Researchers from the Department of Land Resources Geography at the Institute of Geography named after H. Aliyev of the AR MSE conducted a ten-day expedition to Absheron and Gobustan area to study desertification under the leadership of the head of the department, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor Ismayil Guliyev, Khuraman Naghiyeva, Chichek Nasirova, and junior researcher Rauf Huseynov.

The goal of the expedition was to assess the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on the soil cover of the area, determine the rate of desertification, and prepare a forecast.

Taking into account positive and negative anthropogenic impacts, a route was organized in five directions, characteristic soil profiles were laid out, taking into account soil taxonomic units, morphological descriptions were compiled, taking into account important features of the desertification process, samples were collected, and delivered to the laboratory for analysis.

Experiments were conducted to assess the impact of exodynamic processes on desertification in various zones affected by natural and anthropogenic factors, and a week later, the experimental samples were collected for analysis. The impact of individual Gobustan mud volcanoes on desertification and soil cover was also studied. Satellite images from different years were compared, and differences were noted.

The materials are currently being analyzed in a laboratory setting.