Soils of the Southern Syria – A big database for the future land management planning

As non-renewable natural resources, restoring Syrian soil quality is a vital issue for sustainable future planning after conflict ends. The data provided in this research exhibit features and physiochemical properties for soils from the southern part of Syria until the Jordanian border, which can provide decision-makers with sufficient information for rehabilitation stage after conflict in a regional scale. The data were collected from 107 representative soil profiles covering diverse agroecosystems throughout the area (i.e. Dara and Alswieda governorates). The most important data findings of this research included the first detection of Palygorskite {(Mg,Al)2Si4O10(OH)•4(H2O)} in Syrian soils, which is considered a strong evidence for the direct effects of the climate change on agroecosystem. Vertisols, Inceptisols, Entisols, Mollisols, and Aridisols were the most widespread soil types in the area. Overall, the database involves the field morphological characteristics, physicochemical, and mineralogical analyses.

Palygorskite Rehabilitation Soil classification Southern Syria a b s t r a c t As non-renewable natural resources, restoring Syrian soil quality is a vital issue for sustainable future planning after conflict ends. The data provided in this research exhibit features and physiochemical properties for soils from the southern part of Syria until the Jordanian border, which can provide decision-makers with sufficient information for rehabilitation stage after conflict in a regional scale. The data were collected from 107 representative soil profiles covering diverse agroecosystems throughout the area (i.e. Dara and Alswieda governorates). The most important data findings of this research included the first detection of Palygorskite {(Mg,Al) 2 Si 4 O 10 (OH) • 4(H 2 O)} in Syrian soils, which is considered a strong evidence for the direct effects of the climate change on agroecosystem. Vertisols, Inceptisols, Enti-sols, Mollisols, and Aridisols were the most widespread soil types in the area. Overall, the database involves the field morphological characteristics, physicochemical, and mineralogical analyses.
© 2020 The Author(s  Table, image How data were acquired Soil samples and morphological data were collected according to the FAO guidelines for soil profile description between 2013-2016. Soil sample analyses were carried out using standard soil methods. Soil mineralogical data were acquired using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) technique. Data format Raw, analysed Parameters for data collection Soil samples were air-dried and were passed through a 2 mm sieve for list of chemical and physical analyses.

Description of data collection
For deep soil characteristics investigation in the study area, 107 soil profiles were digging till the parent material. Accordingly, soil samples were collected from each horizon. Routine soil analyses were carried out for physicochemical properties using standard soil laboratory methods. Selected soil samples were analysed for mineralogical composition using XRD. From the southern part of Syria (Dara and Alswieda governorates), the rest coordinates for the studied sites are given in Table 1

N Data accessibility
The dataset is given in this data article.

Value of the Data
• First record of Palygorskite in southern part of Syria, which is a crucial evidence of shifting climate toward dryness, where the climate change (i.e. drought) affected soil formation and led to Palygorskite. • Dataset provides a full overview of soil characteristics in the southern part of Syria.
• Data can be used for calibration international models in a regional scale regarding carbon sinking under ongoing climate change. • Due to data scarcity about soil developments and classification under local Syrian conditions, this dataset will provide the scientific community with full overview of the common soil characteristics in Syria. • Data set can provide decision-makers with detailed soil quality indicators for appropriate land use management. • Data can be used by international organization such as FAO, ICARDA, ACSAD as a baseline for any future project regarding sustainability of land resources. Fig. 1 shows the study area and DEM maps, and selected representative soil profiles. Fig. 2 shows the sub soil mineralogy as well as clay for some selected profiles near to Syrian and Jordanian border. Table 1 provides site properties for the selected representative soil profiles with their classification. Table 2 summarizes the field morphological descriptions for soil profiles. Table 3 presents physiochemical soil properties for soil profiles. Table 4 gives micro and macro nutrients in some representative soil profiles. Table 5 depicts the Cd and Pb heavy metals (HMs) concentrations in some representative soil profiles.

Experimental design, materials, and methods
A total of 107 representative soil profiles were selected to represent the different agroecosystems in the southern part of Syria. The representative soil profiles were excavated until the rock parent materials. All soil profiles were fully described in the field following the FAO guidelines [1] . A total of 308 soil samples were collected from different soil horizons and analyzed for physicochemical and mineralogical properties in the laboratory. Soil samples were fractionated for sand, silt, and clay using the hydrometer method [2] and the percentage of the fractions were used to determined the soil texture type using the USDA particle size classification [3] . The cylinder and pycnometer methods were used to determine the soil bulk and particle densities, respectively [4] . Soil pH was measured in a 1:2.5 (soil:water) ratio using a digital pH meter (GH Zeal Ltd., Mi150, UK) as given in [5] . The soil electrical conductivity (EC) was measured in a 1:5 extraction using a digital EC meter (GH Zeal Ltd., Mi170, UK) according to [6] .             Exchangeable Ca + 2 and Mg + 2 were determined using the titration method, while exchangeable Na + and K + were measured using a flame photometer (Microprocessor 1382), all extracted with 1 M NH 4 OAc (pH = 7.0) according to [ 7 , 8 ]. Total calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) was determined using the calcimeter method [9] . Total organic carbon (TOC) was determined using the wet digestion method [10] . Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was determined following the 1 M NH 4 OAc (pH = 7.0) extraction method [11] . Total N was determined using Kjeldahl distillation method [12] . Olsen method [13] was followed to determine the available phosphorus (P) using spectrophotometer, whereas available K was determined in a 1:5 (soil: 1 M NH 4 OAc) using flame photometer according to [14] . Available Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn were extracted with a DTPA extraction (pH = 7.3) method [15] using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS-Jones, 2001). Available Boron was extracted with an acid hot water (0.05 M HCl) and determined followed colorimetric method using Azotomethan-H [16] . Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were determined