Title: Estimation of erosion rate in a small catchment of Loktak wetland, India, using lead-210 (²¹⁰Pb) technique

Authors: K. Sonamani Singh, Bhishm Kumar, Deepak Khare, Sanjay K. Jain

Addresses: Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247 667, Uttaranchal, India. ' Head, Division of Isotope Hydrology, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee 247 667, India. ' Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Roorkee (Uttranchal), India. ' National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee 247 667, India

Abstract: Loktak Lake, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in the northeastern India, is under severe pressure due to many reasons-the main being increased siltation from the degraded catchment area. In the present study Nuclear Technique [Lead-210 (²¹⁰Pb) Technique] has been applied to estimate soil erosion rates in the catchment of the lake. The erosion rates of the various land uses in the catchment have determined for various land uses, which are; fallow land (1.86 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹), paddy cultivation (1.69 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹), mixed forest (1.59 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) and river bed (1.35 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹). The results obtained from the unsupported ²¹⁰Pb are compared with equivalent results based on the modified Morgan Morgan Finney model and the results are found satisfactory.

Keywords: Loktak Lake; freshwater wetlands; India; land uses; soil erosion rate; nuclear techniques.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2007.015218

International Journal of Water, 2007 Vol.3 No.3, pp.257 - 265

Published online: 27 Sep 2007 *

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