Agrotechnically induced salinization in the unsaturated zone of loessial soils, N.W. Negev, Israel
1993
Magaritz, M. | Nadler, A.
Extensive agricultural activity often increases the salt load of the unsaturated zone. The focus of the study was a field investigation of the effects of saline-water irrigation and gypsum addition in a semiarid region with loessial soils, where intensive evaporation conditions prevail. Using drilling (approximately 20 m) to obtain sedimentary deposit samples, it was shown that most of the salts added by agricultural activity accumulate in the unsaturated profile. Seventy to ninety percent of SO4(-2), Na+ and Cl- added are retained in the upper 2-4 meters of the profile after 6 to 12 years of cultivation, regardless of the soil type. The most common accumulating ions are Na+ and SO4(-2) that minimize gypsum amendment thereby increasing with time the danger of an irreversible loss of the loessial soil as productive land.
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