PT Journal
AU Alexakis, D
   Gotsis, D
   Giakoumakis, S
TI Evaluation of soil salinization in a Mediterranean site (Agoulinitsa district—West Greece)
SO Arabian Journal of Geosciences
PY 2015
BP 1373
EP 1383
VL 8
IS 3
DI 10.1007/s12517-014-1279-0
DE Agricultural soil . Soil quality . Soil salinization
AB Soil salinization is an environmental problem havingsignificant impacts on the soil–water–plant system. Thisproblem is more frequent in coastal areas due to seawaterintrusion into the land. Assessing the soil salinization is acritical issue for the agricultural areas situated in theMediterranean basin. This paper examines the deteriorationof soil quality in the cultivated land of a Mediterranean site(Agoulinitsa district—West Greece). Soil samples were collectedin both pre-irrigation and post-irrigation seasons.Electrical conductivity (EC), pH and the ions Br−, Ca2+, Cl−,F−, K+, Li+, Mg2+, Na+, NH4+, NO2−, NO3−, PO43− and SO42−were determined by the 1:2 (soil/water ratio on weight basis)method. The salts which were present in both seasons in thesoils of the area studied are KCl, MgCl2, NaCl, CaSO4 andK2SO4. The wide spatiotemporal variation of EC in the cultivatedland in both seasons demonstrates that soil salinity iscontrolled mainly by seawater intrusion and anthropogenicfactors such as the application of salt-rich water which isdirectly pumped from the drainage ditches. Seawater intrusionprovides the affected soil with elevated contents of Ca2+, Cl−,K+, Mg2+, Na+ and SO42−. Classification of the soils by usingcriteria given by the literature is discussed. Practices to prevent,or at least ameliorate, salinization in the cultivated landof Agoulinitsa district are proposed.
ER