1
Introduction
Hamdi A. Zurqani
Abstract
Soil is an essential and nonrenewable natural resource
from which most of the global food is produced. Each soil
has had its own history and its present conditions due to
the influences of many different factors. This chapter
presents an introduction about the soils of Libya and
demonstrates the challenges that the country is currently
facing as a result of soil erosions, salinization, pollution,
and climate change while proposing the potential solutions to these challenges to improve food security in the
country. Libya covers an area of about 180 million
hectares and located in the arid and semiarid regions of
the world. Thus, most of the soils are undeveloped or
partially developed. Dry climatic conditions in Libya
resulted in high accumulation of calcium carbonate in
soils, with the presence of gypsum in some areas as well
as salt accumulation which leads to naturally saline soils.
Most agricultural activities are mainly located on a
narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast that receives
the highest rainfall in the country (up to 600 mm
annually), and in low mountains and scattered oases in
the desert.
Keywords
Soils of Libya Á Arid and semiarid soils Á Soil
information Á Soil erosion Á Salinization Á Land
degradation
1.1 Introduction
The State of Libya is a country in the Maghreb region of
North Africa, lies along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, approximately between latitude 18° and 33° north
and 9° and 25° east. It is the fourth largest country in Africa
with an area of approximately 1,759,540 km
2 and a population of about 6 million residents (Zurqani et al. 2019).
Libya is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north,
Egypt to the east, Sudan to the south-east, Chad and Niger to
the south, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the north-west
(Fig. 1.1).
Soils in the literal sense of the word are a finite resource
in Libya where most of the country lies in ‘'The Sahara
Desert”, which is estimated at about 95% of the total area.
Most of the country lies within the arid and semiarid regions
except for a small area in Al Jabal Al Akhdar (English: The
Green Mountain) which is ranged from semi-arid to subhumid (Fig. 1.1). The soils of Libya and their characteristics
are largely influenced to the great extent by factors of soil
formation and local conditions in which these soils were
formed. Generally, aridity is the main influence on such
soils, where they are frequently undeveloped or partially
developed. Thus, Libyan soils are slightly or moderately
weathered and may include one diagnostic horizon or a few
diagnostic horizons that are characteristic of the arid and
semiarid regions (Zurqani et al. 2018). Only about 2% of the
country is arable land, with the rest comprising rocky outcrops and loose surface materials. Land degradation and
desertification are the major soil threats facing the agricultural development of the region. The majority of Libyan
soils are sandy in texture and tend to have low water-holding
capacities and high infiltration rates and are prone to loss of
water through rapid drainage below the crop roots with a
concomitant loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the
soil (Ben Mahmoud 1995). In terms of the soil’s spatial
distribution, the diversity of the Libyan soils is low. Rich
alluvial soils are found in the coastal deltas and valleys of
H. A. Zurqani (&)
Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
e-mail: h.zurqani@uot.edu.ly
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
H. A. Zurqani (ed.), The Soils of Libya, World Soils Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66368-1_1
1
Introduction
Hamdi A. Zurqani
Abstract
Soil is an essential and nonrenewable natural resource
from which most of the global food is produced. Each soil
has had its own history and its present conditions due to
the influences of many different factors. This chapter
presents an introduction about the soils of Libya and
demonstrates the challenges that the country is currently
facing as a result of soil erosions, salinization, pollution,
and climate change while proposing the potential solutions to these challenges to improve food security in the
country. Libya covers an area of about 180 million
hectares and located in the arid and semiarid regions of
the world. Thus, most of the soils are undeveloped or
partially developed. Dry climatic conditions in Libya
resulted in high accumulation of calcium carbonate in
soils, with the presence of gypsum in some areas as well
as salt accumulation which leads to naturally saline soils.
Most agricultural activities are mainly located on a
narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast that receives
the highest rainfall in the country (up to 600 mm
annually), and in low mountains and scattered oases in
the desert.
Keywords
Soils of Libya Á Arid and semiarid soils Á Soil
information Á Soil erosion Á Salinization Á Land
degradation
1.1 Introduction
The State of Libya is a country in the Maghreb region of
North Africa, lies along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, approximately between latitude 18° and 33° north
and 9° and 25° east. It is the fourth largest country in Africa
with an area of approximately 1,759,540 km
2 and a population of about 6 million residents (Zurqani et al. 2019).
Libya is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north,
Egypt to the east, Sudan to the south-east, Chad and Niger to
the south, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the north-west
(Fig. 1.1).
Soils in the literal sense of the word are a finite resource
in Libya where most of the country lies in ‘'The Sahara
Desert”, which is estimated at about 95% of the total area.
Most of the country lies within the arid and semiarid regions
except for a small area in Al Jabal Al Akhdar (English: The
Green Mountain) which is ranged from semi-arid to subhumid (Fig. 1.1). The soils of Libya and their characteristics
are largely influenced to the great extent by factors of soil
formation and local conditions in which these soils were
formed. Generally, aridity is the main influence on such
soils, where they are frequently undeveloped or partially
developed. Thus, Libyan soils are slightly or moderately
weathered and may include one diagnostic horizon or a few
diagnostic horizons that are characteristic of the arid and
semiarid regions (Zurqani et al. 2018). Only about 2% of the
country is arable land, with the rest comprising rocky outcrops and loose surface materials. Land degradation and
desertification are the major soil threats facing the agricultural development of the region. The majority of Libyan
soils are sandy in texture and tend to have low water-holding
capacities and high infiltration rates and are prone to loss of
water through rapid drainage below the crop roots with a
concomitant loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the
soil (Ben Mahmoud 1995). In terms of the soil’s spatial
distribution, the diversity of the Libyan soils is low. Rich
alluvial soils are found in the coastal deltas and valleys of
H. A. Zurqani (&)
Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
e-mail: h.zurqani@uot.edu.ly
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
H. A. Zurqani (ed.), The Soils of Libya, World Soils Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66368-1_1
1