QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF INTENSITY AND TRENDS OF EROSION AND ACCUMULATION PROCESSES ON CULTIVATED SLOPES WITHIN THE PLAVA RIVER BASIN (THE TULA OBLAST)

The intensity of fluvial erosion and accumulation processes was evaluated for a small, mainly cultivated, catchment area within thePlavaRiver basin(theTulaoblast, the Srednerusskaya Upland). Three independent approaches were applied to evaluate the material movement within the area: soil-morphological profiles, modified combination of USLE and GGI equation, radiocaesium method. Comparison of the results provided sufficient information for the calculation of sediment budget. The catchment under study has largely negative balance of sediments, i.e. about 80% of matter from the cultivated slopes is exported to the main river through the catchment outlet. The analysis of topographic maps and space images for different dates allowed reconstructing the history of land use of the catchment under study, i.e. identifying the arable lands for five time periods. A tentative scheme of the catchment area functioning during the period of the most intensive agricultural development (after the 1861 land tenure reform) is suggested. It takes into account the trends of selfevolution of the balkas system and the dynamics of land use types boundaries.

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