Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (11): 1785-1796.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.11.08

• Land and Water Resources • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Soil salinization characteristics in irrigation region of Yellow River of Hongsipu, Ningxia

NIU Zilu1,2,3(),WANG Lei1,2,3,QI Tuoye1,2,3(),ZHANG Yijing1,2,3,SHEN Jianxiang1,2,3,YANG Zhuqing1,2,3,WANG Entian1,2,3,JIANG Shuting1,2,3   

  1. 1. School of Ecology and Environment, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
    2. Breeding Base for Sate Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration in Northwestern China, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
    3. Key Laboratory for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystems in Northwestern China of Ministry of Education, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2023-04-07 Revised:2023-06-21 Online:2023-11-15 Published:2023-12-01

Abstract:

To explore the main factors influencing soil salinization in irrigation region of Yellow River of Hongsipu, correlation analysis and principal component analysis were used to study the salinization characteristics of the 0-100 cm soil profile. The results showed the following: (1) The overall soil in the study area is strongly alkaline, with the pH of the lower layer of 20-100 cm soil being significantly higher than that of the upper layer of 0-20 cm (P<0.05), which increases with increasing soil depth. The total salt content of soil also increases with increasing soil depth, showing a bottom aggregation-type profile feature of high at the bottom and low at the surface. The difference in total salt content of each layer of soil was not significant (P<0.05), which the pH of each layer of soil exhibited weak variability, with a relatively uniform spatial distribution. The total salt content of soil in the upper layer showed moderate variability at depths of 0-20 cm, while in the lower layer of depths of 20-100 cm it showed strong variabilily, with differences in spatial distribution appearing with changes in depth. (2) The main cation in the study area is Na++K+, with significant differences in the content of each cation (P<0.05). The main anion is S O 4 2 -, which significant difference compared with other anions (P<0.05). The contents of the ions are in following order: S O 4 2 - > Na+ +K+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > H C O 3 - > Cl- > C O 3 2 -, and the concentration of each ion also increases with increasing of soil depth, consistent with the changes in total salt and pH. (3) Through correlation analysis and principal component analysis, it was found that the main factors affecting total salt in the irrigation area are S O 4 2 -, Cl-, Na++K+, and Mg2+, while the main factors affecting pH are C O 3 2 - and H C O 3 -. The main salts are sulfate and chloride, but there are significant differences in salt types at different depth profiles. The upper layer of salt is mainly chloride, while the lower layer is a composite of sulfate and chloride. The results of this study prove the main factors affecting the soil salinity characteristics of irrigation region of Yellow River of Hongsipu, and provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of alkali soil in the study area.

Key words: saline-alkali land, salinization characteristics, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, irrigation region of Yellow River of Hongsipu, Ningxia