Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-7drxs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T12:07:59.896Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Chemical properties of salt-affected soils in north Kent and their relationship to soil instability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. J. Loveland ,
J. Hazelden  and
R. G. Sturdy
P. J. Loveland
Affiliation:
Soil Survey of England and Wales, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ
J. Hazelden
Affiliation:
Soil Survey of England and Wales, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ
R. G. Sturdy
Affiliation:
Soil Survey of England and Wales, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Soil instability, as measured by the dispersion ratios of the reclaimed salt-marsh soils of ca. 70 km2 of north Kent, was assessed on samples taken from 0–15, 35–50 and 70–85 cm depths from sites at the intersects of a 250 m square grid or along transects. The dispersion ratios were related to other soil properties including exchangeable sodium, potassium and magnesium percentages, organic carbon content, calcium carbonate content and electrical conductivity. The dispersion ratio correlates most closely with exchangeable sodium percentage and organic carbon content; weaker correlations exist with exchangeable potassium and calcium carbonate contents. Dispersion ratios rise sharply, i.e. reflect a marked increase in soil instability, when organic carbon content is less than 2·5% and calcium carbonate content is less than 2%. Magnesium has little effect on the dispersion ratio. The soil solution salt concentration (as expressed by electrical conductivity) is too low over much of the area to promote flocculation, and hence stability, of the soil clays.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 109 , Issue 1 , August 1987 , pp. 1 - 6
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alperovitch, N., Shainberg, I. & Keren, R. (1981). Specific effect of magnesium on the hydraulic conductivity of sodic soils. Journal of Soil Science 32, 543–554.Google Scholar
Avery, B. W. & Bascomb, C. L. (ed.) (1982). Soil survey laboratory methods. Technical Monograph No. 6. Harpenden: Soil Survey of England and Wales.Google Scholar
Bowler, E. E. M. (1983). For the better defence of low and marshy ground: a survey of the work of the Sewer Commissions for north and east Kent, 1531–1930. In Studies in Modern Kentish History (ed. Detsicas, A. and Yates, N.), pp. 29–48. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Emerson, W. W. (1983). Inter-particle bonding. In Soils: an Australian Viewpoint, pp. 477–498. Division of Soils, CSIRO. Melbourne: CSIRO; London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hazelden, J., Loveland, P. J. & Sturdy, R. G. (1986). Saline Soils in Kent. Special Survey No. 14. Harpenden: Soil Survey of England and Wales.Google Scholar
Jarvis, M. G., Allen, R. H., Fordham, S. J., Hazelden, J., Moffat, A. J. & Sturdy, R. G. (1984). Soils and their use in south-east England. Bulletin no. 15. Harpenden: Soil Survey of England and Wales.Google Scholar
Loveland, P. J. (1984). The soil clays of Great Britain. I. England and Wales. Clay Minerals 19, 681–707.Google Scholar
Loveland, P. J., Sturdy, R. G. & Hazelden, J. (1984). Soils and solute patterns in reclaimed estuarine marshland in south-east England. In Proceedings of the ISSS Symposium on Water and Solute Movement in Heavy Clay Soils (ed. Bouma, J. and Raats, P. A. C.), pp. 252–257. Wageningen: Publication no. 37, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries And Food (1982). Techniques for measuring soil physical properties. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Reference Book 441, pp. 100–101. London.Google Scholar
Rengasamy, P. (1983). Clay dispersion in relation to changes in the electrolyte composition of dialysed redbrown earths. Journal of Soil Science 34, 723–732.Google Scholar
Rengasamy, P., Greene, R. S. B., Ford, G. W. & Mehanni, A. H. (1984). Identification of dispersive behaviour and the management of red-brown earths. Australian Journal of Soil Research 22, 413–431.Google Scholar
Richards, L. A. (ed.) (1954). Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils. Handbook no. 60. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Shainberg, I & Letey, J. (1984). Response of soils to sodic and saline conditions. Hilgardia 52, 1–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Olphen, H. (1977). An Introduction to Clay Colloid Chemistry. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar