What is soil salinity?

Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the gradual withdrawal of an ocean.

What is salinity in soil and water?

Changes in landuse, seasonal variations in our weather and longer-term changes to climate can all affect surface water, groundwater, the flows between them, and the amounts of salt that they contain. The term “salinity” refers to the concentrations of salts in water or soils.

What is salinity in water quality?

Salinity is the measure of the amount of dissolved salts in water. It is usually expressed in parts per thousand (ppt) or percentage (%). Freshwater from rivers has a salinity value of 0.5ppt or less. Freshwater has much lower levels of salt ions.

What is meant by salinisation?

Salinization is the process by which water-soluble salts accumulate in the soil. Salinization is a resource concern because excess salts hinder the growth of crops by limiting their ability to take up water. Salinization may occur naturally or because of conditions resulting from management practices.

How does soil salinity work?

Soils develop salinity via interactions with groundwater. If groundwater rises to within 2 metres of the soil surface, water can rise by capillary action to the surface. When this happens, the water can bring salt into the root zone and when the water evaporates at the soil surface, concentrated salts are left behind.

What is soil salinity caused by?

What Causes Soil Salinization? Soil salinization occurs when soluble salts are retained in the earth. It happens either naturally or because of improper anthropogenic activities, particularly farming practices. Besides, some earths are initially saline due to low salt dissolution and removal.

What is salinity kid definition?

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water.

Why is salinity important for water quality?

Salinity is important in particular as it affects dissolved oxygen solubility 3. The higher the salinity level, the lower the dissolved oxygen concentration. This means that, on average, seawater has a lower dissolved oxygen concentration than freshwater sources.

What is salinity explain in detail?

The term salinity refers to the amount of dissolved salts that are present in water. Sodium and chloride are the predominant ions in seawater, and the concentrations of magnesium, calcium, and sulfate ions are also substantial.

Why is salinity important in soil?

2. Effects of Salinity on Soil Physical Properties. Soil water salinity can affect soil physical properties by causing fine particles to bind together into aggregates. This process is known as flocculation and is beneficial in terms of soil aeration, root penetration, and root growth.

What causes salinisation of soil?

What causes it? The accumulation of salts in the soil can occur through natural processes such as physical or chemical weathering and transport from parent material , geological deposits or groundwater. The practice of waterlogging without adequate drainage has also become a serious cause of soil salinization .

Why is soil salinity important in arid regions?

Soil salinity is an important indicator in arid regions especially, where salinity of the soil may increase significantly and pose a danger to plants. The soil salinity is defined by measuring the electrical conductivity of soil water extract or saturated soil water extract.

How is the salinity of water and soil measured?

Estimate or measure salinity by: the electrical conductivity (EC) of a solution or soil and water mix, in the field or laboratory the apparent electrical conductivity of soil using an electromagnetic induction (EM) device chemical analysis of total dissolved solids (TDS) of water or soil in a laboratory to identify and measure ion concentrations.

What are the different types of salinity in water?

The term “salinity” refers to the concentrations of salts in water or soils. Salinity can take three forms, classified by their causes: primary salinity (also called natural salinity); secondary salinity (also called dryland salinity), and tertiary salinity (also called irrigation salinity).

How is the salinity in the Murray Darling basin?

Salt laden dust deposits in the northern Murray-Darling Basin peaked approximately 13,000 years ago in this area (Young et al. 2002). Another form of salinity is coastal salt water intrusion. Salt water intrusion, or encroachment, is the movement of salt water into fresh water aquifers as a result of groundwater development.