Soil crust formation depent on different soil characteristics

Soil, one of the most significant natural sources of humankind, tend to vanish due to eroding, and becomes unproductive, destroyed both psychically and chemically. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more studies with regard to conserving soil and its sustainable usage. Occurrence of crust or slippery layer on soil surface is an important soil problem especially in sloping and weak surface areas. This study was conducted in the two adjusted watersheds called as Il？cak and Kum？ay？ in the river Gediz Basin, and covers about 16.645 ha. The west side of the research area is the low land plain while, in the east side of the study area land form is generally hilly and mountainous. The aim of this study is to investigate the formation of soil crust in the Il？cak and Kum？ay？ watersheds soil. In this study, total 318 soil samples were collected from soil surface (0-20 cm) under different land use and land cover and based on the 700*700 m grid. After laboratory analysis, obtained results were used in estimation of crust formation. According to the results of the research, the 80% of study area has high soil crust formation problem whereas, low soil crust formation risk was detected in the south part of the study area. In this respect, in order to prevent soil crust formation, it should be increased aggregation by applying organic matter into soil. Besides, it should be taken some precautions such as choosing most suitable irrigation techniques, arrangement of cultivation or tillage time. In addition, in pasture lands should be avoided from excessive grading that leads to formation of soil crust and erosion