TITLE:
Effects of Soil and Rock Mineralogy on Soil Erosion Features in the Merek Watershed, Iran
AUTHORS:
Mosayeb Heshmati, Nik M. Majid, Shamshuddin Jusop, Mohamad Gheitury, Arifin Abdu
KEYWORDS:
Erosion Feature; Merek Watershed; Soil Mineralogy; X-Ray Diffractogram
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.5 No.3,
June
19,
2013
ABSTRACT: Accelerated
soil erosion is anthropogenic phenomenon and a major worldwide environmental problem.
It mainly leads to removal of the clay minerals and soil nutrients and thereby reduces
soil fertility because of mineralogical influence on the soil. The objectives of
this study were to identify the dominant soil and rock minerals and the influences
of mineralogical properties on soil erosion features. This study was conducted at
the Merek watershed, located in Kermanshah,
Iran. There are
different geological formations comprising limestone, sandstone, radiolarite, flysch,
shale and marl. The border of each formation was mapped based on geology map and
was checked in the field, using GPS and digitized by GIS software (ILWIS 3.5). The
erosion feature map was prepared through remotely sensed data (Landsat ETM+ 2002, Path/Row and acquired date). About 300
soil and 28 rock samples were collected from the study area for soil and mineralogy
analysis. Result shows that inter-rill, rill and snow erosion were occurred mainly
at soil from Sarvak, Ilam and Gurpi Formation which are mainly containing calcite,
dolomite, quartz and caolinite minerals giving moderate soil erosion intensity (5 - 10 t·ha–1·yr–1).
Whereas mica/smectite was dominant clay mineral of soil from Older Terraces resulting
in gully erosion and considerable 12.90 t·ha–1·yr–1 soil loss. Furthermore, smectite was
found as the dominant clay mineral from both soil and parent material of Kashkan
Formation (marls material) contributing to landslide occurrence and severe annual
soil erosion (16.6 t·ha–1·yr–1). This study revealed that both soil erosion
feature and intensity potentially are affected by mineralogical properties.