HR: 0830h
AN: H21B-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Soil Salinity Dynamics in Arid Non-flooded Riparian Areas
AU: * Hong, S
EM: hong@nmt.edu
AF: New Mexio Tech, P.O. Box 3097, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Hendrickx, J M
EM: hendrickx@nmt.edu
AF: New Mexio Tech, P.O. Box 3097, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AB: Soil salinity is a common problem in arid riparian areas of the arid Southwest, but the dynamics of soil salinity in these areas are not well understood. The main causes of soil salinity in non-flooded riparian areas are generally known as low precipitation, high evapotranspiration, and capillary flux from saline shallow ground water. However, some riparian areas maintain a relatively low soil salinity for a long period of time with thriving salt-sensitive vegetation such as Cottonwoods while other areas are completely salinized and covered by salt-tolerant vegetation such as Saltcedars. Is this difference in soil salinity caused by a small amount of deep infiltration sufficient to leach salts back to the ground water or by ground water dynamics that 'wash' the soil profile from below? The results of this study, using the modeling program HYDRUS-1D, indicate that differences in soil salinity levels among different riparian areas are not caused by a small amount of deep infiltration but by ground water fluctuations that 'wash' the soil profile from below.
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
DE: 1875 Unsaturated zone
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly