Page 193 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Bilgi Sarihan - Ramazan Acar Çakır
Aydın Uzun

2.2. Wind Erosion Sensitivity

Keeping the soil protected and retained in its place is one of the primary measures
in the fight against desertification in the region, and it is fundamental to on-site land
management practices. Indeed, soil provides sustainable agriculture and high-quality
ecosystem services (Daily, 1997). In other words, soil serves many functions, such as
food provision, climate regulation, water conservation, air quality, and agricultural
sustainability (Palm, 2014).
Among the greatest dangers that accelerate the transformation of arid and semi-
arid areas into desertification, especially in its final stages, is wind erosion, which leads
to the loss of the fertile topsoil layer. It is known that one-sixth of the world’s population
lives in arid regions (Gore, 1979). In fact, the main factors of land degradation in the
vast plains of these areas are strong winds and scarce rainfall (Fryrear, 1981). More than
500 million hectares of land worldwide are negatively affected by wind erosion (Grini,
2003). Globally, this impact is not only limited to local and regional environments in
arid and semi-arid areas, but is also responsible for the transportation of fertile topsoil
nutrients and soil material across continents (Gillette, 2004).
In Turkey, wind erosion, which is often overlooked despite its significant impact,
directly causes serious problems on 465,913 hectares of land, with a particular threat
on 322,474 hectares in the Central Anatolia region, especially in the Konya-Karapınar
area (Figure 3) (Acar, 2010). In the 1960s, the plain, along with drought, faced severe
wind erosion due to the effects of wind abrasion, transportation, and deposition,
putting it at risk of desertification, the final stage of land degradation.
In the Karapınar Plain, where the typical morphology of arid regions is observed,
the abrasive and depositional effects of wind have led to the formation of sand reliefs.
The formation of these features is primarily influenced by factors such as rock and soil
properties, surface shapes (such as old lake beds and plains), and climate conditions
(temperature, frost events, wind direction and intensity, and drought) (Özdemir, 2023).
On the field, the formation of a surface suitable for wind erosion is influenced by
topographic features, as well as the fact that the sands in the area are ancient river
delta deposits, making the area prone to deflation (Erinç, 1963).
Around the Karapınar Stony Plain, there are limestone, ancient pyroclastics,
basalts, andesites, Quaternary-aged volcanic-sedimentary rocks, hillside rubble,
alluvial fans, alluvium, and sands. The Karapınar Plain, which also includes the plain
floor and volcanic hills, is a pluvial lake bed. The clastic rocks in the lake plain, alluvial
fans formed by rivers flowing from the surrounding areas to the plain floor, and the
climatic characteristics contribute to the sensitivity to wind erosion (Özdemir, 2023).
Karapınar, which is intensely affected by wind erosion for more than half of the year,
has a semi-arid climate.
According to station data from 1964 to 2021, the annual average temperature is
11.2°C, and the annual precipitation is 295.4 mm. In the plain, as a result of frost events,

180 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate