Saline and sodic soils - the difference 

Thanks Mo, that is so great to hear.

Hi Lacey, we worked hard on the narrative for this short video and wanted to keep it simple and still ensure it made sense. Happy to hear that it worked for you. Thanks!

I have studied agriculture but professors never explained this topic in this practical manner

from which university you are doing your degree

Thanks for reaching out, that's good to hear

Thank you Neil great to hear that it has been helpful.

Excellent - good luck in your exam!

Thats great. Thank you!

Hi nvrmindthebollocks, Thanks for the feedback, we are pleased that is was useful.

Thanks Robert,it all comes down to soil chemistry, but essentially saline soils have high dissolved salt in the soil water, sodic soils that are dispersible don't. Salinity and sodicity do the opposite to soil structure. Saline soils don't disperse, while sodic soils do. You can observe this by adding one lump of sodic clay to a glass of freshwater and another to a glass of saltwater to see the difference!

@@nswsoilknowledgenetwork2890 Thank you for your quick and thoughtful reply. So the EC is lower in sodic soils (below 4) because the sodium is stuck in the soil and won't go into solution so it can't be read by EC meter?

Thank you Moreblessing ! That makes me happy

+Wizard S Thank you. I'm glad you liked it

Thank you ! Wheat grows in several different soils. In central NSW it grows in red and brown chromosols and dermosols, topsoils are usually clay loam and subsoils light to medium clay. In northern areas it also grows on black vertosols. Topsoils are usually light clay and subsoils medium to heavy clay.

For more info check out our ICONIC SOILS videos for red chromosols and black vertosols

Hi Shaun, I have sent your question to the SKN soil chemistry brains trust and will reply asap

Hi Shaun, We have two soil chemists in the group and they have both responded to your question. The first reply is - Na is always in its ionic form, Na+, in soils. Never in the metallic form. When the Na+ is attached to a soil (which has a net negative charge) it is referred to as “sodicity”. When the Na+ is not attached to a soil clay, that is “free” or “soluble” Na+, the positive charge is normally balanced by Cl- or HCO3- and sometimes SO4-- and NO3-. That is ‘salinity’. The second reply is - Sodium is always in its ionic form (Na+), but it can often attach to the negative surfaces on, or in rocks or soils. If all the available CEC sites are filled with sodium, then if there is still more sodium (often attached to chloride), it can move freely about and the soil will be sodic and saline. Hope this answers your question.

Thanks a lot for that, I didn't expect you to come back that quickly. I have a soil science exam coming up and this helps.

You're welcome. Good luck !

Thank you Maria that is good to hear and yes subtitles would be fantastic for all of our videos. I'll look into it.