The soil properties of dust source of south-eastern Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to explore the physio-chemical soil characteristics in the dust hotspot of south-eastern Ahvaz in the Iranian province Khuzestan. The knowledge about physical and chemical characteristics of soils at the landscape scale is crucial for biological stabilization processes of soil surfaces to prevent or to reduce deflation processes. For this purpose, we collected soil samples in a 2 × 2 km grid and measured physical and chemical properties of the soils in the lab. Then, the erodible fraction (EF) and soil crust factor (SCF) were calculated based on an improved wind erosion model method. The results show that the erodible fraction of the soil classified into high susceptibility classes and SCF have significant variations throughout the study area. The majority of soils in dust source areas has heavy to very heavy texture and suffer from low organic matter, salinity, and alkalinity, which limit the growth of plants and make the prevention of wind erosion difficult.