ABSTRACT

Soil loss is as a result of detachment and transportation ofsoil particles from one place to another due to rainfall. The important ofsoil is too many to mention. For instance, the life we are living today depend on soil. Soil is a critical component in the mining and construction industries. Soil serves as a foundation for most construction projects. Massive volumes ofsoil can be involved in surface mining, road construction, and construction of other structures. Soil is critical to the environment, as well as food and fiber production. Soil provides plants with minerals and water. Today, one ofthe most serious environmental problems facing our nation and the world on general is the loss oftop soil layer through the process of detachment and transportation caused by the impact ofraindrop and the resulting overland flow. Soil erosion is the process by which the surface ofthe land is attacked, resulting to gullies, in valleys, cliffs and hills and it is completely washed into water bodies. The rate ofsoil erosion has been of great concern to the government and people ofAbia state as regards to farm land and environmental degradation. This work analyzed the soil samples collected from two erosion sites namely, Umuariaga and Ariam all in Abia State and the soil loss for the samples which is the mainstay ofthis project was determined using a rainfall simulator. It was observed that Umuariaga recorded the highest soil loss of 190.3g and Ariam with a soil loss of 178.0g both at 9% slope. In terms ofsteepness of slope, Umuariaga has the steepest slope of 1/253.3 which led to a greater volume ofrun off and resulted to the highest soil loss. Recommendations were made on how best to reduce soil loss in Abia state.