Formation of the Modern Relief Under the Influence of Erosion and Deflation

Problem Statement and Purpose. The publication updates the approaches to the study of modern manifestations of erosion and deflation, which have an impact on the formation of modern relief. The purpose of the article is to study modern geomorphological processes under the influence of erosion and deflation in general and at the local level in particular. Data & Methods. The study used the stock materials of the Volyn branch of the Rivne Research and Design Institute of Land Management, the Institute of Land Relations and Environmental Protection LLC, and the Polissia Research Station of the National Research Centre «A. N. Sokolovsky Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry». The main methods used in the study were analytical, comparative and descriptive, historical, generalisation, statistical, mathematical, and cartographic. Results. Modern processes of landforming, in particular erosion and deflation, are manifested in both Ukraine and the Volyn region. In the Lutsk district, 53576 hectares of agricultural land are slightly washed away, 20959 hectares are moderately washed away, and 8447 hectares are heavily washed away. A necessary condition for runoff formation is the slope of the surface. Therefore, the steepness of the slopes determines the potential danger of erosion processes. The largest area in Lutsk district is occupied by land with a slope of up to 1° (278,242 hectares). This figure is 74.0% of the total area. Slopes with a steepness of more than 1° are much more likely to develop erosion. Such lands cover 26.0% of the district’s territory. The weighted average slope steepness for the current Lutsk district is 1.12°. The total area of deflation-prone land in the district is 112180 hectares, with the largest areas occupied by arable land, hayfields and pastures. Deflation-prone lands in the district cover about 112180 hectares (30.51%) of agricultural land, of which 58722 hectares (15.97%) are slightly, 43234 hectares (11.76%) are moderately and 10224 hectares (2.78%) are highly deflation-prone. In order to reduce the manifestation of erosion and deflation processes, it is necessary to clearly establish the norms of soil loss per year and develop systems of measures to reduce the manifestation of these phenomena.