Description of the Characteristic Soil Profiles andIndication of the Degree of Sheet Erosion in Verpelét

In the administrative area of Verpelét settlement, we excavated 22 soil profiles in July and August of 2014 to show what soil types build up the area, as well as the extent of soil erosion in each profile. The description of the soil profiles was carried out based on the methods of the FAO (2006) and Novák’s Soil Practicality (2013). In the study area, we found chernozem brown forest soils (Chernozems), alluvial meadow soils (Fluvisols), humous sandy soils (Arenosols), humous alluvial soils (Fluvisols), meadow chernozem soils (Chernozems), Ramann brown forest soils (Cambisols), and brown forest soils with clay illuviation (Luvisols). We examined the sheet erosion in the vicinity of Verpelét using three methods: (1) GIS method considering slope category values, (2) examining the geomorphological character of the environment around the soil profiles, and (3) determining the sheet erosion within the specific soil profiles using the methods of Kerényi (1991) and Kerényi and Martonné Erdős (1994). The first method did not indicate any erosion-prone areas in the Verpelét vicinity; however, we were able to detect greater soil erosion in the excavated soil profiles. Using the second method, 32% of the excavated soil profiles were strongly eroded, 36% were moderately eroded, 4.5% were weakly eroded, and 27.5% showed accumulation conditions. However, our third method, which focused on specific soil profiles, indicated that 32% of the excavated soil profiles were strongly eroded, 63.5% were moderately eroded, and only 4.5% were weakly eroded. The question arises as to what causes this significant difference between the various methods, and where the significant sheet erosion in the examined profiles in Verpelét actually originates from. In order to investigate this question, we examined the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Military Survey Maps, the topographic map from 1990, the CLC18 satellite imagery and the 2023 version of Google Earth. The previously forested areas on these maps were already characterized by extensive arable land, and later by arable and vineyard areas. Today, Verpelét has become predominantly an actively cultivated agricultural landscape. Therefore, the significant sheet erosion can be attributed to the spread of inappropriate land use methods and significant anthropogenic impacts (β-euhemerobic level).