Assessment of the geomorphological processes in the lower Bic Plane, Republic of Moldova
Abstract
The Lower Bic Plane is located in the south-east part of Moldova, occupying a total area of 2663 km². Geology, relief, climate, hydrography, vegetation and especially human intervention which occur in this region led to the deployment of geomorphological processes on extremely large surfaces. The most important processes that contribute to land degradation in the Lower Bic Plane are specific to the entire hilly area between Prut and Dniester, and consist of soil erosion, gullies and landslides. For identification, mapping and analyzing these processes were consulted topographic maps (scale 1:25 000), geological maps (scale 1:200 000) and ortophotoplans of 0,5 m resolution (2007 edition), using MapInfo 9 and Arc GIS 9.3 software and also field observations. The spatial distribution of geomorphological processes reveals their higher prevalence in the east and west parts, and lowest in the north and south parts of region. Even though many degraded areas were improved by anti-erosion work, which was performed until 1990, however, have been created conditions that led to the resumption of geomorphological processes.
