Effectiveness of carbon isotopic signature for estimating soil erosion and deposition rates in Sicilian vineyards

Abstract Traditional methods for measurement of soil erosion provide information on erosion rates and mechanisms but fail to determine the spatial distribution of sediment redistribution. Recent studies have used carbon (C) stable isotopes to trace sediment and to monitor soil organic carbon (SOC) redistribution. The difference in δ 13 C values in a slope-transect or in a watershed provides information about the source of suspended organic matter and sediment removal and deposition, but miss enough information to quantify sediment loss. The objective of this research was to develop a method to estimate soil erosion using the natural discrimination of δ 13 C-SOC with soil depth, comparing δ …