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salinization
[sal-uh-nuh-zey-shuhn]
noun
the process by which a nonsaline soil becomes saline, as by the irrigation of land with brackish water.
Word History and Origins
Origin of salinization1
Example Sentences
"Rising groundwaters can lead to flooding of coastal cities, waterlogging of farmlands and salinization of groundwaters and soils."
Yet even the seeming blessing of rising groundwater can prove to be problematic, as they explain: "Rsing groundwaters can lead to flooding of coastal cities, waterlogging of farmlands and salinization of groundwaters and soils. Rising groundwater levels maybe driven by reductions in groundwater withdrawals or increases in recharge rates owing to land clearing, irrigation or managed aquifer recharge."
In the worst-case scenario, deltas could be lost to the sea; other consequences are flooding, salinization of water, which affects agriculture, coastal squeeze, and loss of ecosystems.
"Instead of sitting back, governments need to think long-term, and put plans in place to reduce or mitigate risks. In the Mekong delta, for example, the Vietnamese government are making strong efforts to restrict future groundwater extraction in the delta to reduce land subsidence and salinization," says Philip Minderhoud, assistant professor at Wageningen University and Research.
While a few ponds might see significant rise in water elevation, by up to 1.8 meters, most ponds would not see their salinity increase from this source of salinization.
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When To Use
Salinization is the process in which soil that is low in salt becomes high in salt.In this context, “salt” doesn’t just refer to sodium chloride (table salt) but to the whole category of chemical substances known as salts.When you grow crops, you want to grow them in soil that is low in salt so that the plants can absorb water from the ground through their roots using a process called osmosis. In osmosis, a liquid moves from a place where it can’t easily dissolve (a low concentration of solubles) to a place where it can more easily dissolve (high concentration). In this case, plants usually have a high concentration of solubles so water would move from the soil into the plant.Salty soil, though, has a high concentration of solubles (salt), so water will stay where it is and not move into the plants. This is a big problem if you are a farmer because your plants will wither and die if they can’t absorb water.In salinization, soil that wasn’t salty becomes so. The most common cause of salinization is too much water in the soil close to the surface.Salinization makes it much harder to use land for farming. Often, farmers will need to spend a lot of time, money, and effort getting rid of the excess salt from the soil. Sometimes, the cost of doing this just isn’t worth it so the land will be abandoned entirely.Salinization has become a global problem, affecting approximately 20% of the world’s farmland. Salinization is more common in arid areas where salty soil water evaporates before it can be drained.
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