Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - 10:30 AM
195-4

Pedogenic Salts of Southern Nevada and Their Landscapes.

Douglas Merkler, USDA-NRCS, 5820 South Pecos, Las Vegas, NV 89120

The geologic history and current arid climate of Clark County in southern Nevada have conspired to concentrate salts in the environment and in doing so provide insight into the comparison of the pedogenic-geogenic processes in soils.  Significant amounts of highly to moderately soluble salts, such as sulfate minerals and halite, accumulate in sediments over time which are then redistributed across the landscape. With the completion of the Clark County soil survey an assessment of soils containing gypsum and other more soluble salts has been possible.  Twenty-six pedons with varying amounts of gypsum and other more soluble salts were characterized over the course of the soil survey and used to assess the geospatial distribution across the landscape as well as the processes involved in the translocation and transformation of these soluble salts within soil profiles. Understanding the processes involved in the formation and genesis of these salty soils will improve our ability to interpret and classify these soils.

Back to Symposium--Gypsum & Soluble Salts in Soils: I. Occurence, Dilemmas, and Solutions
Back to S05 Pedology

Back to The ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings (November 4-8, 2007)