Assessment of soil pollution and erosion processes in the Republic of Kazakhstan according to literary data

The purpose of the analytical review is to systematize data on the level of soil pollution and the rate of erosion processes in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) and to identify the river basins of the RK where the likelihood of secondary soil pollution is greatest due to the lateral migration of pollutants transported together with sediments. Using the search engines Google Scholar, Springer Link, Science Direct, Scopus and RSCI, publications on soil pollution with heavy metals (HM), radionuclides of technogenic and natural origin, oil and petroleum products and rocket fuel components, as well as characterizing the rates of water and wind erosion were collected and the degree of soil erosion in the RK. Based on the collected data, thematic maps of the RK were compiled, which depict territories with increased relative to background concentrations of pollutants in soils within large river basins. Based on a comparison of maps of soil pollution and maps of water and wind erosion rates for the river basins were identified within which the probability of secondary soil pollution is highest due to the transfer of contaminated soil particles by water-erosion processes, as well as their local transfer during wind erosion. It has been established that the most intense processes of secondary pollution, primarily of alluvial soils, can occur in the basins of the Irtysh and ShuRivers. It should be taken into account that existing estimates of water erosion rates are based on calculations using erosion models, while estimates of wind erosion rates are based on semi-quantitative data. In this regard, research is needed to verify calculations using erosion models based on field data.