Spatial Analysis of Geomorphological Impacts of Channel Erosion in River Ajilosun Drainage Basin in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

The geomorphological impacts of channel erosion in River Ajilosun drainage basin were examined. Data were generated through direct field measurement of some geomorphological variables of the cross sectional channel width and channel depth dimensions. The basic equipment employed for data generation is the tape, a piece of tie rod and ranging poles. The data generated were subjected to descriptive statistics such as the mean, standard deviation, range and simple percentages while the Student’s‘t’ and Snedecor’s F tests were also used as the basic inferential statistics for testing the hypothesis generated. The result of the analysis showed that the geomorphological impacts of erosion in the Ajilosun drainage basin varied spatially both across and along the profiles of the river. However, such impacts were more pronounced in the lower non concrete channelised reaches of the drainage basin. The study discovered further impact of channel erosion to include channel bank collapse and in-caving, destruction of habitat structure, degradation of substrate quality and overall channel degradation among others. The paper suggests land use zoning, urban agriculture and channelization tracing the natural sinuosity of the river as some of the measures for controlling the undesirable effect of channel erosion in River Ajilosun drainage basin.