Abstract:Soil erosion-deposition is one of the essential mechanisms affecting the geochemical cycle of terrestrial ecosystem. In this study, the spatial distribution characteristics of soil biological, chemical and physical properties in erosion sites and deposition sites were systematically analyzed. The erosion-deposition plots were constructed based on the erosion-deposition geomorphic characteristics of the China’s Loess Plateau, including erosion sites with three slope gradients of 5°, 10° and 20°, and each erosion site was connected with a deposition site. During the experimental period (2015—2019), continuous in-situ monitoring of runoff, sediment, soil temperature and moisture under natural rainfall conditions were conducted. Soil samples were regularly collected for analyzing the physical and biochemical properties. The results showed that: (1) With the increasing of slope gradients, the intensity of soil erosion increased. In specific, compared with 5° slope, the annual runoff on 10 ° and 20 ° slopes increased by 30%~115% and 48%~207%, respectively, meanwhile, the annual sediment yield on the 10° and 20° slopes increased by 146%~505% and 241%~742%, respectively. (2) The concentrations of soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, mineral nitrogen, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and the clay content in the deposition sites were all significantly higher than those in erosion sites. However, the relative abundance of δ13C was 2.0%~3.3% higher in the erosion sites than that in the deposition sites. (3) The difference of soil properties between erosion site and deposition site increased with the increasing of slope gradients. Our results suggested that soil physical and chemical properties had opposite responses to soil erosion and deposition.