CARTOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF RESIDUAL QUANTITIES OF DDT IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES OF SAMARKAND OASIS, UZBEKISTAN

Three Russian environmental scientists describe a program of monitoring and mapping of accumulations of the now-banned pesticide DDT in a major area of irrigation agriculture in the republic of Uzbekistan—the Samarkand Oasis. Measurements from soil, water, and river/lake/canal bottom sediment samples were taken within the zone of irrigated crop cultivation along the Zeravshan River. The final map product is intended not only as a graphic tool for depicting the spatial distribution of accumulated DDT residues and derivative metabolic compounds, but as an operational document supporting the implementation of measures to mitigate the environmental hazard they pose. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1996, No. 4, pp. 51-54.