Assessment Of Flood Recession On Morphological And Physical Properties Of Humid Tropical Soils Of Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Ozi, V.
Institute of Geosciences and Environmental Management, Rivers State University, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Peter, K.D.
Department of Crop/Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Gobo, A.E
Institute of Geosciences and Environmental Management, Rivers State University, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Ngah, S. A.
Institute of Geosciences and Environmental Management, Rivers State University, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Keywords: Assessment, Bayelsa, flood recession, Southern Ijaw, rigid gird method
Abstract
The major objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of flood recession on soil morphological and physical properties in Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The digitized map of the study area was gridded using the rigid grid methods for soil sampling. Three mapping units designated as AMA1, AMA2, and AMA3 for profile pit excavation were identified. Three soil profile pits were dug with dimension of 2m x 2m x 2m except where there were obstructions due low depth to water table. Soil samples were collected and processed for laboratory analysis. Results obtained, revealed that flood and its recession have great impacts on soil morphological and physical properties. Soil colour varied from brown (7.5YR 5/3) to Dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4). Soil textures were between sandy clay loam to silty clay. Soil structures majorly sub-angular blocky. Result also indicated that clay particles size dominated in soils of the study area and ranged between 52.4 - 493 g/kg followed by silt (319.4 – 414 g/kg) and (92.6 – 156.4 g/kg). This affected soil bulk density (0.69 – 1.39 g/cm3), soil moisture contents (15.9 – 28.07 %) and Porosity (47.59 - 73.85 %). Thus, alluvium parent materials influenced the types of soils formed, their nature and properties for sustainable crop production.