Study of soil loss under natural conditions, using clay marked with rare earths as a tracer

• Ano de defesa: 2024
• Autor(a) principal: Watanabe, Alex Marcel
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: elementos terras raras; erosão hídrica; escoamento superficial; experimental plot; modelagem; modeling; parcela experimental; rare earth elements; runoff; traçador; tracer; water erosion; WEPP
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18138/tde-19032025-153615/

Due to large population growth, it is estimated that by 2050 the world population will reach more than 9 billion inhabitants, resulting in a growing demand for food, water and energy. In this scenario, Brazil is one of the main countries with the potential to help meet this global demand. To achieve this, serious problems arising mainly in regions with a tropical climate must be overcome, such as water erosion, which is unquestionably one of the reasons for degradation that has most contributed to soil unproductivity, extremely affecting agricultural practices. Other problems related to water erosion include reservoir sedimentation, water quality problems and loss of biodiversity. Therefore, this work\'s main objective was to study and characterize under natural conditions, (i.e., the use of experimental plots of erosion in the field under the influence of natural rain) the processes of erosion and surface runoff, associated with the type of soil in the Cerrado biome. For this, a physically based model (WEPP) and a tracer made with rare earth element (Lanthanum) as a chemical signature were used, which allowed us to understand the soil loss mobilization process and identify its origin. This enabled a better understanding of the physical processes of water erosion, helping to develop sustainable agricultural practices. In addition to helping with the development of future models.