Investigations on some physical properties of the soils under different land use type in aalyan-atasu dam creek watershed

In this study, effects of different land use types on some soil physical properties in Galyan-Atasu Dam watershed were investigated. Galyan-Atasu Dam watershed was selected because of the irrigation and to produce electrical energy. The duration of these dams in the basin varies depending on the of soil properties. The newly-built dam cannot be used when it become filled with sediments is undesirable.Thus, determination of soils physical properties, which are especially, soil erodibility indexes, between under the different land uses helps a significant contribution to the management of watershed.Therefore, the totally 53 soil samples were chosen from two different geological formations (Çatak and Hamurkesen), three different land use types (grassland, agricultural and forested) and two different altitudes (500-1000 m and 1000-1500 m) in such a way that they represented general conditions of the watershed area. On the other hand, the sample plots have been chosen each land use types of two different geological formations (Çatak and Hamurkesen). Although soil samples were taken from three different depth steps (0-20 cm, 20-50 cm and 50 ? cm), only two depths were used.The present study indicates that land use type and parent material should be taken into for further studies since they affect significantly some important soil properties. The results obtained will be useful in terms of forestry management in Turkey.