Abstract—This study investigates the interaction and the
effectiveness of two soil amendments: Gypsum and
Polyacrylamide (PAM) in minimizing soil erosion under saline
condition. Erosion measurements were carried out on a sandy
loam soil in the 1m × 6 m Flume of Griffith University's
rainfall simulation facility (GUTSR). The results presented in
this study suggest that by moderately increasing soil salinity
(increasing EC from 0.5 to 4 dS/m). Soil erosion, as expressed
in terms of sediment concentration and soil loss increased
substantially. Sediment concentration increased 3.6 times and
soil loss 4.6 times when compared with non-saline (control) soil.
These findings have some important practical implications for
agriculture on saline land. PAM can be successfully used for
controlling or minimizing the adverse impacts of salinity such
as increased erosion, surface sealing, and poor runoff water
quality.
Index Terms—Climate change, soil salinity, soil erosion,
gypsum and polyacrylamide.
Bahar Nader Al-Uzairy is with College of Agriculture Baghdad
University, Baghdad (e-mail: baharmns@yahoo.com).
Cite:Bahar Nader Al-Uzairy, "The Effectiveness of Two Soil Amendments: Gypsum and Polyacrylamide on Soil Erosion under Saline Conditions in Australia," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 375-380, 2015.
