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Chemical and Physical Properties of Soils in a Wet Saline Area in Eastern North Dakota¹

ABSTRACT

A large, imperfectly drained saline soil area in the Red River Valley of North Dakota (glacial Lake Agassiz) was characterized chemically and physically. Two main problem areas were differentiated: one where soils were derived from deep lacustrine sediments of low bulk density with high Mg content frequently, and another, where dense glacial till was close to the surface and was found similar in composition to deep artesian waters having higher contents of Na and B. Dolomite was high in the lakelaid soils with montmorillonite the principal clay mineral. Composition of shallow ground waters was similar to ambient soils. The principal problem is excessive concentrations of soluble salts influenced by shallow water tables. Several chemical and physical interrelationships are explained.

¹ Contribution from the Northern Plains Branch, Soil and Water Conservation Research Division, ARS, USDA.

² Soil Scientist, Mandan, N. Dak.; Agricultural Engineer, Grand Forks, N. Dak.; and Agricultural Engineer, now at Akron, Colo., respectively. The authors extend grateful acknowledgements:—to the U. S. Salinity Laboratory staff for assistance with the laboratory determinations; to Dr. G. D. Sherman, University of Hawaii and Dr. Fred Lotspeich, USDA-ARS, Bushland, Tex., for X-ray diffraction analysis of soil minerals; and to the Soil Conservation Service for names of soil series.

Received for publication May 27, 1963. Accepted for publication July 8, 1963.