Abstract
This paper assessed the environmental impact of gully erosion in Eke, Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, South East Nigeria. Data on the gully sites were collected using measuring instrument; observations were made with regards to the effects of the hazard on the study areas. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select respondents. A total of 150 questionnaires were returned out of 200 questionnaires distributed. Findings show that the gully in Enugu Eke has a mean cross-sectional dimension of 15.67 + 14.01m, that of Oma Eke 13.00 + 12.49m, while Ogui Eke has a mean cross-sectional dimension of 7.60 + 5.70m. From the mean values, differences was observed among the various study sites, however, with very high standard deviations and standard errors for Enugu Eke and Oma Eke, supported by the ANOVA results, having calculated F-value of 0.395, which is less than the critical F-value of 5.14, and the p-value of 0.69 > 0.05. The difference observed among the three study sites is not significant. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted. The study revealed that the initiation and development of erosion gullies in the area is facilitated by natural (rainfall, topography, engineering geological properties of soil especially texture, etc) and anthropogenic factors especially road construction, excavation, drainage structure, farming, animal grazing. The study observed that gully erosion have caused a lot of pain and damage such as loss of life's, properties, communication routes, roads and has also modified the topography of the area. Recommendation made include planting of vegetative cover, construction of erosion channels, educating the populace and creating awareness on adequate practices to curtail the menace.
Highlights
Soil erosion is a geomorphic process whereby the surface layer of weathered rock is loosened and carried away by wind, running water, wave, ice and a lower horizon in the soil or rock is exposed (Morgan [1].) Ordinarily, soil erosion when balanced with soil formation is said to be normal when it occurs as a natural process
Ofomata [5] indicated that gully erosion types are the most visible forms of erosion in Nigeria mainly because of the remarkable impression they leave on the surface of the earth
Most researches have shown that the environmental factors of vegetation, geology, geomorphology, and climate in the form of rainfall which is very aggressive in the region and the soil factor contribute to the erosion problem and their development (Ofomata [5], Igwe [8])
Summary
Soil erosion is a geomorphic process whereby the surface layer of weathered rock is loosened and carried away by wind, running water, wave, ice and a lower horizon in the soil or rock is exposed (Morgan [1].) Ordinarily, soil erosion when balanced with soil formation is said to be normal when it occurs as a natural process. Accelerated erosion is defined as the displacement and removal of soil from a land surface such that the removal process far exceeds its replacement by pedological process (Strahler, [3].) According to Strahler [3], the area of the world estimated to be suffering from some form of land degradation stands at about 2 billon hectares. Ofomata [5] indicated that gully erosion types are the most visible forms of erosion in Nigeria mainly because of the remarkable impression they leave on the surface of the earth He noted that more than 1.6% of the entire land area of eastern Nigeria is occupied by gullies. This investigation has the aim for the study the environmental impact of Eke gully areas (Enugu Eke, Oma Eke and Ogui Eke communities) and to find out the principal causes of the menace, and its effect on the community.”
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