Evaluation and comparison of the performance of two methods, Microbial Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation and polyvinyl acetate in reducing wind erosion

Increased wind erosion and dust are the country's environmental issues, particularly in the border provinces. Every year, wind erosion and dust have several negative implications in the social, economic, cultural, and health. Dealing with these phenomena necessitates both short- and long-term planning. These phenomena can be controlled in a variety of ways. In this study, the performance of two biological (Microbial Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation) and chemical (polyvinyl acetate application) approaches was studied. Sampling was taken from one of the dust sources’ areas in Ilam province (0-30 cm depth). In this study, polymer polyvinyl acetate with five levels of zero (C0), 1 (C1), 1.5 (C2), 2 (C3), and 2.5 (C4), as chemical mulch and Bacillus sphaericus with three factors of bacterial strain (presence or absence of bacteria), nutrient content (with two levels of 0, 0.5 M) and volume of solution (123, 264 and 369 ml) as a factorial experiment in the form of the Completely Randomized Design with three repetitions have been used. The trays were placed in ambient conditions, and wind tunnel, penetration resistance, and aggregate stability tests were performed on all samples after 28 days. A double bacterial spray with 0.5 M of nutrients and a solution volume of 269 ml (BS2 C1 WC2) was shown the most efficient treatment for soil stabilization using the MICP approach. The best treatment for surface stabilization utilizing the chemical method was observed at 2.5 percent (C4). A comparison of these two methods showed that the rate of increase in penetration force, aggregate stability, and decrease in soil loss in the chemical method was higher than in the biological method. In a nutshell, the MICP approach is advised to manage dust storms in Ilam province.