Laboratory and pilot studies on reclamation of a salt-affected alluvial soil

Soil column experiments showed that a surficial sodic soil is efficiently reclaimed using freshwater, after the addition of saturated gypsum solution. Gypsum application in the field was beneficial in terms of maintaining high soil permeability, increased water infiltration and neutral pH after a rainfall event. In the present paper, two different reclamation techniques for the plough layer of a sandy loam sodic soil were tested in laboratory columns, 25 cm long and 10 cm in diameter; the first using freshwater alone and the second using a saturated gypsum solution. The dynamics of salt removal were studied by continuous analysis of the water drained from the bottom of the columns. When freshwater was used, sodium presented the lower removal rate and adversely affected soil permeability. When gypsum solution was used, calcium was present in the flushing solution and the effect of sodium dominance on clay dispersion and soil clogging was limited. The results presented in this study are of practical importance with respect to the reclamation of sodic soils found in the coastal area of the east Nestos Delta, Greece, where freshwater is limited, due to seawater intrusion, and saline groundwater is used for irrigation.