How Climate Change Contributes to Soil Erosion in Sulaimanya’s Mount Bira Makron

Abstract

This paper investigates how climate contributes to the formation of water and land erosion in Mount Bira Makron which is situated in Sulimaniya governorate, in the northeastern part of Iraq. The aim is to assess the role of climate change in the consequent risks and on the other ground manifestations, including soil loss and erosion. To realize this aim, the study is limited to six virtual sites of the area under study which is based on data taken from the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing Portal  http://chrsdata.eng.uci.edu/. The period is from 1990 to 2021 in order to measure rainfall and wind erosion and how these two climatic changes have reshaped the geomorphology of this site. A preliminary observation of the affected area showed that the geological formations have been found to be vulnerable to erosions, and the soil dominant a rocky one, which has urged erosion and weathering. The erosion and weathering common in this area are affected also by the steep, sloppy formations dominant in the area. Additionally, the sort of erosion and weathering is climate-related, with the region is of a Mediterranean classification which is known as wet and mid-winter semi-rainy. The application of the Fournier’s rain erosion, Bergasma’s furrow erosion, and FAO’s weathering equations indicated a common soil erosion with no significant weak structural capacity prevalent there. In the wind erosion equations, which were also weak if they did not result in topographical or sedimentary manifestations due to the lack of influence of the wind factor, As for the Bergsma equation, the largest percentage was in favor of the high gully erosion, due to the role of the ancient climate in determining the gully erosion in the research area