SOIL LOSSES IN THE SERIDÓ GEOPARQUE
Soil losses. USLE. Seridó Geopark.
The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is a widely used method when it comes to estimating the soil loss in a given area. In view of this, the research aims to analyze the susceptibility to erosive processes in Geopark Seridó – RN. The estimation of soil losses was made through the USLE in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment for data spatialization. The USLE showed an average soil loss result for the Seridó Geopark of 9.19 t.ha-1 .year-1 which is considered very low. About 67.38% of the total area was classified as having very low soil loss. Only 12.14% of the Seridó Geopark area was classified as having moderate soil loss. Much of this value is associated with the factor of greater slope and land use and occupation, such as agriculture and livestock. The extremely severe classification represented only 0.60% of the total area of the Seridó Geopark, with mining being the type of land use responsible for a large part of this value.