Quantifying soil erosion and deposition rates in tea Plantation area, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia using 137Cs

The soil erosion and deposition in the hilly area is a great concern for the planters. In this study, the tea plantation was chosen to quantify the rates of soil erosion and deposition for it will provide information on the improvement of soil conditions and cost reduction of fertilizer consumption. The aims of this research are to determine the rate of soil erosion and deposition using environmental radionuclide, 137Cs. Soil profile samples were collected by using scrapper plate and two cores soil sample were collected in the undisturbed forests area nearby. The 137Cs activity concentration was measured using low background coaxial hyper pure germanium detector gamma spectrometer based on 137Cs gamma energy peak at 661.66 KeV. The highest erosion rate using Proportional Models and Mass Balance Model 1 was found in point HE top area which is 52.39 t ha-1 yr-1 and 95.53 t ha-1 yr-1 respectively while the lowest at location HF top which is 4.78 t ha-1 yr-1 and 4.97 t ha-1 yr-1. The deposition rate was higher in HF center which is 216.82 t ha-1 yr-1 and 97.51 t ha-1 yr-1 and the lowest at HE center which is 0.05 t ha-1 yr-1 for both models used