Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil Salt Ions in Tumushuke City, Xinjiang

Concrete durability in saline soil areas is a global problem. Both SO42- and Cl- in saline soil seriously affect the durability of concrete and restrict the sustainable development of engineering construction. Soil samples were collected from Tumushuke city, Xinjiang, and the concentrations of SO42- and Cl- in the soil were measured. Classical statistics and geostatistics methods were combined to analyze the distribution characteristics of the soil salts. Additionally, the kriging interpolation method was used to draw a salt distribution map. The results showed that the average contents of SO42- and Cl- in the soil of this area were 7037.08 and 6018.94 mg/kg, respectively. SO42- exhibited moderate variability at depths of 30-60 and 60-100 cm in the soil and strong variability in the surface layer; Cl- exhibited strong variability at depths of 0-30, 30-60, and 60-100 cm in the soil. The SO42- and Cl- concentrations exhibited high spatial correlation and showed regular changes. The horizontal distribution patterns of "low in the south and high in the north" and "high in the east and low in the west" were observed. Regarding the vertical distribution, the profiles of the SO42- and Cl- contents in the soils primarily exhibited "surface aggregation" distribution characteristics. Therefore, according to the spatial distribution characteristics of SO42- and Cl-, local concrete engineering construction can adopt different anti-erosion measures to enhance the safety and durability of concrete structures.