• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.38 no.6 s.175
• /
• pp.607-622
• /
• 2005

This study was carried out in order to evaluate where the soil loss was mainly occurred, .and to verify how riverbed sediments in the tributaries of the Seomjin River were related to their source rocks distributed in Sunchang area. The study area including the Seomjin River with 4 tributaries of Kyeongcheon, Okgwacheon, Changjeong-cheon and Ipcheon was divided into 10 watershed. The RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) was estimated for all the grids (10 m cells) in the corresponding watershed. The amount of soil loss per unit area was calculated as follows: dry fold (53,140.94 tons/ha/year), orchard (25,063.38 tons/ha/year), paddy field (6,506.7 tons/ha/year) and Idlest (6,074.36 tons/ha/year). The differences of soil loss per unit area appear to be depends on areas described earlier. Soil erosion hazard zones were generally distributed within dry fields. Several thematic maps such as land use maps, topographical maps and soil maps were used as a data to generate the RUSLE factors. The amount of soil loss, computed by using the RUSLE, showed that soil loss mainly occurred at the regions where possible source rocks were distributed along the stream. Based on the this study on soil loss and soil erosion hazard zone together with chondrite-normalized REE patterns that were previously analyzed in same study area, a closed relationship between riverbed sediments and possible source rocks is formed. Especially in the Okgwacheon that are widely distributed by various rocks, chondrite-normalized REE pattern derived from the riverbed sediments, source rock and soil is expected to have a closed relationship with the distribution of soil loss.