Anion concentrations in soil and their contributions to gully erosion menace in Anambra State, Nigeria

Samples were collected from three different erosion zones of the twenty-one Local Government Areas of Anambra State. The sieved samples were digested. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer 205 and other qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out including pH. Results obtained show that the mean anion concentrations for Highly Erosion areas, HEA; Intermediately Erosive areas, IEA; and Non-Erosive areas NEA, were as follows: HEA C1- 16.54ppm IEA 402.75ppm> NEA 49.40ppm; CO3 2- concentration is found to be 94.93ppm, 388.74ppm and 1,172.53ppm for HEA, IEA AND NEA respectively. For silica, HEA contains 75.47%; IEA 82.70 and NEA 83.40%. pH values are seen as HEA 5.86; IE 6.07 and NEA 7.02. Principal component analysis of variants showed that anions such as SO4 2-, C1- and PO4 3- are common in HEA and IEA whereas CO3 2- and SiO2 are significant in NEA. Therefore HEA are prone to erosion as the soil is acidic

Author(s): E. N. Ojiakor, A. N. Eboatu and I. E. Otuokere

Abstract | PDF

Share This Article