Abstract: The effect of SOC caused by soil erosion has become as a focus in the study of carbon cycle in arid area. The relationship between ¹³⁷Cs and soil organic carbon can be used to monitor SOM and to provide the references for preventing and controlling nutrient loss in arid area. Soil samples were collected at 2 cm depth interval from sandy land,bare land,Gobi desert,steppe and arable land in the east Junggar Basin,Xinjiang. The SOM and ¹³⁷Cs of soil samples were measured,and the ¹³⁷Cs tracer method was used to estimate the soil erosion rates of five different land use types. Synchronously,the relationship between SOM and soil ¹³⁷Cs in different land use types was discussed. The results showed that ¹³⁷Cs was basically distributed within 15cm of non-arable soil depth,and mainly in plough layer of cultivated land. The ¹³⁷Cs was decreased with the increase of soil depth in non-cultivated land,and there was a uniform distribution in the farmland. The SOM of steppe was in a decrease trend with the increase of soil depth. The change of organic matter content in Gobi desert and bare land was not significant,and the organic matter content in cultivated land was distributed uniformly. The total ¹³⁷Cs content was in an order of steppe > fixed sandy land> Gobi desert > cultivated land> bare land> semi-fixed sandy land,and the organic matter content was in an order of steppe and cultivated land> Gobi desert > fixed sandy land > semi-fixed sandy land and bare land. The soil erosion rates estimated by ¹³⁷Cs tracer method were quite different from the different sampling sites. The differences between the values of wind erosion determined by the ¹³⁷Cs tracer technique and the actually measured results were significant. There was a weak or no correlation between soil ¹³⁷Cs and organic matter content in the east Junggar Basin.

Key words: wind erosion zone, ¹³⁷Cs, SOC, land use type, soil erosion rate, east Junggar Basin, Xinjiang