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Soils Embrace Life and Universe The 20th World Congress of Soil Science
June 8~13, 2014 Jeju, Korea

O84-5
[C3.2-1] B: Soil Erosion and Degradation on Agriculture Land

The Soil Erosion Risk Map of the Sicilian Region (1:250,000 Scale)

1
2*
1
Maria Fantappie , Simone Priori and Edoardo Costantini

1
Agrobiology and Pedology Research Center, Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Italy
2
CRA-ABP, Consiglio per la ricerca e la sperimentazione in agricoltura, Italy
edoardo.costantini@entecra.it

Assessing the risk areas of soil erosion by water at the regional level is relevant for current and future land planning of
environmental actions to combat land degradation. The gravity of the risk is not only depending on the rate of soil erosion by water,
but also on other factors, primarily soil depth and rock weatherability. The map of the soil erosion risk in the Sicilian region,

expressed in terms of years to a complete loss of the fertile soil cover, is here presented as a methodological model. The degree of
risk was not only estimated in function of the rate of soil erosion by water, but also of the depth of the fertile part of the profile, and
of the weatherability degree of the underlying bedrock.

Keywords : Risk assessment, soil thematic strategy, geomorphology, geology, soil formation rate, Sicily