Title: Assessment of soil erosion and sediment yield changes using erosion potential model: case study of Sangcharak catchment in Fars, Iran

Authors: Abdol Rassoul Zarei; Marzieh Mokarram

Addresses: Department of Range and Watershed Management, College of Agricultural Science, Fasa University, Fasa City, Iran ' Department of Range and Watershed Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Darab, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract: The sediments resulting from the erosion of basins lead to the squandering of the soil, reduction of its infertility and decreasing of the quality of the water, and that is why the lifespan of the dams would be endangered because of the accumulation of the sediments. The goal of this research is to estimate erosion and sediment yield in Sangcharak basin by Erosion Potential Method (EPM), using GIS. For the purposes of quantifying the erosion intensity change has been done with the soil erosion maps from 2005 and recent state of erosion in 2014. Result of this paper showed that specific annual gross erosion on the Sangcharak territory was 775.34 (m³.km⁻².y⁻¹) in 2005 while in 2014 it was 914.24 (m³.km⁻².y⁻¹). Therefore, due to changes in intensity of erosion processes the specific annual gross erosion in catchment areas was increased by 138.89 (m³.km⁻².y⁻¹). Specific sediment yield in this area was 300.18 (m³.km⁻².y⁻¹) in 2005, while in 2014 was 349.01 (m³.km⁻².y⁻¹).

Keywords: erosion potential model; erosion mapping; soil erosion intensity; land use changes; specific sediment yield; case study; Iran; water quality; sediment accumulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2016.080885

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2016 Vol.12 No.4, pp.344 - 356

Received: 17 Jan 2016
Accepted: 23 Jun 2016
Published online: 10 Dec 2016 *

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