Magnesium in Saline Gypsum-Containing Soils of Russia

Abstract

Statistical analysis of 3802 samples of saline soils from different regions of Russia made possible to substantiate observations of a higher proportion of magnesium in soils containing gypsum compared to saline soils without gypsum. Gypsum is not a toxic salt and its presence does not lead to an increase in salinity. The increase of the salinity degree is mainly associated with sodium and magnesium salts, with the proportion of sodium more often than the proportion of magnesium. The article statistically substantiates that in the studied saline soils that do not contain gypsum, among the cations in the water extract (1 : 5), sodium most often dominates at any degree of salinity. The appearance of gypsum in the soil profile is accompanied by a significant increase in the proportion of magnesium. With a low and medium degree of salinity in horizons containing more than 1% gypsum, according to the median, as well as the arithmetic mean, upper quartile and maximum, the proportion of magnesium from the sum of sodium and magnesium in the water extract (1 : 5) is often more than 50%. Even at a strong and very strong degree of salinity, the proportion of magnesium in gypsum-containing horizons is significant and amounts to 43 and 31%, respectively, on the median, which is 5.8–6.7 times higher than the proportion of magnesium in gypsum-free horizons of the same degree of salinity.