ProCrop 1999

THE NATURE OF NORTH DAKOTA SALTS

The salts most commonly found in concentrations that affect crop growth are sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄) and sodium chloride (NaCl). North Dakota's saline soils are usually a mixture of the two salts, with sodium sulfate being the most dominant form.

Sodium chloride is the dominant salt in most saline soils of the world. It accumulates in oceans and in sea water sediments. Sodium chloride is also the dominant salt in the saline soils of eastern Grand Forks County. Artesian flow from geologic deposits with residual sea water has added sodium chloride to shallow ground water in that area.

Saline soils develop where the evaporation exceeds the growing season rainfall, and local landscape features accumulate seasonal runoff to form a water table which at some point rises to less than 6 feet below the soil surface. The Northern Great Plains of the US and Canada have vast areas that meet these criteria and where saline soils are common.

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