Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Fractal characteristics of soil particle-size distributions under different landform and land-use types in the loess gully region

Author(s):

Xiaoyu Song ¹*, Mingda Yan ¹, Huaiyou Li ²

Recieved Date: 2013-07-13, Accepted Date: 2013-10-18

Abstract:

Theoretical guidance can be provided for the prevention of soil erosion and planting structure adjustment to study on fractal characteristics of soil particle-size distributions under different landform and land-use types. Soil particle-size distribution (PSD) is one of the most important physical attributes due to its strong influence on soil properties related to water movement, productivity and soil erosion. The fractal and multifractal measures were useful tools in identifying soil PSD with different taxonomy. Land-use type, as one of important factors to affect soil PSD was paid little attention in previous researches. In this paper, the theory of soil particle-size fractal was applied to characterise PSD in soils with the same taxonomy and different land-use types. Then the effects of land use on the fractal and multifractal parameters were analysed. The study was conducted on the loess hilly areas of the Loess Plateau in Nanxiaohegou basin of Gansu. Soil was sampled from 18 land use types. The soil PSDs were obtained by sieving and pipette methods. The result showed that: (1) the mass fractal dimension of soil particles was significant correlated with the soil mass clay content; (2) both the soil mass clay content and the mass fractal dimension of soil particles showed the same tendency of increasing with the soil layer and the mass fractal dimension relates to the land uses and topographic feature. Thus, they could be potential parameters to reflect soil physical properties influenced by land use. More significant result is required in the future study to test the applicability of fractal parameters in characterising land use effect on soil particle-size distributions.

Keywords:

Soil particle-size distributions, fractal characteristics, landform types, land-use

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 2726-2729

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