Soil erosion in the ecologically fragile zone is severely affected by the intensified coal
mining activities in the Yushenfu Mining Region of the Loess Plateau. Soil erosion controlling pro-
jects such as the “Grain for Green”program are continuously implemented by the government,
which has effectively mitigated or even controlled soil erosion. Coal mining results in new environ-
mental problems,which has changed the erosion characteristics and sediment transport in water-
sheds. In this study,we identified the sediment source trapped behind the check dam using a com-
posite fingerprinting approach and clarified the impact of“Grain for Green”program and coal min-
ing on variation of the amount and sources of sediment during two decades,in a representative
check-dam which controlled the watershed of Laoyeman. The two decades were divided into two sta-
ges,i.e. an earlier decade (1990-1999) and a later decade (2000-2010) with respect to the
implement of the“Grain for Green”program in the flood couplets sequence established during the
running of the dam. The annual average thickness of flood couplets during 2000-2010 decreasefrom (42.7±29.9) cm to (16.6±13.7) cm during 1990-1999,and the annual sediment deposition
per unit area (square meter) at the sampling site reduced from 579.9 kg·m
-2
to 245.8 kg·m
-2
.
The main source of sediment was gully wall (averaged 79.2%±10.1%) during the study period.
However,compared with sediment sources during 1990-1999,the contribution of sediment from
slope during 2000-2010,which was greatly affected by the“Grain for Green”program,showed an
increasing trend (average annual contribution increased by 7.4%). According to the coaling mining
and the variation of rainfall erosivity,our results indicated that under the combined effects of the
“Grain for Green”program and decreases of rainfall erosivity,the intensity of sediment production
in the watershed was substantially decreased. Coal mining had important impacts on sediment contri-
bution from the slope,and obviously affected soil erosion controlling effects of the “Grain for
Green”program. It is obvious that coal mining has increased the risk of erosion and sediment pro-
duction on the slope,and that soil erosion control on the slope should focus on areas affected by
coal mining.
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