Abstract
Sediment source fingerprinting apportions the sources of sediment produced by water erosion by linking sampled sediment mixtures and landscape source materials using diagnostic and conservative fingerprints. Using this approach, the nature and location of active sediment sources across the catchment can be elucidated, generating information which is a key prerequisite for the design and implementation of catchment management strategies. The science of sediment source fingerprinting continues to attract much research globally, but to date, there have been relatively few fingerprinting studies in China. Here, there remain major challenges for the fingerprinting approach arising from the uniqueness of Chinese landscapes, including for instance, the complex land use configuration with highly fragmented or mosaic patches and the highly dynamic land use conversion rates, generating a need to test the physical basis for the discriminatory power and environmental behavior of both traditional and novel tracers. Future research is needed to investigate the applicability of tracer properties in different physiographic settings and to evaluate the potential strategic utility of the approach for supporting the improved management of soil and water sustainability. Here, the strategic availability of independent observation data for different components of catchment sediment budgets and well-maintained research infrastructure for plots, micro-catchments and drainage basins provides immediate opportunity for testing the approach and refining procedures. Such detailed testing across scales would be invaluable for promoting sediment source fingerprinting as both a scientific and management tool for informing soil and water conservation practices in China.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Apitz S E. 2012. Conceptualizing the role of sediment in sustaining ecosystem services: Sediment-ecosystem regional assessment (SEcoRA). Sci Total Environ, 415: 9–30
Bai X, Zhang X, Long Y, Liu X, Siyu Z. 2013. Use of 137Cs and 210Pbex measurements on deposits in a karst depression to study the erosional response of a small karst catchment in Southwest China to land-use change. Hydrol Process, 27: 822–829
Barrios E. 2007. Soil biota, ecosystem services and land productivity. Ecol Econ, 64: 269–285
Barthod L R M, Liu K, Lobb D A, Owens P N, Martínez-Carreras N, Koiter A J, Petticrew E L, McCullough G K, Liu C, Gaspar L. 2015. Selecting color-based tracers and classifying sediment sources in the assessment of sediment dynamics using sediment source fingerprinting. J Environ Qual, 44: 1605–1616
Bravo-Linares C, Schuller P, Castillo A, Ovando-Fuentealba L, Muñoz-Arcos E, Alarcón O, de Los Santos-Villalobos S, Cardoso R, Muniz M, Meigikos Dos Anjos R, Bustamante-Ortega R, Dercon G. 2018. First use of a compound-specific stable isotope (CSSI) technique to trace sediment transport in upland forest catchments of Chile. Sci Total Environ, 618: 1114–1124
Brosinsky A, Foerster S, Segl K, Kaufmann H. 2014. Spectral fingerprinting: Sediment source discrimination and contribution modelling of artificial mixtures based on VNIR-SWIR spectral properties. J Soil Sediment, 14: 1949–1964
Chen F, Fang N, Shi Z. 2016a. Using biomarkers as fingerprint properties to identify sediment sources in a small catchment. Sci Total Environ, 557–558: 123–133
Chen F X, Fang N F, Wang Y X, Tong L S, Shi Z H. 2017. Biomarkers in sedimentary sequences: Indicators to track sediment sources over decadal timescales. Geomorphology, 278: 1–11
Chen F, Zhang F, Fang N, Shi Z. 2016b. Sedimentsource analysis using the fingerprinting method in a small catchment of the Loess Plateau, China. J Soil Sediment, 16: 1655–1669
Clarke R T, Minella J P G. 2016. Evaluating sampling efficiency when estimating sediment source contributions to suspended sediment in rivers by fingerprinting. Hydrol Process, 30: 3408–3419
Collins A L, Foster I D L, Gellis A C, Porto P, Horowitz A J. 2017. Sediment source fingerprinting for informing catchment management: Methodological approaches, problems and uncertainty. J Environ Manage, 194: 1–3
Collins A L, Walling D E. 2002. Selecting fingerprint properties for discriminating potential suspended sediment sources in river basins. J Hydrol, 261: 218–244
Collins A L, Walling D E. 2004. Documenting catchment suspended sediment sources: Problems, approaches and prospects. Prog Phys Geogr, 28: 159–196
Collins A L, Walling D E, Leeks G J L. 1997a. Source type ascription for fluvial suspended sediment based on a quantitative composite fingerprinting technique. Catena, 29: 1–27
Collins A L, Walling D E, Leeks G J L. 1997b. Use of the geochemical record preserved in floodplain deposits to reconstruct recent changes in river basin sediment sources. Geomorphology, 19: 151–167
Collins A L, Walling D E, Webb L, King P. 2010. Apportioning catchment scale sediment sources using a modified composite fingerprinting technique incorporating property weightings and prior information. Geoderma, 155: 249–261
Collins A L, Williams L J, Zhang Y S, Marius M, Dungait J A J, Smallman D J, Dixon E R, Stringfellow A, Sear D A, Jones J I, Naden P S. 2014. Sources of sediment-bound organic matter infiltrating spawning gravels during the incubation and emergence life stages of salmonids. Agric EcoSyst Environ, 196: 76–93
Collins A L, Zhang Y, McChesney D, Walling D E, Haley S M, Smith P. 2012. Sediment source tracing in a lowland agricultural catchment in southern England using a modified procedure combining statistical analysis and numerical modelling. Sci Total Environ, 414: 301–317
D’Haen K, Verstraeten G, Degryse P. 2012. Fingerprinting historical fluvial sediment fluxes. Prog Phys Geogr, 36: 154–186
Davis C M, Fox J F. 2009. Sediment fingerprinting: Review of the method and future improvements for allocating nonpoint source pollution. J Environ Eng, 135: 490–504
Dutton C, Anisfeld S C, Ernstberger H. 2013. A novel sediment fingerprinting method using filtration: Application to the Mara River, East Africa. J Soil Sediment, 13: 1708–1723
Erskine W D. 2013. Soil colour as a tracer of sediment dispersion from erosion of forest roads in Chichester State Forest, NSW, Australia. Hydrol Process, 27: 933–942
Fang H. 2015. Temporal variations of sediment source from a reservoir catchment in the black soil region, Northeast China. Soil Tillage Res, 153: 59–65
Golosov V, Collins A L, Tang Q, Zhang X, Zhou P, He X, Wen A. 2017. Sediment transfer at different spatial and temporal scales in the Sichuan Hilly Basin, China: Synthesizing data from multiple approaches and preliminary interpretation in the context of climatic and anthropogenic drivers. Sci Total Environ, 598: 319–329
Guo J, Wen A B, Yan D C, Shi Z L. 2014. Quantifying catchment scale sediment source using composite fingerprinting technique (in Chinese with English Abstract). T Chinese Soc Agr Eng, 30: 94–104
Guzmán G, Quinton J N, Nearing M A, Mabit L, Gómez J A. 2013. Sediment tracers in water erosion studies: Current approaches and challenges. J Soil Sediment, 13: 816–833
Haddadchi A, Olley J, Laceby P. 2014. Accuracy of mixing models in predicting sediment source contributions. Sci Total Environ, 497–498: 139–152
Haddadchi A, Ryder D S, Evrard O, Olley J. 2013. Sediment fingerprinting in fluvial systems: Review of tracers, sediment sources and mixing models. Int J Sediment Res, 28: 560–578
Klages M G, Hsieh Y P. 1975. Suspended solids carried by the Gallatin River of southwestern Montana: II. Using mineralogy for inferring sources. J Environ Qual, 4: 68–73
Koiter A J, Owens P N, Petticrew E L, Lobb D A. 2013. The behavioural characteristics of sediment properties and their implications for sediment fingerprinting as an approach for identifying sediment sources in river basins. Earth-Sci Rev, 125: 24–42
Krishnappan B G, Chambers P A, Benoy G, Culp J. 2009. Sediment source identification: A review and a case study in some Canadian streams. Can J Civil Eng, 36: 1622–1633
Laceby J P, Evrard O, Smith H G, Blake W H, Olley J M, Minella J P G, Owens P N. 2017. The challenges and opportunities of addressing particle size effects in sediment source fingerprinting: A review. Earth-Sci Rev, 169: 85–103
Laceby J P, Olley J. 2015. An examination of geochemical modelling approaches to tracing sediment sources incorporating distribution mixing and elemental correlations. Hydrol Process, 29: 1669–1685
Lal R. 2003. Soil erosion and the global carbon budget. Environ Int, 29: 437–450
Li Y, Chappell A, Nyamdavaa B, Yu H, Davaasuren D, Zoljargal K. 2015. Cost-effective sampling of 137Cs-derived net soil redistribution: Part 1—Estimating the spatial mean across scales of variation. J Environ Radioact, 141: 97–105
Lin J, Huang Y, Wang M, Jiang F, Zhang X, Ge H. 2015. Assessing the sources of sediment transported in gully systems using a fingerprinting approach: An example from South-east China. Catena, 129: 9–17
Lintern A, Leahy P J, Zawadzki A, Gadd P, Heijnis H, Jacobsen G, Connor S, Deletic A, McCarthy D T. 2016. Sediment cores as archives of historical changes in floodplain lake hydrology. Sci Total Environ, 544: 1008–1019
Liu C, Li Z, Chang X, Nie X, Liu L, Xiao H, Wang D, Peng H, Zeng G. 2018. Apportioning source of erosion-induced organic matter in the hilly-gully region of loess plateau in China: Insight from lipid bio-marker and isotopic signature analysis. Sci Total Environ, 621: 1310–1319
Mabit L, Benmansour M, Abril J M, Walling D E, Meusburger K, Iurian A R, Bernard C, Tarján S, Owens P N, Blake W H, Alewell C. 2014. Fallout 210Pb as a soil and sediment tracer in catchment sediment budget investigations: A review. Earth-Sci Rev, 138: 335–351
Mabit L, Gibbs M, Mbaye M, Meusburger K, Toloza A, Resch C, Klik A, Swales A, Alewell C. 2018. Novel application of compound specific stable isotope (CSSI) techniques to investigate on-site sediment origins across arable fields. Geoderma, 316: 19–26
Martínez-Carreras N, Schwab M P, Klaus J, Hissler C. 2016. In situ and high frequency monitoring of suspended sediment properties using a spectrophotometric sensor. Hydrol Process, 30: 3533–3540
Martinez-Carreras N, Udelhoven T, Krein A, Gallart F, Iffly J F, Ziebel J, Hoffmann L, Pfister L, Walling D E. 2010. The use of sediment colour measured by diffuse reflectance spectrometry to determine sediment sources: Application to the Attert River catchment (Luxembourg). J Hydrol, 382: 49–63
McCarney-Castle K, Childress T M, Heaton C R. 2017. Sediment source identification and load prediction in a mixed-use Piedmont watershed, South Carolina. J Environ Manage, 185: 60–69
Motha J A, Wallbrink P J, Hairsine P B, Grayson R B. 2002. Tracer properties of eroded sediment and source material. Hydrol Process, 16: 1983–2000
Navratil O, Evrard O, Esteves M, Legout C, Ayrault S, Némery J, Mate-Marin A, Ahmadi M, Lefèvre I, Poirel A, Bonté P. 2012. Temporal variability of suspended sediment sources in an alpine catchment combining river/rainfall monitoring and sediment fingerprinting. Earth Surf Proc Land, 37: 828–846
Nosrati K, Collins A L, Madankan M. 2018a. Fingerprinting sub-basin spatial sediment sources using different multivariate statistical techniques and the Modified MixSIR model. Catena, 164: 32–43
Nosrati K, Haddadchi A, Collins A L, Jalali S, Zare M R. 2018b. Tracing sediment sources in a mountainous forest catchment under road construction in northern Iran: Comparison of Bayesian and frequentist approaches. Environ Sci Pollut Res, 25: 30979–30997
Owens P N, Blake W H, Gaspar L, Gateuille D, Koiter A J, Lobb D A, Petticrew E L, Reiffarth D G, Smith H G, Woodward J C. 2016. Fingerprinting and tracing the sources of soils and sediments: Earth and ocean science, geoarchaeological, forensic, and human health applications. Earth-Sci Rev, 162: 1–23
Owens P N, Walling D E, Leeks G J L. 1999. Use of floodplain sediment cores to investigate recent historical changes in overbank sedimentation rates and sediment sources in the catchment of the River Ouse, Yorkshire, UK. Catena, 36: 21–47
Palazón L, Gaspar L, Latorre B, Blake W H, Navas A. 2014. Evaluating the importance of surface soil contributions to reservoir sediment in alpine environments: A combined modelling and fingerprinting approach in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park. Solid Earth, 5: 963–978
Palazón L, Latorre B, Gaspar L, Blake W H, Smith H G, Navas A. 2015. Comparing catchment sediment fingerprinting procedures using an auto-evaluation approach with virtual sample mixtures. Sci Total Environ, 532: 456–466
Parnell A C, Inger R, Bearhop S, Jackson A L. 2010. Source partitioning using stable isotopes: Coping with too much variation. Plos One, 5: e9672
Parsons A J, Foster I D L. 2011. What can we learn about soil erosion from the use of 137Cs? Earth-Sci Rev, 108: 101–113
Phillips J M, Russell M A, Walling D E. 2000. Time-integrated sampling of fluvial suspended sediment: A simple methodology for small catchments. Hydrol Process, 14: 2589–2602
Pimentel D, Harvey C, Resosudarmo P, Sinclair K, Kurz D, McNair M, Crist S, Shpritz L, Fitton L, Saffouri R, Blair R. 1995. Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science, 267: 1117–1123
Pulley S, Collins A L. 2018. Tracing catchment fine sediment sources using the new SIFT (SedIment Fingerprinting Tool) open source software. Sci Total Environ, 635: 838–858
Pulley S, Foster I, Antunes P. 2015a. The application of sediment fingerprinting to floodplain and lake sediment cores: Assumptions and uncertainties evaluated through case studies in the Nene Basin, UK. J Soil Sediment, 15: 2132–2154
Pulley S, Foster I, Antunes P. 2015b. The uncertainties associated with sediment fingerprinting suspended and recently deposited fluvial sediment in the Nene river basin. Geomorphology, 228: 303–319
Pulley S, Foster I, Collins A L. 2017a. The impact of catchment source group classification on the accuracy of sediment fingerprinting outputs. J Environ Manage, 194: 16–26
Pulley S, Van Der Waal B, Collins A L, Foster I D L, Rowntree K. 2017b. Are source groups always appropriate when sediment fingerprinting? The direct comparison of source and sediment samples as a methodological step. River Res Appl, 33: 1553–1563
Reeves J B, Smith D B. 2009. The potential of mid- and near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for determining major- and trace-element concentrations in soils from a geochemical survey of North America. Appl Geochem, 24: 1472–1481
Reiffarth D G, Petticrew E L, Owens P N, Lobb D A. 2016. Sources of variability in fatty acid (FA) biomarkers in the application of compound-specific stable isotopes (CSSIs) to soil and sediment fingerprinting and tracing: A review. Sci Total Environ, 565: 8–27
Rose L A, Karwan D L, Aufdenkampe A K. 2018. Sediment fingerprinting suggests differential suspended particulate matter formation and transport processes across hydrologic regimes. J Geophys Res, 123: 1213–1229
Rowan J S, Goodwill P, Franks S W. 2000. Uncertainty estimation in fingerprinting suspended sediment sources. In: Foster I D L, ed. Tracers in Geomorphology. Chichester: Wiley. 279–290
Rowntree K M, van der Waal B W, Pulley S. 2017. Magnetic susceptibility as a simple tracer for fluvial sediment source ascription during storm events. J Environ Manage, 194: 54–62
Shala F, Xhixha M K, Hasani F, Xhixha G, Massa G, Khyabani F R, Xhixha E, Shyti M. 2017. Terrestrial and fallout radionuclide fingerprints of sediments from highway stormwater retention ponds. J Radioanal Nucl Chem, 313: 385–390
Shi Z, Wen A, Ju L, Yan D. 2013. A modified model for estimating soil redistribution on grassland by using 7Be measurements. Plant Soil, 362: 279–286
Smith H G, Blake W H. 2014. Sediment fingerprinting in agricultural catchments: A critical re-examination of source discrimination and data corrections. Geomorphology, 204: 177–191
Smith H G, Blake W H, Owens P N. 2013. Discriminating fine sediment sources and the application of sediment tracers in burned catchments: A review. Hydrol Process, 27: 943–958
Taylor A, Blake W H, Smith H G, Mabit L, Keith-Roach M J. 2013. Assumptions and challenges in the use of fallout beryllium-7 as a soil and sediment tracer in river basins. Earth-Sci Rev, 126: 85–95
Theuring P, Collins A L, Rode M. 2015. Source identification of fine-grained suspended sediment in the Kharaa River basin, northern Mongolia. Sci Total Environ, 526: 77–87
Tiecher T, Minella J P G, Evrard O, Caner L, Merten G H, Capoane V, Didoné E J, dos Santos D R. 2018. Fingerprinting sediment sources in a large agricultural catchment under no-tillage in Southern Brazil (Conceição River). Land Degrad Dev, 29: 939–951
Upadhayay H R, Bodé S, Griepentrog M, Huygens D, Bajracharya R M, Blake W H, Dercon G, Mabit L, Gibbs M, Semmens B X, Stock B C, Cornelis W, Boeckx P. 2017. Methodological perspectives on the application of compound-specific stable isotope fingerprinting for sediment source apportionment. J Soil Sediment, 17: 1537–1553
van der Waal B, Rowntree K, Pulley S. 2015. Flood bench chronology and sediment source tracing in the upper Thina catchment, South Africa: The role of transformed landscape connectivity. J Soil Sediment, 15: 2398–2411
Voli M T, Wegmann K W, Bohnenstiehl D W R, Leithold E, Osburn C L, Polyakov V. 2013. Fingerprinting the sources of suspended sediment delivery to a large municipal drinking water reservoir: Falls Lake, Neuse River, North Carolina, USA. J Soil Sediment, 13: 1692–1707
Wagg C, Bender S F, Widmer F, van der Heijden M G A. 2014. Soil biodiversity and soil community composition determine ecosystem multifunctionality. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 111: 5266–5270
Walling D E. 2005. Tracing suspended sediment sources in catchments and river systems. Sci Total Environ, 344: 159–184
Walling D E. 2013. The evolution of sediment source fingerprinting investigations in fluvial systems. J Soil Sediment, 13: 1658–1675
Walling D E, Fang D. 2003. Recent trends in the suspended sediment loads of the world’s rivers. Glob Planet Change, 39: 111–126
Walling D E, Owens P N. 2003. The role of overbank floodplain sedimentation in catchment contaminant budgets. Hydrobiologia, 494: 83–91
Walling D E, Peart M R, Oldfield F, Thompson R. 1979. Suspended sediment sources identified by magnetic measurements. Nature, 281: 110–113
Walling D E, Quine T A. 1990. Calibration of caesium-137 measurements to provide quantitative erosion rate data. Land Degrad Dev, 2: 161–175
Walling D E, Woodward J C, Nicholas A P. 1993. A multiparameter approach to fingerprinting suspended sediment sources. In: Peters N E, Hoehn E, Leibundgut C, Tase N, Walling D E, eds. Tracers in Hydrology. Wallingford: IAHS Publ. 215: 329–338
Wang S, Fu B, Piao S, Lü Y, Ciais P, Feng X, Wang Y. 2016. Reduced sediment transport in the Yellow River due to anthropogenic changes. Nat Geosci, 9: 38–41
Wang X. 2001. Tracing sediment sources in a Sandstone catchment using particle size analysis (in Chinese). Soil Water Conserv China, 1: 22–24
Wei J, He X, Bao Y. 2011. Anthropogenic impacts on suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river. Reg Environ Change, 11: 857–868
Wen A B, Zhang X B, Walling D E. 1998. A study on soil erosion rates and sediment sources using caesium-137 technique in a small drainage of the Loess Hills (in Chinese with English Abstract). Acta Geogr Sin, 53: 124–133
Wilkinson S N, Olley J M, Furuichi T, Burton J, Kinsey-Henderson A E. 2015. Sediment source tracing with stratified sampling and weightings based on spatial gradients in soil erosion. J Soil Sediment, 15: 2038–2051
Yan P, Shi P, Gao S, Chen L, Zhang X, Bai L. 2002. 137Cs dating of lacustrine sediments and human impacts on Dalian Lake, Qinghai Province, China. Catena, 47: 91–99
Yang H F, Yang S L, Xu K H, Milliman J D, Wang H, Yang Z, Chen Z, Zhang C Y. 2018. Human impacts on sediment in the Yangtze River: A review and new perspectives. Glob Planet Change, 162: 8–17
Yang M Y, Tian J L, Liu P L. 2006. Investigating the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau of China, using 137Cs. Soil Tillage Res, 87: 186–193
Yang M Y, Xu L J. 2010. Fingerprinting suspended sediment sources in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau (in Chinese with English Abstract). J Soil Water Conserv, 24: 30–34
Yang S L, Shi Z, Zhao H Y, Li P, Dai S B, Gao A. 2004. Effects of human activities on the Yangtze River suspended sediment flux into the estuary in the last century. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 8: 1210–1216
Zebracki M, Eyrolle-Boyer F, Evrard O, Claval D, Mourier B, Gairoard S, Cagnat X, Antonelli C. 2015. Tracing the origin of suspended sediment in a large Mediterranean river by combining continuous river monitoring and measurement of artificial and natural radionuclides. Sci Total Environ, 502: 122–132
Zhang D, Wang J, Lin Y, Si Y, Huang C, Yang J, Huang B, Li W. 2017a. Present situation and future prospect of renewable energy in China. Renew Sust Energy Rev, 76: 865–871
Zhang J, Yang M, Zhang F, Zhang W, Zhao T, Li Y. 2017b. Fingerprinting sediment sources after an extreme rainstorm event in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau, PR China. Land Degrad Develop, 28: 2527–2539
Zhang Q, Xu C, Becker S, Jiang T. 2006. Sediment and runoff changes in the Yangtze River basin during past 50 years. J Hydrol, 331: 511–523
Zhang X, Quine T A, Walling D E. 1998. Soil erosion rates on sloping cultivated land on the Loess Plateau near Ansai, Shaanxi Province, China: An investigation using 137Cs and rill measurements. Hydrol Process, 12: 171–189
Zhang X, Walling D E, He X, Long Y. 2009. Use oflandslide-dammed lake deposits and pollen tracing techniques to investigate the erosional response of a small drainage basin in the Loess Plateau, China, to land use change during the late 16th century. Catena, 79: 205–213
Zhang X, He X, Wen A, Walling D E, Feng M, Zhou X. 2004. Sediment source identification by using 137Cs and 210Pb radionuclides in a small catchment of the Hilly Sichuan Basin, China. Chin Sci Bull, 49: 1953
Zhang X, Higgitt D L, Walling D E. 1990. A preliminary assessment of the potential for using caesium-137 to estimate rates of soil erosion in the Loess Plateau of China. Hydrol Sci J, 35: 243–252
Zhang X, Walling D E, Feng M Y. 2003. 210Pbex depth distribution in soil and calibration models for assessment of soil erosion rates from 210Pbex measurements. Chin Sci Bull, 48: 813
Zhang X B, Wen Z M, Feng M Y, Yang Q K, Zheng J J. 2007. Application of 137Cs fingerprinting technique to interpreting sediment production records from reservoir deposits in a small catchment of the hilly loess plateau, China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 50: 254–260
Zhang X C J, Liu B L. 2016. Using multiple composite fingerprints to quantify fine sediment source contributions: A new direction. Geoderma, 268: 108–118
Zhao G, Mu X, Han M, An Z, Gao P, Sun W, Xu W. 2017a. Sediment yield and sources in dam-controlled watersheds on the northern Loess Plateau. Catena, 149: 110–119
Zhao G, Mu X, Strehmel A, Tian P. 2014. Temporal variation of stream-flow, sediment load and their relationship in the Yellow River basin, China. Plos One, 9: e91048
Zhao T, Yang M, Walling D E, Zhang F, Zhang J. 2017b. Using check dam deposits to investigate recent changes in sediment yield in the Loess Plateau, China. Glob Planet Change, 152: 88–98
Zhou H, Chang W, Zhang L. 2016. Sediment sources in a small agricultural catchment: A composite fingerprinting approach based on the selection of potential sources. Geomorphology, 266: 11–19
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a Royal Society Newton International Fellowship (Grant No. NF161415, awarded to Q Tang and supervised by A L Collins), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41771320 & 41771321), a UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) strategic programme (Grant No. BBS/E/C/000I0330—Soil to Nutrition), the Chinese Academy of Sciences “Light of West China” programme (awarded to Q Tang) and the President’s International Fellowship Initiative (Grant No. 2018VCA0033, awarded to A L Collins).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Tang, Q., Fu, B., Wen, A. et al. Fingerprinting the sources of water-mobilized sediment threatening agricultural and water resource sustainability: Progress, challenges and prospects in China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 62, 2017–2030 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9349-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9349-0