Objective  Soil erosion is a global environmental issue that threatens agriculture, food security and ecosystems. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) technology initially proposed and utilized in environtology. With the development of magnetic measurement apparatus, it is feasible to obtain soil MS in weak magnitude. MS technique becomes burgeoning skill in soil erosion. Many of these studies are critical for understanding the application of MS to the study of soil erosion and the subsequent redeposition of the eroded particles on the landscape. However, fewer reviews was reported on soil erosion using soil MS.

  Method  In order to understand the development process and frontier hot spots of soil erosion magnetic research at home and abroad, this paper searched soil erosion studies cited by Web of Science core database and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) for nearly 30 years. Based on bibliometic analysis, this study drawn the co-occurring network of keywords and authors with the help of CiteSpace. Several statistical indices were calculated, such as centrality and density, to analyze the development of soil erosion magnetic research in different periods in hot spots, authors, institutions and countries, and to elucidate the inherent tendency of articles published in English and Chinese.

  Result  The results showed that: 1) The number of studies continuous increased abroad and peaked in 2018 with 74 papers. The number of articles written in English by Chinese researches reached the maximum in 2020, and the number of articles written in Chinese gradually decreased. 2) According to statistic of hot spots, international soil erosion magnetic research focused on quantified soil erosion, identifying erosion sediment sources and improving artificial magnetic tracing techniques. Domestic research focuses on the magnetic mechanism of soil, soil erosion on slopes scale by magnetic tracing technology. 3) Although the author cooperation network had initially formed, the scope was small, and the emphasis on information exchange and cooperation between academics was not high enough. The United States had the largest number of publications and was in the leading position in soil erosion magnetic research, while China was in the second with a higher publication than the United States in the past three years. The centrality of Chinses research was similar with that of the United States, indicating that both countries have strong scientific influence. 4) Institutions of international researches are numerous but less connected. Domestic institutions and scholars are not only less than aboard but also in low degree of cooperation. Among international research institutions, The Chinese Academy of Sciences has the largest number of publications and the largest centrality, indicating that this research institution has a high level of scientific research and a certain degree of scientific influence. Research institutions at home and abroad have little communication and collaboration.

  Conclusion  International soil erosion magnetic research is in a stage of continuous development.The articles in English is highly valued and the research progresses fast, but the articles in Chinese is low. International research content is relatively rich, while domestic research content and methods are mostly imported from abroad, and the innovation is not enough. The exchanges and cooperation between countries are getting closer, but the institutions are more independent. The research on soil erosion magnetic susceptibility in China has not yet reached the mature stage, and it is necessary to further strengthen the communication and cooperation between authors and institutions. Finally, the deficiencies and future development directions of soil erosion magnetic research in China are put forward. Therefore, Chinese researchers should give full play to the advantages of magnetic tracer technology, deeply understand the internal mechanism of soil erosion, and strengthen the quantitative research on soil erosion.