Spatiotemporal Pattern of Soil Erosion in Crimea

The spatiotemporal variability of soil erosion in Crimea in the periods of 1958–1988 and 1989–2018 is estimated on the basis of RUSLE. The erosion rate varies from very slight to very high in the region. The most eroded areas are confined to the Southern Crimea mountains mainly corresponding to a combination of a high rainfall erosivity (R-factor) and relatively steep slopes (LS-factor). Soil loss in the first period slightly exceeded the similar value after 1989 approximately 13%, while the proportion of moderately to very highly eroded areas varied within the range of less than 1%. These changes are related to both the reduction of agricultural cultivated lands and the variability of soil erosion factors. The soil erosion formation is mainly due to the factors of rainfall erosivity, slope steepness, as well as the cover-management factor in Crimea. Based on the comparison of the actual suspended sediment yield in the gauges with the soil erosion values, most river areas are characterized by the accumulation of eroded material when no more than 50% of the washed-out products reach the gauges.