PROPOSAL TO STUDY ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF REDUCING SOIL EROSION IN ALBANIA

Soil erosion and associated nonpoint pollution are critical problems affecting the economic welfare, food security, and public health of Albania. Nearly 60 million tons of sediment are deposited by Albanian rivers into the Adriatic Sea each year. This translates into a national average soil erosion rate of 27.2 tons per hectare per year, which is more than twice the level of "tolerable" erosion established by many countries. This also means that an average of 2.3 mm of valuable topsoil are lost to the ocean each year. Accompanying the topsoil are agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers as well as industrial pollutants, which are transported to reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and the ocean, thereby causing a degradation in water quality. The objectives of the proposed study include: to quantify the magnitude of soil erosion and its effects on water quality at three levels of intensity: site-specific, watershed, and the nation as a whole; to identify high-risk areas for immediate soil erosion control using a geographic information system; to create a public awareness program that uses soil erosion control as an example of land protection in Albania; to monitor the effectiveness of soil erosion control on discharge of sediments into the Adriatic Sea using remote sensing; and to determine the economic benefits of soil erosion control.Soil conservation--Environmental aspects--Albania, Soil conservation--Economic aspects--Albania, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

PREPARATION OF ACTION PLAN FOR PROTECTION OF LAND IN ALBANIA

The degradation of Albania's land resources is a serious impediment to the welfare of the people of Albania as well as that of future generations. Resolving land degradation requires the concerted action of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a Land Protection Action Plan could be developed. There are three general types of land degradation which this Land Protection Action Plan would attempt to solve: excessive soil erosion, contamination of surface and ground water, and unguided urbanization on high-quality agricultural land. The paper goes on to describe the steps to be taken to prepare the action plan, including documenting problems, identifying high-risk areas, identifying and carrying out needed research, designing educational programs, reviewing and preparing legislation, developing an investment program for land protection, and monitoring the evolution of different types of land degradation. The paper also describes the implementation of such an action plan.Agricultural conservation -- Albania, Land use -- Albania -- Planning, Land degradation -- Albania -- Prevention, Land Economics/Use,

Soils and parent materials of Findley Lake, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington

Findley Lake watershed is located in the Snoqualmie National Forest and has a surface area of 259 ha (1 Mi²). The lake is at an elevation of 1128 m (3701 ft) but the ridges attain elevations of 1450 m (4750 ft). The Cougar Mountain Formation, consisting of lava flows, conglomerate, and volcanic sandstone, underlies the basin. The area has been glaciated and covered by a number of volcanic ash layers. Carbon 14 dating of stratified charcoal has shown that tephra are present among the ashes of Mt. St. Helens-W, Mt. St. Helens-Y, and Mazama (300, 3200, and 6700 yr B.P., respectively). An extensive fire occurred 200 years ago. Abies amabilis and Tsuga heterophylla are the most common tree species of the area. Soils were mapped into groups depending upon parent material and vegetation. The following groups were recognized. Soils of talus (16.2% of total); soils of mixed materials: (1) forested (56.2%), (2) semiforested (4.3%), (3) unforested (1.6%); residual soils of the ridges: (1) forested (17.5%), (2) unforested (4.2%). The soils Include the Haplumbrept, yorthod, and Haplaquept, andic and humic

Findley Lake watershed a terrestrial-lake interface program

One of the major objectives of the Western. Coniferous Biome is to understand the relation between terrestrial ecosystems and the chemical and biological properties of drainage waters. The first year of study on such a program has been completed and has primarily entailed a year of descriptive studies.Includes supplemental reports 25-A, B & C

PREPARATION OF ACTION PLAN FOR PROTECTION OF LAND IN ALBANIA

The degradation of Albania's land resources is a serious impediment to the welfare of the people of Albania as well as that of future generations. Resolving land degradation requires the concerted action of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a Land Protection Action Plan could be developed. There are three general types of land degradation which this Land Protection Action Plan would attempt to solve: excessive soil erosion, contamination of surface and ground water, and unguided urbanization on high-quality agricultural land. The paper goes on to describe the steps to be taken to prepare the action plan, including documenting problems, identifying high-risk areas, identifying and carrying out needed research, designing educational programs, reviewing and preparing legislation, developing an investment program for land protection, and monitoring the evolution of different types of land degradation. The paper also describes the implementation of such an action plan

Characteristics of soils from the Quartermain Mountain area, Antarctica

Soil-forming processes and soil development rates are compared and contrasted on glacial deposits in two adjacent and coeval valleys of the Quartermain Mountains, which are important because they display Miocene glacial stratigraphy and some of the oldest landforms in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. More than 100 soil profiles were examined on seven drift sheets ranging from 115 000 to greater than 11.3 million years in age in Beacon Valley and Arena Valley. Although the two valleys contain drifts of similar age, they differ markedly in ice content of the substrate. Whereas Arena Valley generally has 'dry-frozen' permafrost in the upper 1 m and minimal patterned ground, Beacon Valley contains massive ice buried by glacial drift and ice-cored rock glaciers and has ice-cemented permafrost in the upper 1 m and considerable associated patterned ground. Arena Valley soils have twice the rate of profile salt accumulation than Beacon Valley soils, because of lower available soil water and minimal cryoturbation. The following soil properties increase with age in both valleys: weathering stage, morphogenetic salt stage, thickness of the salt pan, the quantity of profile salts, electrical conductivity of the horizon of maximum salt enrichment, and depth of staining. Whereas soils less than 200 000 years and older soils derived from sandstone-rich ground moraine are Typic Anhyorthels and Anhyturbels, soils of early Quaternary and older age, particularly on dolerite-rich drifts, are Petronitric Anhyorthels. Arena Valley has the highest pedodiversity recorded in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The soils of the Quartermain Mountains are the only soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys known to contain abundant nitrates

(Table 3) Age-related trends of desert pavement properties in the Transantarctic Mountains

Compared to mid-latitude deserts, the properties, formation and evolution of desert pavements and the underlying vesicular layer in Antarctica are poorly understood. This study examines the desert pavements and the vesicular layer from seven soil chronosequences in the Transantarctic Mountains that have developed on two contrasting parent materials: sandstone-dolerite and granite-gneiss. The pavement density commonly ranges from 63 to 92% with a median value of 80% and does not vary significantly with time of exposure or parent material composition. The dominant size range of clasts decreases with time of exposure, ranging from 16-64 mm on Holocene and late Quaternary surfaces to 8-16 mm on surfaces of middle Quaternary and older age. The proportion of clasts with ventifaction increases progressively through time from 20% on drifts of Holocene and late Quaternary age to 35% on Miocene-aged drifts. Desert varnish forms rapidly, especially on dolerite clasts, with nearly 100% cover on surfaces of early Quaternary and older age. Macropitting occurs only on clasts that have been exposed since the Miocene. A pavement development index, based on predominant clast-size class, pavement density, and the proportion of clasts with ventifaction, varnish, and pits, readily differentiated pavements according to relative age. From these findings we judge that desert pavements initially form from a surficial concentration of boulders during till deposition followed by a short period of deflation and a longer period of progressive chemical and physical weathering of surface clasts. The vesicular layer that underlies the desert pavement averages 4 cm in thickness and is enriched in silt, which is contributed primarily by weathering rather than eolian deposition. A comparison is made between desert pavement properties in mid-latitude deserts and Antarctic deserts

PROPOSAL TO STUDY ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF REDUCING SOIL EROSION IN ALBANIA

Soil erosion and associated nonpoint pollution are critical problems affecting the economic welfare, food security, and public health of Albania. Nearly 60 million tons of sediment are deposited by Albanian rivers into the Adriatic Sea each year. This translates into a national average soil erosion rate of 27.2 tons per hectare per year, which is more than twice the level of "tolerable" erosion established by many countries. This also means that an average of 2.3 mm of valuable topsoil are lost to the ocean each year. Accompanying the topsoil are agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers as well as industrial pollutants, which are transported to reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and the ocean, thereby causing a degradation in water quality. The objectives of the proposed study include: to quantify the magnitude of soil erosion and its effects on water quality at three levels of intensity: site-specific, watershed, and the nation as a whole; to identify high-risk areas for immediate soil erosion control using a geographic information system; to create a public awareness program that uses soil erosion control as an example of land protection in Albania; to monitor the effectiveness of soil erosion control on discharge of sediments into the Adriatic Sea using remote sensing; and to determine the economic benefits of soil erosion control