STUDY OF RATAGA BASIN VALLEY (WESTERN OF IRAQ) CRUSTING AND ERODIBILITY BY WIND AND WATER

Abstract

A field study was conducted in the area of Ratga Valley, western of Iraq, within longitudes (40º 46' 40" and 39º 36' 37" N) and latitudes (34º 17' 19" and 32º 41' 06" E) to investigate the degradation process of valley lands, depending on the topographic maps, satellite images and digital elevation model, the nature of region was defined as arid and semi-arid land. Results showed the existence seven series of soils within the study area. The Results showed that the values of wind soil Erodibility indicator were ranged between -0.250 and 0.393, (ARCGIS 9.3 software, used), when the soil area of low Erodibility was within the area of 2306 km2 , while the soil mid and high Erodibility indicator was located in the area of 566 and 2748 km2 , respectively. In the other hand, the area of soil that had low crusting was in the area of 3080 km2. The mid and low area categories were approached to 646 and 1894 km2 for mid and high class, respectively. Also, the areas categories of low, mid and high classes of water Erodibility was located in the area of 154, 1775 and 3691 km2 , respectively