Through the field survey and laboratory analysis，soil profiles with various land uses were characterized regarding soil organic carbon variations and storages in the Zhifanggou watershed in the loess hilly region． The results show that the soil organic carbon contents in different soil layers varied moderately，increasing with soil depth，in the study area． Approximately 4．73 ×10⁴t soil organic carbon was stored in 0-60 cm soils in the watershed，which was mainly distributed in natural grassland and forest，accounting for 80% of the total amount． Under different types of land use，the soil organic carbon content in the Zhifanggou watershed differed significantly，in a descending order as:natural grassland ＞ shrub ＞ forest ＞ dammed valley ＞ terrace farmland ＞ slope land ＞ abandoned land ＞ orchard．