Excess irrigation is the short answer. If you consider a body of fresh water penetrating the sub strata, it is clear that any salt at all that it encounters will be quickly 'absorbed' into the fresh water - in order to equalize the solution. And when that water is evaporated at the soil surface, the dissolved salts will be left behind. Making the soil more saline.
If the rate of transpiration is greater than the rate of irrigation - as a long term average - then you'll have increasingly saline soils.
In the historic fertile soils of Mesopotamia were used by the Romans for wheat growing, they found that they could increase the natural yield by irrigation. But the salinity of the soils increased and yields decreased. One solution was to grow barley instead which is more salt tolerant, but the irrigation practices still increased the salinity until the soils became too salty even for barley.
Now, the Brits in India knew this from their classic scholars, and when they introduced irrigation into India, they warned that it would have a life time of about 150 years. In fact it lasted longer than that because of better drained soils, but eventually salination appeared.
So Australia must listen to its classic scholars.
Yes.
Sodic soils contain a lot of sodium ions. This can be due to sodium chloride, in which case it is also saline, or to sodium carbonate, when the word saline doesn't apply.
Khaddar soils are found in arid and semiarid regions, primarily in tropical and subtropical climates. They are commonly found in areas with low rainfall and high temperatures, such as regions in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Khaddar soils are known for their low fertility and tendency to be saline or alkaline.
Alexandra - Poljakoff - Mayber has written: 'Plants in saline environments' -- subject- s -: Effect of salts on, Halophytes, Plants, Saline irrigation, Salinity, Salts in Soils, Soils, Salts in
Organisms found in acidic locations include acidophilic bacteria, archaea, fungi, and algae. In salty locations, you can find halophiles - organisms that thrive in high-salt environments, such as salt flats, salt lakes, or saline soils. Common examples are certain types of bacteria, archaea, and algae.
Saline soil is soil that has a high concentration of soluble salts, such as sodium chloride, which can hinder plant growth by altering the osmotic potential of the soil solution and causing toxicity to plants. Saline soils are common in arid and semi-arid regions where evaporation rates exceed precipitation rates, leading to the accumulation of salts in the soil. Agricultural practices, such as irrigation with saline water, can also contribute to soil salinity.
Saline soil is found in the southern arid region of India. Saline soils are formed by the accumulation of salts in the soil and groundwater.
Problem soils include saline soils, sodic soils, acidic soils, and compacted soils. Reclamation methods vary depending on the type of problem soil but can include adding soil amendments like gypsum for sodic soils, lime for acidic soils, and organic matter for compacted soils. Drainage improvement and crop rotation are other common strategies for reclaiming problem soils.
Saline and alkaline soils cover about 7.67 million hectares in India. These soil types are primarily found in regions with arid and semi-arid climates, such as parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab. Agricultural practices like proper irrigation and soil management are crucial in mitigating the adverse effects of these soils on crop productivity.
Brackish means "salty", so you would find these near salt water.
A plant adapted to growing in salty soils is called a halophyte. Halophytes have developed mechanisms to tolerate high levels of salt, such as the ability to excrete salt, store it in their vacuoles, or have specialized salt glands. These adaptations allow them to thrive in environments where other plants would struggle to survive.
Some plants are better adapted to saline (or salty) soil than others. Certain grasses thrive in very saline soils, whereas others simply perish. Salt will kill plants that are not adapted to saline soils, because salt is hydrophilic it will leach more water out of the plants' cells than what they can take in from moisture conditions.Thus the answer really depends on what species of plants you're referring to, as well as the growing conditions, soil type and quality (including level of salinity), etc.