A Comparison of Calcium Chloride and Potassium Chloride as Remedial Treatments for Two Sodic Soils.

Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting: October 31 – November 4, 2010, Long Beach, CA

Abstract

A Comparison of Calcium Chloride and Potassium Chloride as Remedial Treatments for Two Sodic Soils

(1) Daniel R. Ferreira, Department of Plant Science, University of Connecticut

daniel.ferreira@uconn.edu

(2) Cristian P. Schulthess, Department of Plant Science, University of Connecticut

c.schulthess@uconn.edu

The Nanopore Inner-Sphere Enhancement (NISE) effect can cause Na to adsorb strongly within the small nanopore channels of zeolite minerals. In those cases where Na is being retained strongly due to NISE, K can outperform Ca in desorbing Na. The interlayers of certain clay minerals can also create nanoporous spaces and may, therefore, induce a NISE effect that causes Na to adsorb strongly. Using K and Ca, a series of Na desorption experiments were conducted on two clay-rich sodic soils, one collected in North Dakota and the other collected in Utah. The effectiveness of K and Ca at desorbing native Na from these soils was compared. Whereas Ca is generally added as gypsum (CaSO₄) to remediate sodic soils, this study looks at the usefulness of potash as an complementary remedial treatment for sodic soils.