On the differential effects of salinity and sodicity on aeolian erosion dynamics and particulate emissions

Wind erosion and dust emissions affect regions of the world with sparse vegetation cover or affected by agricultural practices that expose the soil surface to wind action. Although several studies have investigated the impact of soil moisture, land use and land cover on soil susceptibility to wind erosion and dust emissions, the effect of surface soil salinity and sodicity on dust emissions, remains poorly understood. Salt accumulation in agricultural soils is a major concern in agroecosystems with high evaporative demand, shallow water tables or irrigated with water rich in dissolved solids. Recent studies have focused on the effect of soil salinity on soil erodibility in dry atmospheric conditions, while the effect of soil salinity and sodicity in more humid conditions still needs to be investigated. Here we use wind tunnel tests to study the effect of high atmospheric humidity on wind erodibility and particulate matter emissions under saline and sodic conditions. We find that the threshold velocity for wind erosion significantly increases with increasing soil salinity and sodicity, provided that the soil crust formed by soil salts is not disturbed. Indeed, with increasing soil salinity, the formation of a soil crust of increasing strength is observed, leading to an increase in the threshold wind velocity and a consequent decrease in particulate emissions. Interestingly, after the threshold velocity was exceeded, soil crusts were readily ruptured by saltating sand grains resulting in comparable or sometimes even higher particulate matter emissions in saline and sodic soils compared to their untreated (‘control’) counterparts which can be explained by salinity-induced aggregation and sodicity-driven clay dispersion effects. Lastly, understanding the role of atmospheric humidity under changing climate scenarios will help to modulate the wind erosion processes in saline-sodic soils and will help mitigate better dust emissions and soil management policies in arid and semi-arid climate zones.