مؤشرات حقلية ومعملية لتقييم التعرية الريحية جنوب مدينة سرت

Abstract

Some indicators and field and laboratory methods were used to estimate and compare soil erosion by winds south of the city of Sirte, in the three directions southeast, south and southwest. The study was carried out in 18 sites, including 6 sites with irrigated agricultural, 6 other sites with rainfed agricultural and pastoral activity, and 6 last sites were arid pastoral lands with bare soils, in each of which there were 3 sites of very slight slope and 3 other sites with a slight to Medium slope .Soil samples were taken for all sites to estimate some soil properties, and a sand trap experiment was conducted to identify the prevailing sizes of sand in the sediment. The study also used the experimental equation to estimate soil loss due to wind erosion to achieve comparisons between areas.The results showed that the study lands suffer from high susceptibility to wind erosion, as the soils were characterized by low content of clay, silt, and organic matter, and soil aggregates greater than 0.5mm, with a significant increase in the percentage of sand.The study found that soil erosion by wind on arid lands was twice as high compared to irrigated agricultural lands, according to the following order: arid > rain-fed > irrigated lands. Also, soil wind erosion on sloped lands were relatively higher than on flat lands. Soil characteristics, vegetation density and land slope played an important role in wind erosion susceptibility. The study classified areas south of Sirte as having high and very high risks of wind erosion, which requires special measures to stabilize the soil and preserve lands and develop monitoring and evaluation processes for wind erosion using field monitoring techniques and laboratory measurements and expanding the use of digital technologies.