 20 cm from a typical black soil region in northeastern China were collected, and the spatial distribution of particle size parameters were characterized. Particle size-sensitive components were extracted quantitatively using the log-normal distribution function, and their environmental implications were investigated. The contents of black soil mechanical composition ranged from 7.8% to 79.3% for clay, 17.7% to 80.3% for silt, and 0% to 73.7% for sand, respectively. Median particle size ranged from 1.71 to 142.67 μm, with a coefficient of variation of 60%, indicating silt accounted for the majority of the composition. Four environmentally sensitive components were identified, including long-distance transported airborne deposits of clay dust (C1), successions from local parent materials (C2), short-distance deposits of silt particles (C3), and a component strongly disturbed by human activities (C4). C1 and C2 had relatively low variations, with C1 exhibiting the smallest variation, and C2 contributing highest proportion, showing no significant differences across all samples. C3 widely existed across samples, suggesting common wind erosion within the black soil region. C3 and C4 varied spatially, which was caused by the low vegetation coverage and high human disturbance of agricultural topsoil. The results suggest that windbreaks should be encouraged to reduce wind erosion in the black soil regions.

Keywords: particle size; frequency distribution curve; wind erosion; environmentally sensitive component; black soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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