Dataset relating soil organic content and caesium-137 activities in the Houay Pano catchment of northern Laos over 42 years (1963-2015)

The soil samples were taken in collaboration with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) at different soil depths and under different vegetation cover at the long-term observatory catchment of Houay Pano in Northern Laos between 2000 and 2005. This dataset holds some general soil properties: bulk dry density (cylinder method), total organic carbon concentration (TOC), total nitrogen concentration (TN), 13C/12C and 15N/14N isotope ratios determined by EA-IRMS (dry combustion), radionuclide 137Cs and 210Pbxs activities and Potassium concentration (K) were measured by gamma-ray spectrometry. Soil elemental and isotopic analyses were carried out at iEES Paris laboratory. Radionuclides activities were measured at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l‘Environnement (LSCE) in Gif-sur-Yvette. Part of this study received financial support from the French INSU project PNSE 12 and the FFEM-AFD programmes.