ABSTRACT:
Tillage translocation is measured in the studies of soil dispersion and soil crosion. The translocation of soil by tillage is normally measured with a tracer. Using plots, a volume of soil is labelled and then tilled. There are two methods of calculating translocation using plot-tracers. For the more common method, translocation is calculated directly from the distributions of tracer before and after tillage (Distribution-Curve Method). For the less common method, a summation curve is generated from the distribution of tracer after tillage by employing convolution, and translocation is calculated from this curve (Summation-Curve Method). In this paper, the two methods are described and compared using hypothetical and experimental data. Both methods provide accurate measures of gross translocation. The Summation-Curve Method provides a measure of error associated with gross translocation and a more thorough characterization of the dispersion of translocated soil; therefore, it was considered to be the superior of the two methods.
Footnotes
David A. Lobb is an assistant professor in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada; Timothy A. Quine is a senior lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Exeter in Exeter, United Kingdom; Gerard Govers is a professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium; Goswin J. Heckrath is a research scientist, Danish Institute of
- Copyright 2001 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Log in using your username and password
Purchase access
In this issue
