Basic soil properties and soil classification of hazelnut cultivation area in the eastern black sea region, case study; Ünye-Tekkiraz district

Abstract

The objective of this research was to investigate physical, chemical and morphological properties, classification and mapping of soils of hazelnut cultivation in Ünye-Tekkiraz district of The Eastern Black Sea Region. The study area is located between west of the Ordu and south of the Samsun provinces, at coordinates 4542495- 4537485 N and 342549-347523 E and total area is approximately 31.5 km2. Average annual precipitation and temperature are 1162.4 mm and 14.2 oC, respectively. Elevation varies from 200 m to 550 m above sea level. According to soil taxonomy, the soil temperature regime and moisture regime were classified as mesic and ustic, respectively. Most of the study areas have been commonly used for hazelnut cultivation, whereas southern part of the study area generally cover small forest and pasture lands. In the study area, distribution of geological pattern is palaeocene and eocene rocks consisting of sandstone, siltstone and marl including widely distributed and altered eocene aged volcano-clastics which are composed of basalt and andesite. After examination of topographic, land use, geologic and geomorphologic maps and land observation, 15 profile places were excavated in the study area. The soil samples were taken from each profile based on genetic horizons and their analyses were done in the laboratory. According to the results of laboratory analyses by taking into consideration of soil taxonomy, 11 different soil series were classified and described. Two them were classified as Entisol due to their young age and five are Inceptisol, three are Alfisol, and one is Vertisol. Whereas Hatipler seri has the largest area (14.7 %), Yenicuma Dere soil seri has the smallest area in the study area (3.2 %).