Investigating the Effect of Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation on Reducing Wind Erodibility of Soils in Segzi Desert Area, Isfahan

Desertification has become one of the main problems of human societies living in the vicinity of desert areas in recent years. One of the methods that have been considered in recent years and are rapidly expanding in the field of soil mechanics is the Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation (MICP). In this method, urea-positive organisms that are naturally present in the soil can stabilize the soil and improve its engineering parameters by using urea and calcium chloride. Recently, attempts have been made to use this method to create a crustal layer on the soil to prevent wind erosion. In the present study, the effect of environmental conditions in deserts such as temperature and sand bombardment on microbial soil treatment has been investigated using this new method. The soil of the Segzi region as one of the main centers of dust in the Isfahan region was studied in this research. Therefore, the improved samples are subjected to regional temperatures which increased the surface layer resistance with increasing temperature. Also, the sandstorm conditions of the region were simulated using three different grain sizes of sand inside the wind tunnel. The results of these experiments showed that stabilized soil could withstand the conditions at wind speeds of 7 and 11 m/s. However, by increasing the wind speed to 14 m/s and the grain size, the crustal layer destroys and increases the wind erosion of the soil. Also, the resistance of the surface layer increased by increasing temperature in the tested samples. This increase in resistance continued up to 24 degrees with a high slope, but from 24 degrees onwards, this slope decreases. Based on the results of this research, it can be said that the microbial improvement method can be used as an alternative method in the future to stabilize desert soils.