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Alkalinity, Physical Effects on Soils

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Agrophysics

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Synonyms

Basicity; Sodicity

Definition

Alkali or alkaline soils have been defined as soils with high pH-value, which is caused by excessive (usually more than 15% of the exchange sites) amount of exchangeable sodium ions or/and soluble salts capable of alkaline hydrolysis. The most injurious alkaline sodium compounds in the soils and irrigation waters are Na2CO3 (sodium carbonate) or NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate).

Introduction

Natural and man-induced salt accumulation in the soil profile is a major environmental threat with dramatic negative impacts on agricultural production and sustainability, especially in the arid and semiarid regions of the world.

Alkalinity problems are more common in clay soils than in soils with low colloid content. As a consequence of the relative preponderance of sodium on exchange sites of colloids, the alkaline reaction of the liquid phase and the swelling/shrinking clay minerals, the low fertility of these salt-affected soils, in most cases, are closely...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karcag Research Institute of Centre for Agricultural and Technical Sciences, Debrecen University, Kisujszállási út 166, H-5300, Karcag, Hungary

    Lajos Blaskó

Authors
  1. Lajos Blaskó
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Correspondence to Lajos Blaskó .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lublin, Poland

    Jan Gliński , Józef Horabik  & Jerzy Lipiec ,  & 

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Blaskó, L. (2011). Alkalinity, Physical Effects on Soils. In: Gliński, J., Horabik, J., Lipiec, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Agrophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_13

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