Estimating generalized of global impacts to water quality on soil characteristics in basin of the Great Sebkha of Oran

Abstract

Abstract In basin of the Great Sebkha of Oran, water deficit linked to climate semi-aridity has forced farmers to resort to the use of underground water of poor quality, which considered as the major cause of soil degradation. The alluvial aquifer waters are particularly characterized by higher relatively concentration in dissolved salts when compared them with other aquifers of the same system. Generally, the salinity of the water increases from upstream to downstream in the direction of the Sebkha (Boualla et al. in Water Supply 17(6):1801–1812, 2017). Assessment of soil quality has become the basic work for agricultural sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to evaluate soil properties in great Sebkha of Oran basin. Geo-referred soil samples were collected from ten-component analysis, and different soils were analysed for different physical and chemical attributes. Our study focuses on mineralogical analysis and geochemical prospecting using soil chemical data. Eleven indicators were selected to constitute data to assess the soil quality: sieve analysis, classification, cation exchange capacity, pH, soil organic matter, conductivity, gypsum, nature of the oxide content, nutrients (NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P), anions content (SO4 2−, Cl−) and mineralogical analysis. Conclusively, process and mechanism of soil quality need deep research.

Keywords

• Soil
• Quality
• Cation exchange capacity
• Organic matter
• Oxides
• Leaching fraction