Soil erosion

as one of the major global environmental concerns

is usually the result from both natural and human factors.Sediment in lakes and reservoirs can continuously record the history of soil erosion with a high resolution in drainage basins of those water bodies

and therefore analyses of it have been becoming an important approach of investigation of occurrence and persistence of soil erosion.Furthermore

an understanding of the process and mechanism of material migration within a lake-watershed system

interactions of lake evolution with human activities and their quantitative distinction is the focus of limnology.This paper reviews the development of applications of radioactive trace isotopes

magnetic minerals

particle size

carbon

nitrogen and other chemical elements of lake/reservoir sediment in soil erosion investigations

and elucidates their further utilizations and advances.