This document discusses land pollution and degradation. It begins by defining land pollution as the addition of substances that negatively impact soil properties and productivity. It then describes the three main layers of the Earth's crust (lithosphere, mantle, core) before discussing various land uses including agriculture, housing, industry, and transportation. Causes of land degradation like soil erosion, salination, shifting cultivation, and desertification are also outlined. The document concludes by recommending measures to control land pollution such as proper waste disposal, reforestation, use of biofertilizers, and recycling.

1. S.S.A.S.I.T GTU
SHREE SWAMI ATMANAND SARASWATI INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY, SURAT
Environmental Pollution
PREPARED BY:-
Prof. Karm Balar
Asst. prof.
S.S.A.S.I.T, SURAT

2. Land Pollution
Introduction
Lithosphere
Land uses
Land
Dadegration
Control of
Land
pollution
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3.  INTRODUCTION
 Soil supports the life on the earth as it provides us with water, food and
shelter. It is an essential medium for development of agriculture, forestry,
vegetation, etc.
 Land pollution or Soil pollution may be defined as the addition of
substances to the soil which adversely affect, physical, chemical and
biological properties of soil, reducing its fertility and productivity.
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4. 4

5.  The upper layer of the earth’s crust is called lithosphere.
 It is made up of soil, minerals, rocks and organic matter.
 The internal structure of the earth is conceived to be composed of three
concentric shells or layers called geospheres, namely
Crust
Mantle
Core
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6.  Crust :
 Crust is also known as lithosphere.
 It is the thinnest outer solid shell.
 The thickness of crust is about 5 to 40 km.
 The crust consists of light materials e.g., basalts and granites.
 The density of materials is about 1500 kg/m³.
 The temperature of the crust is about 25ºC and the pressure within it is
1 atmosphere.
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7. 2. Mantle :
 Mantle is also known as atmosphere.
 The thickness of mantle is about 2900 km.
 It is composed of hot, dense ultrabasic igneous rocks in a plastic state. It
has the ability to flow.
 The density of materials is 5000–6000 kg/m³.
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8. 3. Core :
 Core is also known as barysphere.
 It is the densest central part of the earth.
 It is composed of the inner care and outer care. The inner care, 1290 km
in radius, is solid and consists of heavy metals like nickel and iron. Its
density is 16000 kg/m³.
 The temperature at the care is about 2500ºC.
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9. LAND USES
 Various uses of land are:
 Residential purposes – to build different types of domestic buildings.
 Commercial purposes – to build commercial centres.
 Food production – by carrying out different agricultural activities.
 Providing shelter for living beings.
 Industrial purposes – to install different types of industries.
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10.  Forestation purposes – which provide shelter and food for animals, birds
and other living beings.
 Transportation purposes – construction of roads, railway lines, airports, etc.
 Construction of irrigation structures – dams and canals.
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11. 5. Thermal power stations.
6. Disposal of solid and liquid wastes.
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12. Pattern of land use % land use
Agricultural land 11%
Pastures and meadows 22%
Forest land 30%
Urban and non-
agricultural land
37%
Total =
100%
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13.  Land abuses :
5. The fertile lands are used either for industries or for residential
purposes, which may be called as abuse of land from environment
perspectives.
6. Production of bricks in fertile land is also the abuse of land.
7. The construction of highway or railway embankment is also the
abuse of land.
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14. 4. Deforestation
5. Overgrazing
6. Mining and quarrying
7. Overuse of irrigation water
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15. LAND DEGRADATION
 The deterioration in the quality of land and reduction in
its fertility and productivity is called land degradation.
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16. The factors causing land degradation
are :
1.Salination and water logging
2.Soil pollution
4.
Shifting
cultivatio
n
5.
Desertification
3.Soil erosion
6.
Urbanisatio
-n
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17. 1. Soil pollution :
Causes or sources of soil pollution :
5. Disposal of domestic wastes
6. Disposal of agricultural wastes
7. Disposal of industrial wastes
8. Use of pesticides for protecting crops
9. Use of chemical and biological fertilizers
10. Disposal of radioactive and nuclear wastes
11. Disposal of biomedical wastes, intrusion of sea water, oil leakage
from pipe lines.
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18.  Effects of soil pollution :
5. Change in physical, chemical and biological properties of soil.
6. Decrease in fertility and productivity.
7. Pesticides, fungicides and some metallic elements are harmful to the
beneficial microorganisms in soil.
8. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers make the soil either too acidic or
too alkaline making it unfit for crop growth.
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19. 2. Soil erosion :
5. loss or removal of the top layer of the soil by the action of
water, wind or by the activities of man is termed as soil
erosion.
6. Factors affecting soil erosion are :
7. Amout, intensity and distribution of rainfall:
8. very high rainfall in short duration and intensive
rainfall causes more soil erosion.
9. Slope of the ground :
10. The ground with steep slope causes more soil
erosion.
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20. 5. Nature of soil :
6. Soil erosion will be more in case of loose soil than dense and
heavier soils.
7. Vegetation cover :
8. Vegetation cover reduce the run off and prevent soil erosion.
9. Soil mismanagement :
10. Wrong methods of cultivation, faulty methods of surface
irrigation, over grazing, forest fires, deforestation, etc.
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21. 3. Salination and waterlogging :
5. Increase in the concentration of soluble salts in the soil is called
salination.
6. It adversely effects soil productivity and degrades the quality of land.
7. Salination is caused by a number of process.
8. Due to poor drainage, salts from irrigation and flood water will
accumulate on the soil surface.
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22. 5. The salts from the lower layers move up by capillary action in summer
and deposited on the surface.
6. In coastal regions, winds bring lot of salt from row water to land, thus
causing salination of the soil.
7. Excessive use of alkaline fertilizers such as sodium Nitrate may cause
salination of the soil.
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23. 4. Shifting cultivation :
5. In shifting cultivation, selected portions of the forest are cut and burnt.
Crops are cultivated on that land for same years till it becomes sterile.
Then fresh fields are formed for crop cultivation.
6. The practice of shifting cultivation (Jhumming) is extensively practised
in the North-East India by the tribal population. This practice has led to
complete destruction of forests in hilly areas, and caused soil erosion.
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24. 5. Desertification :
6. Desertification is the process in which the productive land converts
into desert.
7. Causes of desertification :
8. wind causing dust and sand storms, sand dunes
9. Excessive grazing by livestock
10. Erosion of top fertile soil
11. Deforestation
12. Excessive lowering of water table
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25. 6. Urbanisation :
 Due to urbanisation, people are moving
from the villages to towns and cities.
Therefore, cities are expanding rapidly
converting fertile productive land in to
imfertile land.
 Productive area is fast reducing because
of developmental activities like human
settlements, industries, roads. Railways,
airports, dams, canals etc.
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26. CONTROL OF LAND POLLUTION
5. Following measures can be taken to reduce or control land pollution.
6. Proper collection, transportation and disposal of solid wastes.
7. Sanitary land filling and methods like composting must be used for
disposal of solid waste.
8. Proper disposal of municipal sludges.
9. Aforestation can also reduce soil erosion.
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27. 5. Proper disposal of industrial wastes in to secured land fill sites.
6. Bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides should be used in place of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides.
7. To avoid depletion of nutrients in soil, crop rotation should be
practiced.
8. Adoption of recycle and reuse of waste materials.
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