Soil in Turkey

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File:Soil profile with oxidation.jpg, Turkey]]

The main types of soil in Turkey are calcisols, cambisols and leptosols, and fluvisols.{{Cite web |title=Figure 7. Map of the principal soil types in Turkey (European... |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-the-principal-soil-types-in-Turkey-European-Commission-and-European-Soil-Bureau_fig3_268368874 |website=ResearchGate}}

By the mid-20th century erosion had reduced the amount of arable land,{{Cite journal |last1=Erinç |first1=Sirri |last2=Tunçdilek |first2=Necdet |date=1952 |title=The Agricultural Regions of Turkey |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/211384 |journal=Geographical Review |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=179–203 |doi=10.2307/211384 |jstor=211384|bibcode=1952GeoRv..42..179E |url-access=subscription }} but the government is combating desertification and erosion in various ways.{{Cite web |year=2017 |title=Combating Desertification and Erosion activities in Turkey |url=https://webdosya.csb.gov.tr/db/cem/icerikler/faal-ing-1000-ad-20211108112156.pdf |website=Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change}} However, soil erosion is forecast to increase with climate change, with about 30% occurring on agricultural land.{{Cite journal |title=Spatial and temporal evaluation of soil erosion in Turkey under climate change scenarios using the Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (PESERA) model |url=https://core.ac.uk/reader/327073120 |journal=Environmental Monitoring and Assessment |date= 2020|doi=10.1007/s10661-020-08429-5 |last1= Berberoglu|first1= Suha|last2= Cilek|first2= Ahmet|last3= Kirkby|first3= Mike|last4= Irvine|first4= Brian|last5= Donmez|first5= Cenk|volume= 192|issue= 8|page= 491|pmid= 32638113|bibcode=2020EMnAs.192..491B |s2cid= 220375323}} Degraded soil could be improved.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=The state of Turkey's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture |url=https://www.fao.org/3/CA3505EN/ca3505en.pdf |website=Food and Agriculture Organization}}{{Rp|page=11}}Soil surveys have been done at least since the 1950s,{{Cite book |date=2018 |editor-last=Kapur |editor-first=Selim |editor2-last=Akça |editor2-first=Erhan |editor3-last=Günal |editor3-first=Hikmet |title=The Soils of Turkey |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-64392-2 |series=World Soils Book Series |publisher=Springer |location=Cham |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-64392-2 |isbn=978-3-319-64390-8 |s2cid=133976504 |issn=2211-1255 }}{{Cite book |last=Oakes |first=Harvey |date=1957 |title=The soils of Turkey . |url=https://kutuphane.tarimorman.gov.tr/vufind/Record/16324 |access-date=2025-02-04 |publisher=Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Turkey) |language=English}} and the Ministry of Agriculture has published soil maps.{{Cite web|url=https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/general-soil-map-turkey-west-part-or-sheet-11-turkiye-umuni-toprak-haritasi|title=General Soil Map of Turkey {West Part or Sheet 1.1}. Turkiye Umuni Toprak Haritasi. - ESDAC - European Commission|website=esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu}}{{Cite web|url=https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/general-soil-map-turkey-west-middle-part-or-sheet-12-turkiye-umuni-toprak-haritasi|title=General Soil Map of Turkey {West-middle Part or Sheet 1.2}. Turkiye Umuni Toprak Haritasi. - ESDAC - European Commission|website=esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu}}{{Cite web|url=https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/general-soil-map-turkey-middle-east-part-or-sheet-13-turkiye-umuni-toprak-haritasi|title=General Soil Map of Turkey {Middle-east Part or Sheet 1.3}. (Turkiye Umuni Toprak Haritasi) - ESDAC - European Commission|website=esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu}}{{Cite web|url=https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/general-soil-map-turkey-east-part-or-sheet-14-turkiye-umuni-toprak-haritasi|title=General Soil Map of Turkey {East Part or Sheet 1.4}. Turkiye Umuni Toprak Haritasi. - ESDAC - European Commission|website=esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu}}

The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion is a non-governmental organization as is the Soil Science Society of Turkey.{{Cite web |title=Türkiye Toprak Bilimi Derneği |url=https://www.toprak.org.tr/en/biz-kimiz.aspx |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Soil Science Society of Turkey}} A 2016 study said soil had been degraded and that there was great potential to sequester carbon.{{cite conference|title= Soil Organic Carbon Management in Turkey|date=October 2016

|conference=Eurosoil Instanbul 2016|location=Istanbul, Turkey

|first1=Gönül Bilgehan |last1=Aydın

|first2=Hakki Emrah|last2=Erdogan

|first3=Alper|last3=Yorulmaz

|first4=Selim|last4=Kapur|url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342550192}}

There is a public soil database.{{cite web | url=https://www.unccd.int/resources/knowledge-sharing-system/turkiye-soil-information-system | title=Türkiye Soil information System|website=United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification }}As of 2025 the weblink does not work – {{Cite web |title=Toprak Portal |url=http://portal.cem.gov.tr/ToprakPortal |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220418213643/http://portal.cem.gov.tr/ToprakPortal |archive-date=2022-04-18 |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=portal.cem.gov.tr}} Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural soils is important, and in 2017 total SOC down to 0.7 m was estimated at 9.23 Pg.{{cite book|title= Encyclopedia of Soil Science|chapter= Mapping Soil Carbon: Stocks in Turkey|url= https://avesis.cu.edu.tr/yayin/b60aeb17-0d5a-4e44-a553-023add818ab7/mapping-soil-carbon-stocks-in-turkey | pages= 1412–1415 |edition=Third|publisher=CRC Press Taylor & Francis|date=2017|doi=10.1081/E-ESS3-120052900

|first1=Gönül Bilgehan|last1=Aydın

|first2=Mehmet Ali|last2=Çullu

|first3=Sabit|last3=Ersahin

|first4=Erhan|last4=Akça|doi-broken-date= 6 February 2025|isbn= 978-1-315-16186-0}}

Another estimate is slightly under 3000 tonnes/km².{{Cite web |year=2016 |title=TURKEY Land Degradation Neutrality National Report |url=https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/ldn_targets/turkey-ldn-country-report.pdf |website=Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Turkey)}} Accumulation of soil organic matter depends partly on cultivation but can be hindered by aridity.{{cite journal | doi=10.15832/ankutbd.907173 | title=Carbon storage potential and its distributions in the particle size fractions in Harran Plain, Turkey | date=2021 | last1=Yanardag | first1=İbrahim Halil | last2=Büyükkiliç Yanardağ | first2=Asuman | last3=Mermut | first3=Ahmet Ruhi | last4=Faz Cano | first4=Angel | journal=Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi | volume=28 | issue=3 | pages=501–510 | s2cid=246810251 | doi-access=free }}