HUMAN INDUCED SOIL AND LANDFORM DEGRADATION IN MARYUT .BURG EL ARAB REGION, EGYPT | ||||
| Journal of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering | ||||
| Article 18, Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2013, Page 359-374 PDF (901.84 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jssae.2013.51789 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| M. A. Hammad1; S. M. Abou El-Enan1; A. G. Gad2; K. M. El-Ashry1; M. A. E. Saeed1 | ||||
| 1Soils & Water Dept., Fac. of Agric., Cairo Al-Azhar Univ., Egypt | ||||
| 2National Authority for Remote Sensing &Space Sciences, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The area of burg el Arab west of the Nile Delta, Egypt, comprises a Pleistocene coastal plain formed due to regression of shorelines, where parallel bars are characterizing recessive shorelines. These bars are considered to be formed during the glacial periods .They is composed of light white calcareous oolitic sand. The older bars are lithified and locally eroded by descending wadis draining the upper coastal plain and the southern table land. The bars are alternating with fresh lagoons near the present sea while the older lagooonal depressions are filled with fluviomarine sediment. Expansion of agricultural lands comprises some tracts in the region upon digging of El Hammam canal to bringing Nile water for irrigations. Irrigation practices needed leveling of land. Regardless the environmental consequences, this resulted in distructing wide parts of the wadies. This study aimed at monitoring degradation of landforms and soil upon violation of environmental stability in the region. Fortunately, old soil and geological maps were available .The soil map of the High Dam project (1963) described the soil conditions and outlined the prominent landforms. Fourteen soil profiles, representing different soil units within the High Dam project, were chosen be reinvestigated. Morphological descriptions and sampling soil horizons were undertaken for physical and chemical analyses.The field and laboratory investigation revealed that a number of four mapping unit are salt affected and two are water logged, Deformation of soil profile horizon sequences are pointed out in a number of four sites. Moreover, two sites showed disturbance of lithified limestone bars as result of quarrying activates. Awareness of soil degradation consequences before reclamation may have led to better management and to avoid intervening in natural drainage. Conservation of the natural history of the famous Pleistocene bars is equally important. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Human induced soil and landform degradation; change detection and environmental balance | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 80 PDF Download: 315 |
||||
