Arable soils are critical resources that support multiple ecosystem services. They are frequently threatened, however, by accelerated erosion. Subsequently, policy to ensure their long-term security is an urgent societal priority. Although their long-term security relies upon a balance between the rates of soil loss and formation, there have been few investigations of the formation rates of soils supporting arable agriculture. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by presenting the first isotopically constrained soil formation rates for an arable (Nottinghamshire, UK) and coniferous woodland hillslope (Shropshire, UK). Rates ranged from 0.026 to 0.096 mm yr⁻¹ across the two sites. These rates fall within the range of previously published rates for soils in temperate climates and on sandstone lithologies but significantly differed from those measured in the only other UK-based study. We suggest this is due to the parent material at our sites being more susceptible to weathering. Furthermore, soil formation rates were found to be greatest for aeolian-derived sandstone when compared with fluvially derived lithology raising questions about the extent to which the petrographic composition of the parent material governs rates of soil formation. On the hillslope currently supporting arable agriculture, we utilized cosmogenically derived rates of soil formation and erosion in a first-order lifespan model and found, in a worst-case scenario, that the backslope A horizon could be eroded in 138 years with bedrock exposure occurring in 212 years under the current management regime. These findings represent the first quantitative estimate of cultivated soil lifespans in the UK.

中文翻译：

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耕地的形成和侵蚀：英国基于坡的宇宙成因核素研究

耕地是支持多种生态系统服务的关键资源。但是，它们经常受到加速侵蚀的威胁。因此，确保其长期安全的政策是当务之急。尽管它们的长期安全性取决于土壤流失速率与土壤形成速率之间的平衡，但很少有研究支持耕作农业的土壤形成速率。本文通过介绍一个耕地（英国诺丁汉郡）和针叶林地山坡（英国什罗普郡）的第一个受同位素约束的土壤形成速率，解决了这一知识鸿沟。速率范围从0.026到0.096  mm yr ^-1在两个站点之间。这些速率属于以前公布的温带气候和砂岩岩性土壤速率的范围，但与仅有的其他基于英国的研究中测得的速率明显不同。我们建议这是由于我们站点中的父级材料更容易遭受风化。此外，发现与风成岩相比，风成砂岩的土壤形成速率最大，这引起了对母体岩石学组成控制土壤形成速率的程度的质疑。在当前支持耕作农业的山坡上，我们在一阶寿命模型中利用了宇宙成因的土壤形成和侵蚀速率，发现在最坏的情况下，在目前的管理体制下，后坡A层可能会在138年内被侵蚀，而基岩暴露则会在212年内发生。这些发现代表了英国耕地寿命的第一个定量估计。