CHANGES IN THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A RECLAIMED SALINE-SODIC SOIL IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA

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Abstract
We measured selected properties of a naturally saline and sodic soil in pedons that had been reclaimed a minimum of 0, 5, 8, 15, or 25 yr. More than 7.2 x 104 kg of soluble salt were leached from the upper 100 cm of the soil after 5 yr, with little or no additional removal with time. A steady-state soil solution composition was reached after approximately 15 yr based on electrical conductivity values of the saturation extracts. The sodium adsorption ratios (SAR) of the steady-state solutions were either greater or less than the SAR of the irrigation water and appeared to be related to mineral weathering. Smectite minerals were unstable in the reclaimed soils and were transformed to kaolinite. This may have been the cause for the reduction in water-dispersible clay in soils that had been reclaimed for 15 yr or more.

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