IMPROVEMENT OF SOME UPPER EUPHRATES SOIL RESISTANCE TO WATER EROSION BY USING TWO CONDITIONERS

Abstract

This study was conducted to know the effect of rainfall intensity and slope on the amount of soillsses under simulated rain, and the effect of Bitumen and wheat straw on soils losses conditioners on soil losses. Soil samples have been taken from the (0 - 30 cm) depth to four soils which are: Zangora, Mhammadi, Madheek and Heet whose erodibility classes are, high, moderate – high, moderate and low respectively, soil samples were air dried and sieved with a (4 mm) diameter sieve and put them in special flumes, two types of conditioners were used with control treatment. Bitumen sprayed with (1%) Concentration and wheat straw which was added in alevel of (6 mg. ha-1) mixed with soil to 5 cm depth. The containers were fixed on four slopes ( 0, 3, 5 ) and 7 % treatments are distributed randomly in three replicates for each treatment by using complete randomized design (CRD) with afactorial experiment. All the flumes are exposed to simulated rain with two intensities 30 an 53 mm. h-1 for 30 min. The scattered soil splash, soil losses by runoff and volume of surface runoff were measured. The results showed that increasing rainfall intensity and slope has asignificant effect on amount of soil losses by the scattered splash and runoff and volume of surface runoff. Adding the two Conditioners (Bitumen, wheat straw) had ahigh significant effect in decreasing soil Losses but Bitumen showed abetter effect than wheat in decreasing soil losses by splash, where as wheat straw showed abetter effect than Bitumen indecreasing soil losses by runoff. The wheat straw has better effect than Bitumen in decreasing runoff volume.