Richárd NAGY¹, Zsolt ZSÓFI², István PAPP³, Mária FÖLDVÁRI⁴, Attila KERÉNYI¹ & Szilárd SZABÓ^1
1 University of Debrecen, Department of Landscape Protection and Environmental Geography, H-4032
Debrecen, Egyetem Tér 1., Hungary nagy.richard@science.unideb.hu
²Research Institute for Viticulture and Enology, Károly Róbert College, H-3300 Eger, Kőlyuktető, PO.Box.: 83,
³University of Debrecen, Department of Mineralogy and Geology, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem Tér1,
⁴Geological Institute of Hungary, H-1442 Budapest, Stefánia út 14

EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOIL EROSION AND THE MINERAL COMPOSITION OF THE SOIL: A CASE STUDY FROM A COOL CLIMATE WINE REGION OF HUNGARY

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Sedimentological investigations and thermal analyses were carried out in a steep slope vineyard in 2007 (Nagy-Eged hill – located in the north-eastern part of Hungary). This area is proned extremely eroded due to its significant steepness and vine-growing cultivation. Soil thickness is approximately 50 cm near the top while at the bottom the thickness of horizon A alone reaches up to 150 cm. According to the results the ratio of fractions smaller than 0.02 mm and those larger than 2 mm between the top and the bottom is reverse. In the lower slope section the ratio of particles smaller than 0.02 mm is three times that in the upper slope section. Similarly the ratio of particles larger than 2 mm in the lower slope section is five times that in the upper slope section. The quantity of clay minerals measured by thermal analysis is larger than that measured by elutriation indicating that a part of them exceeds the diameter of 2μm. Our results revealed the effects of soil erosion on the mineral composition of the soil. The amount of clay minerals (e.g. montmorillonite) is about the double in the lower section, than in the upper of the slope. Clay minerals caused negative water budget in the upper levels resulting in the occurrence of anthropogenic water deficit as the consequence of soil erosion. Therefore vegetative growth of plants in the lower areas is better than that of those in the upper areas.