Splash erosion-induced soil aggregate turnover and associated organic carbon dynamics

The splash erosion-induced soil aggregate turnover is important to understand the mechanisms of soil degradation and soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling. However, the relationship between aggregate turnover and rainfall impact has not been explored directly because of methodological difficulties. The soil samples, developed from Quaternary red clay, were adopted from three land use types: natural forest (NF), garden/shrubs (AS), and abandoned meadow (AM). By using rare earth oxides to trace the transformation in soil aggregates of four size-fractions (>2 mm, large macroaggregate; 0.25–2 mm, small macroaggregate; 0.053–0.25 mm, microaggregate;