Investigation of Cankiri Gökdere watershed characteristics and some hydrophysical soil properties

The purpose of this study was to determine the watershed characteristics, to show the effect of different land use types (forest, grassland, agriculture) and aspect on soil properties in 7243.85 ha Çankırı Gökdere Watershed. Average elevation of the watershed is 1714 m and slope is 20.24%. The study area is generally north and south, facing. Geological, topographical and stand maps belonging to Gökdere Watershed were converted into digital maps using the ArcInfo software. Some physical and chemical analysis?s were conducted with 55 soil samples taken from two different aspects of forest, grassland and cultivated lands, taking two samples from each of 12 soil pits. Eighteen intact (100 cm3) and disturbed soil samples were taken from 0-15 cm soil to determine bulk density and other soil properties, and 60 intact samples of 400 cm3 were taken to determine soil hydrolic properties. Infiltration rate were measured with tension infiltrometers in 12 locations. Bulk density, amount of organic matter, total nitrogen, moisture context in the critical tensions, hydraulic conductivity and infiltration capacity, differed significantly in different land use types. Infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity were higher in the north aspect, the amount of organic matter was greater in the forest soils of south aspect, while was lower in the grassland and cultivated lands of the south aspect.