LEACHING OF A HIGHLY SALINE-SODIC SOIL IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA - A LABORATORY STUDY

Moderate to highly saline-sodic soil cores extracted from a Brown Solodized Solonetzic soil were leached in the laboratory using good-quality irrigation water to determine relative salt removal with time. Leaching curves comparing the relative concentration of salts against the relative depth of leaching water applied were similar over a wide range of salinities and hydraulic conductivities. The time required to transmit an equivalent depth of water through the soil core and achieve a salinity reduction of about 75% ranged from less than 2 d to an estimated 15 mo. The primary limitation to reclamation in these soils was the low hydraulic conductivity rather than the initial salt content or depth of leaching water required. -Authors