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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Northwest Sustainable Agroecosystems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #356849

Research Project: Improving Air Quality, Soil Health and Nutrient Use Efficiency to Increase Northwest Agroecosystem Performance

Location: Northwest Sustainable Agroecosystems Research

Title: Effects of saline irrigation and biochar application on soil salt crust formation on sandy loam

Author
item ZHANG, JIANGUO - Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University
item Sharratt, Brenton
item MENG, ZHONGUI - Inner Mongolian Agriculture University

Submitted to: World Congress of Soil Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In arid and semiarid regions, soil salt crust (SSC) is widely distributed at soil surface which has great effects on earth surface processes, and biochar is commonly used for soil remediation. However, there is little report on artificial cultivation of SSC under simulating saline irrigation. Our objectives was to evaluate the effects of irrigation salinity and biochar application on SSC formation at the surface of sandy loam, and to find one available way for SSC formation that can be used for laboratory simulation experiments. SSC was formed in aluminum trays (100 cm × 20 cm × 2 cm) in a greenhouse after simulating irrigation with NaCl solution having salinities of 0, 5, 10, 15, 25 and 30 g/L, and then 0, 5%, 10% and 20% biochar were added to the soil to form SSC under simulating irrigation having a salinity of 30 g/L. The hardness, anti-shear strength, thickness, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity and total dissolved solids (TDS) of SSC were respectively measured. The results demonstrated that the hardness, anti-shear strength, EC, salinity and TDS of SSC increased with the irrigation water salinity, however, the thickness and pH decreased with the irrigation water salinity. The hardness, anti-shear strength, EC, salinity and TDS of SSC decreased with the biochar application amount, but the thickness and pH showed an opposite trend. We concluded that both of irrigation salinity and biochar application have significant effects on the physiochemical properties of SSC, artificial cultivation of SSC is available for simulating experiments, and the suitable irrigation water salinity should be 20 and 30 g/L. SSC plays an important role in arid and semiarid ecosystems for soil and water processes which is worth of further research.