Mr. José M. Febles González, University of Havana, Cuba. Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (GSER19), 15 - 17 May 2019 at FAO HQ.

1. 1

2. RESILIENCE OF RED FERRALITIC SOILS IN THE
KARST REGIONS OF MAYABEQUE PROVINCE, CUBA
2
José Manuel Febles González
University of Havana
febles@rect.uh.cu

3. 3
This work has as background the publication of the following articles
1. Application of the CORINE methodology and the MMF model in karst and
heights environments.
4. Future scenarios of the degradation of Red Ferralitic soils by erosion.
3. Pollution of Red Ferralitic soils..
2. Relation among the processes of erosion – sedimentation - pollution in
soilsof Cuba.
5. Good soils in extinction: The degradation of Red Ferralitic soils In Western
Cuba
6. Resilience of Red Ferralitic soils in the karst regions of Mayabeque
Province, Cuba.

4. 4
Erosion
categories
Area en
Km2
% of the
territory
national
Strong erosion 29 671.95 27,64
Medium erosion 20 243.56 18,63
Mild erosion 26 803.80 24,96
76 719.31
71,23
(All the mechanisms … )
CUBA MAP OF SOIL EROSION

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65%
of the territory
is KARSTIFIED !!

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DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREAS

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Location of the towns Rosafé Signet and Aljibe in the polje San José de Las
Lajas. Mayabeque Province, Cuba

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SAN JOSE DE LAS LAJAS POLJE. MAYABEQUE PROVINCE, CUBA

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HOW IS THE DYNAMICS OF DEGRADATION
PROCESS IN THE KARSTIC REGIONS?

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DYNAMICS OF RUNOFF TO
SINKHOLE
Rill erosion in grass

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EFFLUENTS FROM HAVANA CLUB RUM FACTORY TO DOLINE
WITHOUT TREATMENT

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DYNAMIC PROCESS EROSION - SEDIMENTATION -
CONTAMINATION - SOILS AND WATER

13. Filling with 20 trucks of
6 ton of soils each (2003)
DYNAMIC PROCESS EROSION - SEDIMENTATION -
POLLUTION - SOILS AND WATER

14. 0
30
53
0
28
40
0
30
40
(Without apparent erosion)
(Slightly eroded)
(Slightly eroded)
Tipic yellowish leached
(Hernández, 1999)
Ponor
PAROXYSMAL PHASE OF THE KARSTIC - EROSIVE PROCESS
Erosion by areal and
linear runoff
φ = 1,8 %
H =112,05 m
φ = 4,40 %
H =11O,15 m
φ = 6,7 %
H= 105 m
C2
C1
NW SE
SURFACE EROSION = RAIN + RUNOFF
Subsuperficial erosion
Vertical erosion = leaching + washed
EROSION PROCESS - SEDIMENTATION - SOILS AND WATER
POLLUTION
Eutric Red Ferralitic soil

15. 15
Doline
No.
Scenario 1986 – 2009 C1(no apparent erosion)
Horizon A(0 – 490 mm)
Soil loss (t ha-1
year-1
)
1986 1997 2009 Media C.V. (%)
1 15,957 17,820 17,649 17,227 5,97
2 17,631 16,917 20,208 18,460 9,37
3 21,357 22,128 23,613 22,554 5,08
4 14,847 14,244 14,262 14,442 2,37
5 10,011 8,355 11,910 10,345 17,19
6 9,390 9,729 10,425 9,876 5,34
7 10,686 17,142 12,042 13,894 24,50
8 12,024 10,029 12,381 11,566 10,95
9 9,012 10,143 10,668 10,142 8,34
10 10,725 11,514 12,306 11,580 6,82
11 16,068 20,226 19,419 18,885 11,67
12 13,038 13,077 14,319 13,548 5,38
13 16,653 18,120 18,816 17,970 6,14
14 10,275 11,628 13,038 11,814 11,69
15 --- --- 14,073 --- ---
16 --- --- 36,897 --- ---
MeanMean 12,32912,329 13,29213,292 13,70713,707 --- ---
Soil loss in dolines applying the MMF model (Morgan et al. 1984;
Morgan, 2001) at “Rosafé Signet” and “Aljibe”
Note: The numbers in red exceed the limits of torability of 12,5 t ha-1
year-1

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CHARACTERISTIC
Formation rates
(mm yr-1
)
equivalent to k
REFERENCES
Under normal agricultural practices. 0.25 Pimentel et al. (1995)
- Age of limestone eluviums in the South Plain of the Mayabeque and Artemisa provinces
-
Derived from rocks with 10% impurities it
takes a million years to reach 15 m depth.
Derivatives of limestones with 1%
impurities, it would take about two million
years to reach two meters deep.
0.05
0.01
Iturralde (1972)
Camacho (1980) y
Ortega (1984)
Values selected for soil formation speed k

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The equation by Kay et al. (1994) was used to calculate resilience as follows:
S(t) = S0
+ DSmax(1 − exp−k (t –t1)
)
Where S0
(mm) is the value of S when a new use of the soil starts,
t = starting time,
DSmax is the maximum change predicted in S,
k (mm yr-1
) is the rate constant
t1 is the time since introduction of the new soil use during the measurement
period (t = 0).

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MAIN RESULTS

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Application of equation takes the results of studies done by Febles et al.
(2012) as its reference to simulate the time that Red Ferralitic soils would
take to reach steady state in this subregion.
S(t)= 1,078 + 490,02(1 - exp(k*years)
)
S0
= 1,078 mm is the measured Red Ferralitic soil loss per years
recorded in situ under cultivated pastures in 1986 - 2009.
DSmax= Profile C1(No apparent erosion), described by Febles et al. (1986), located
in an area in biostasy y with a starting depth in the A horizon of 0 – 490
mm

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Years
S(t)(mm)
Pimentel et al (1995)
K = 0.25
Iturralde(1972)
K = 0.05
Camacho (1980) y Ortega (1984)
K = 0.01
1 109,47 24,98 5,95
10 450,87 193,89 47,71
50 490,00 450,87 193,89
100 --- 487,80 310,83
150 --- --- 381,76
300 --- --- 466,70
600 -- --- 489,88
As result, the calculation of the resilience (S(t)) of Red Ferralitic
soils with different formation speed constants (k)

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Once the karstic erosion process
stabilizes, the locality will recover in….

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Resilience of Red Ferralitic soils in the Rosafé Signet
and Aljibe localities, Mayabeque Province, Cuba
S(t)
= (1,078 + 490,02 (1 - exp(k*years)
))/490,2)∙100

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Conclusions
The resilience of Red Ferralitic soils is the result of a multifactorial
process conditioned not only by intrinsic properties of the soil
cover, but depending on geological-geomorphological and use
conditions with a unidirectional evolution of the karstic
morphogenesis practically unpublished in the pedological
literature.
The Red Ferralitic soil under normal agricultural practices would
take about 50 years to return to its original condition and
depending on the amount of limestone impurities, this period could
last from 100 to 600 years.

24. Thank you very much for your attention

26. UNIVERSIDAD AGRARIA DE LA HABANA
“Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez”
FACULTAD DE GEOGRAFÍA
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27. UNIVERSIDAD AGRARIA DE LA HABANA
“Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez”
FACULTAD DE GEOGRAFÍA
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28. UNIVERSIDAD AGRARIA DE LA HABANA
“Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez”
FACULTAD DE GEOGRAFÍA
Published in:

29. UNIVERSIDAD AGRARIA DE LA HABANA
“Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez”
FACULTAD DE GEOGRAFÍA
Published in:

30. UNIVERSIDAD AGRARIA DE LA HABANA
“Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez”
FACULTAD DE GEOGRAFÍA
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