Use of reservoir deposits to reconstruct the recent changes in sediment yields from a small granite catchment in the Yimeng Mountain region, China

- Sediment yields from a granite catchment were estimated from reservoir deposits.
- Core profiles reflect human disturbance in the catchment over the past 50 years.
- Temporal patterns in sediment yields reflect the history of environmental change.

Information on recent changes in sediment yields from small catchments provides a better understanding of temporal trends in soil loss from certain physical and human-influenced landscapes that have been subjected to recent environmental changes, and will help bridge the current knowledge gap that exists between hillslope erosion and sediment transport in rivers. The Yimeng Mountain region, characterized by alternating granite and limestone, is one of the most susceptible regions to soil erosion in northern China, and has been subjected to intensive anthropogenic activity in recent years. Soil loss from areas underlain by granite is particularly obvious, and is the main sediment source for the Yihe River. In this study, we used reservoir deposits to estimate the changes in sediment yields over the past ~ 50 years from a small catchment underlain by granite, namely the Jiangzhuang catchment in the Yimeng Mountain region. Three cores were collected from the Jiangzhuang Reservoir in the catchment. The activities of 137Cs and 210Pbex at different depths, clay (grain size < 5 μm) contents, and sedimentary organic carbon (SOC) contents in the cores were analysed with reference to human activity and environmental change in the catchment. The chronologies of the cores were established by 137Cs and 210Pbex dating. The area-specific sediment yield (SSY) for different time periods since dam construction was estimated from each core by referring to the original capacity curve of the reservoir. The results indicate that the depth profiles of 137Cs, 210Pbex, clay, and SOC contents in cores from the Jiangzhuang Reservoir reflect the general history of human disturbances on the catchment over the past ~ 50 years. The estimated SSY value from each core for each period ranged from 7.2 ± 2.7 to 23.7 ± 8.3 t ha− 1 y− 1, with a mean of 12.5 ± 4.6 t ha− 1 y− 1. SSY decreased during 1954-1972, and then showed a general tendency to increase. The temporal pattern of the sediment yield largely reflects the history of environmental change influenced by human activity in the catchment.