Third Lab Report : "Ulam Raja"

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

SS11403 SAINS TANAH SEKITARAN

SEMESTER 2 2017/2018

Date of Submission: 10th April 2018

MRS. DIANA DEMIYAH BINTI MOHD HAMDAN

TITLE : 'ULAM RAJA'

NAME	IC NUMBER	MATRIC NUMBER
MOHD FATHULIZZAT BIN ASFI	970528125555	BS17110533
CHIN JIA HUI	970616125600	BS17110550
RINA BINTI SARIKA	981008125096	BS17110233
MAIZATUL AKMAR BINTI MOHAMAD NIZAM	970130235172	BS17110366
NORFARAH A'AINA BINTI BAHARIN	980118126298	BS17160676
NOOR HIQMAH BINTI MASBOL	980607015214	BS17110045

1.0 INTRODUCTION

As we know, soil salinity is the salt content in the soil. The process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salinization can be caused natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the gradual withdrawal of an ocean. It can also come about through artificial processes such as irrigation. 

Soils are made up of inorganic and organic compounds inclusive of living organisms. Soil salinization is the accumulation of water-soluble salts within soil layers above a certain level that adversely affects crop production, environmental health and economic welfare.In the early stages, salinity affects the metabolism of soil organisms and reduces soil productivity, but in advanced stages it destroys all vegetation and other organisms living in the soil, consequently transforming fertile and productive land into barren and desertified lands. 

Soil salinity is described and characterised in terms of the concentration and composition of the soluble salts. Even though soluble salts are inherent in all soils, there are many processes that can contribute to the build-up of salts in a given soil layer. 

Natural processes such as physical and chemical weathering can cause the soil salinization. Weathering of soil minerals, salts added through rain, agronomic practices such as fertilizer and pesticide application, saline groundwater intrusion with water table fluctuations, irrigation with saline water sourced from bore, recycled or waste waters, dumping of industrial and municipal wastes into soils and other soil conditions leading to reduced leaching of salts from the soil layer which can lead to soil salinization. 

Other than that, human activities can cause salinization through the use of salt-rich irrigation water, which can be exacerbated by overexploitation of coastal ground water aquifers causing seawater intrusion, or due to other inappropriate irrigation practices, and poor drainage conditions. The excessive use of water for irrigation in dry climates, with heavy soils, causes salt accumulation because they are not washed out by rainfall. The process occurs in cultivated areas where irrigation is associated with high evaporation rates and a clay texture of the soil. The practice of waterlogging without adequate drainage has also become a serious cause of soil salinization. Waterlogged soils prevent leaching of the salts imported by the irrigation water. 

Furthermore, soil salinity is the most severe factor that affects the growth of plants. Soil salinity when combined with boron toxicity is found to be most vigorous in actions against growth of plants. Most plants do not fully express their original genetic potential for growth, development and yield under salt stress, which results in declining of their economic and commercial value. 

Practices to control soil salinity include improving drainage, minimizing saline water irrigation, leaching salts, isolating salts, growing halophytes and employing good soil or water management. Drainage is a primary method of controlling soil salinity. 

Next is soil permeability. Soils are permeable materials because of existence of interconnected voids that allow the flow of fluids when a difference in energy head exists. Soil permeability also termed hydraulic conductivity, is measured using several methods. 

Soil permeability is the property of the soil to transmit water and air also one of the most important qualities to consider for fish culture. The more permeable the soil, the greater the seepage. Some soil is also permeable and seepage so great that it is not possible to build a pond without special construction techniques. Moreover, the soil permeability is a measure indicating the capacity of the soil or rock to allow fluids to pass through it. 

Soils are generally made up of layers and soil quality often varies greatly from one layer to another. It is important to determine the relative position of the permeable and impermeable layers. As we know, there are many factors affects soil permeability. For examples, the particle size, impurities of water, the degree of saturation and adsorbed water to entrapped air and organic material. 

Impurities of water; any foreign matter in water has a tendency to plug the flow passage and reduce the effective voids and hence the permeability soil. Other than that, degree of saturation. If the soil is not fully saturated, it contains air pockets. The permeability is reduced due to the presence of air which causes a blockage to the passage of water. Consequently, the permeability of a partially saturated soil is considerably smaller than that of fully saturated soil. 

Fine grained soils have a layer of adsorbed water strongly attached to their surface. This adsorbed layer is not free to move under gravity. It causes an obstruction to the flow of water in the pores and hence reduces the permeability of soils. Furthermore, entrapped air and organic matter. Air entrapped in the soil and organic matter block the passage of water through soil, hence permeability considerably decreases. In permeability tests, the sample of soil used should be fully saturated to avoid errors.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

SALINITY
There are many objectives in this experiment;

1. We learnt about the various salts on the fertility of a soil.

2. To study the processes of salinization and what causes it to happen.

3. To study the way to prevent and reduce salinization on soil and how to improve it.

PERMEABILITY
There are many objectives in this permeability tests;

1. To determine the permeability of five types of soils.

2. To identify which soils are more permeable.

3.0 METHODOLOGY

SALINITY OF THE SOIL

MATERIAL

1. Five type of soil  ( ground soil , hill soil , red soil , wetland and sand )
2. Distilled water

PROCEDURE

1. Air dried soil samples was prepared that have less than <2mm size.
2. The 2mm mesh size sieve manually used to ensure the size of soil less than 2 mm .
3. The soil sample should do not contain roots, bark , stones and exclude foreign materials.
4. A saturated paste for each soil sample  was made from mixture of 80 gram of each air dried soil sample with distilled water .
5. The mixture of 25 gram of soil and distilled water also prepared with different soil: water ration 1:1, 1:2 and 1:5. After adding thewater  ,swirl/mix for at least 10 minutes.
6.  The size 42 Whatman filter paper was put first on the funnel before putting the saturated paste.
7. Then extract/filter the water using the vacuum pump (vacuum filtration).
8. Keep the filtrate in a bottle container with a label.
9. The electric conductivity was measured by extract water .
10.  The probe was rinsed with distilled water when each time we used measure different samples.

PERMEABILITY OF SOIL

MATERIAL

1. Five type air – dried soil
2. Distilled water

PROCEDURE

1. Test tube was stand on the test tube rack and the funnel was prepared on top of test tube (Or place glass beaker under the funnel).
2. The filter paper was folded and inserted into the funnel to as as soil separate. This is to prevent soil from dropping into the test tube/glass beaker together with water.
3. The same amount of five air-dried soil samples was prepared for each setup. Compact the soil gently, if you only have one type of soil sample, prepare two replicates for average.
4. The same amount of water which is 100ml was prepared to gently pour in each funnel at the same time.
5. The water was slowly poured to all the soil sample at the same time.
6. If the funnel was full of water, wait and the water was balanced after water was not overflowing in the funnel to finish 100ml of water.
7. After an hour, the water volume was measured in the test tube or glass beaker.

4.0 RESULT AND OBSERVATION

SALINITY OF THE SOIL

Type Of Soil	1:1				1:2				1:5
	Conductivity (μs)	Average	Temperature (℃)	Average	Conductivity (μs)	Average	Temperature (℃)	Average	Conductivity (μs)	Average	Temperature (℃)	Average
Ground Soil	774.0 760.0 761.0	765.0	27.1 27.3 27.5	27.30	240.0 375.0 427.0	347.3	29.10 28.70 28.80	28.87	0.70 0.82 1.20	0.91	28.40 28.80 29.00	28.73
Hill soil	365.0 523.0 443.0	443.67	27.0 26.9 26.8	26.90	70.3 83.1 76.0	76.47	27.8 28.2 28.6	28.20	1.33 1.18 0.94	1.15	28.4 28.9 29.8	29.03
Red soil	220.0 217.0 218.0	218.33	27.6 27.6 27.7	27.63	150.9 150.5 150.2	150.53	27.3 28.2 28.7	28.07	0.87 2.05 1.35	1.42	28.2 28.3 28.3	28.27
Sand	9.14 ms 9.10 ms 9.0 ms	9.08ms	27.0 26.8 26.5	26.77	2.69ms 2.60ms 2.55ms	2.61ms	29.0 28.4 28.8	28.73	2.06ms 2.10ms 2.02 ms	2.06ms	22.4 23.1 24.9	23.47
Wetland	206.0 218.0 231.0	218.33	28.1 28.0 28.1	28.07	92.9 83.8 86.9	87.7	27.0 26.8 26.5	26.77	40.8 39.8 39.5	40.03	27.1 27.0 26.8	26.97

                                                       Table 4.0.1 : Result of Saturated Past Soil Test

Type of soil	Conductivity /  µs			Average	Temperature / ⁰C			Average	Volume / ml	Times / min
Ground soil	694	633	680	669	27.2	26.9	27.0	27.03	9.0	118
Hill soil	320	329	382	343.67	28.2	28.5	28.1	28.27	20.0	80
Red soil	154.1	151.5	150	151.87	26.8	26.8	26.8	26.80	17.0	90
Wetland	220	218	210	216	26.7	26.6	26.7	26.67	5.0	70
Sand	4.53 ms	6.35 ms	6.26 ms	5.71ms	27.0	26.9	27.0	26.97	20.0	27

                                                       Table 4.0.2 : Electrical Conductivity (EC) of soil

Figure 4.0.1 The soil filtrate was being sucked by vacuum pump.

Figure 4.0.2 Test the electric conductivity (EC) of the soil.

PERMEABILITY OF SOIL 

*Guideline

Available water capacity by soil texture and the affection to the permeability rate
Textural class	Available water capacity (inches)	Permeability rate
Coarse sand	0.25-0.75	Rapid
Fine sand	0.75-1.00	Rapid
Loamy sand	1.10-1.20	Moderate
Sandy loam	1.25-1.40	Moderate
Fine sandy loam	1.50-2.00	Slow
Silt loam	2.00-2.50	Slow
Silt clay loam	1.80-2.00	Slow
Silty clay	1.50-1.70	Moderate
Clay	1.20-1.50	Moderate

RESULT :

Type of soil	Time taken (s)	Amount of water (ml)
Sand	50	100
Red soil	60	68
Hill soil	60	49
Wet land	60	36
Ground soil	60	34

     Table 4.0.3 Time taken for the water filtered out

Figure 4.0.3 The same amount of five air-dried soil samples was prepared for each setup. 

Figure 4.0.4 The same amount of water which is 100ml was prepared to gently pour in each funnel at the same time.

Figure 4.0.5 The timer was set for 60 minutes to measure the permeability rate of the soil.

5.0 DISCUSSION

SOIL PERMEABILITY

Soil permeability is the property of the soil to transmit water and air. Soil texture, soil structure, and slope have the largest impact on permeability rate. Water moves by gravity into the open pore spaces in the soil, and the size of the soil particles and their spacing determines how much water can flow in. Wide pore spacing at the soil surface increases the permeability rate or rate of water infiltration, so coarse soils have a higher infiltration rate than fine soils. 

Based on the result, it shows that sand has the highest rate of permeability due to the coarser and bigger size of soil that make many spaces between the sand to let the water to flow compare to the other type of soils. Usually, the clayey soil with its fine texture the permeability is very slow. The loamy soil which the texture is moderately fine and coarse, the permeability is also moderate. The sandy soil which is coarse texture, the permeability is rapid. 

Soils with smaller particles which is silt and clay have a larger surface area than those with larger sand particles. Then, a large surface area allows a soil to hold more water. The air space is lesser and more compact than the sand. Thus, can holding the water from flowing. A soil with a high percentage of silt and clay particles, which describes fine soil, has a higher water-holding capacity. 

Based on the result, the order of descending water filtrated in an hour is from sand, red soil, hill soil, wet land to ground soil. Based on the previous result of water holding capacity, it shows that the increasing percentage order from sand, red soil, hill soil, wet land to ground soil. The relation of the water holding capacity due to the soil texture and soil structure affect the permeability of the soil. In the other words, the more the percentage of water holding capacity, the the less the water can filtrate and the the less the rate of permeability.

SOIL SALINITY

The electrical conductivity (EC) of a soil is directly influenced by the composition or the amount of dissolved salts in the soil. As salts contain in soils increase the ability of a soil solution to conduct an electrical current, high EC value result high salinity level. Therefore, electrical conductivity is also a term used to describe a measurement of soil salinity. Soil electrical conductivity (EC) affect the chemical and physical soil properties, which including soil texture, cation exchange capacity (CEC), drainage conditions, organic matter contain, salinity, soil moisture and soil pH. The electrical conductivity of soils is depending on the amount of water held by the soil particles. Soil particle size and texture both have huge effect to the electrical conductivity of the soils. Based on Saskatchewan Water Corporation Guideline, the EC of sand which are coarser contain high EC contain, following by the loam soil, silt soil and clay soil is the least contain of EC. Clay soils have relatively high water holding capacities and slow to drain because of their smaller pore diameters besides clay soils generally have hydrogen bonds which tend to keep clay particles aggregates together. Correspondingly, sandy soils can withstand higher sality irrigation water as more of the water and hence than salts will be leached beneath the root zone (Saskatchewan, 1987). This experiment shows that sand soil have higher salinity contain than others because of different soil texture from different parent material that have been through mechanical and chemical weathering. 

Soil pH refers to measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the growing soil.Soil pH influences the availability of nutrientsand biological activity by changing the form of the nutrient in the soil. Adjuststmen of soil pH can change the availability of nutrients in the soil. Plants usually grow well at pH values higher than 5.5 and pH of 6.5 is considered optimum for nutrient availability. Lower pH increases the solubility of Al, Mn, and Fe, which are toxic to plants in excess and slowing or stopping of root growth. Extreme pH values decrease the availability of nutrients this is because it reduces the availability of the macro- and secondary nutrients; Microbial activity may also be reduced or changed. 

The saturated paste method is a representative measurement of amount of soluble salts in the soil solution this is because it more closely approximates the water content of the soil under field conditions. In most of the soil testing, large numbers of samples must be processed and measurement of EC is carrying out at a fixed and more dilute soil. The saturated paste test shows what nutrients are immediately available in the soil’s water solution. These are the easy access nutrients for plants, so this test better predicts what nutrients will get into the plant.From the saturated past soil test, the sample soils are compare in 3 different ratio which is, 1:1, 1:2 and 1:5. 

The water ratio play an important role to determine the saturation of soil and has been shown to be rapid, easily done, and reproducible across a wide range of soils. Conductivity and temperature among these sample soil in different ratio are measured and compared. Based on the result obtained, sand has the highest conductivity among the sample soil, which is 9.08 ms in the ratio of 1:1, 2.61ms in 1:2 ratio and 2.06ms in 1:5 ratio, which is 2.06ms, 2.10ms and 2.02ms, the average is 2.06ms. Based on the result, red soil and wetland have recorded the same conductivity in the radio of 1:1 which is 218.33μs. In the ratio of 1:2, the conductivity of the hill soil recorded is remain the lowest among the sample soil which is 76.47μs and ground soil recorded is the lowest in the ration of 1:5 which is 0.91μs.Where for the temperature, the range is between 23℃ -29℃. For ration 1:1, wetland shows the highest temperature which is 28.07℃ and shows the lowest temperature when it come the to ratio of 1:2 which is 26.77ºC. While for ratio 1:5 is 26.97ºC, the lowest and highest show a wide range difference which is 23.47℃ for sand and 29.03 ºC for hill soil. 

Based on table 2 shows that sand has the highest conductivity which is 5.71 ms and the red soil shows the lowest conductivity which is only 151.87μs. While for the temperature, these soil samples are stay in the range of 26℃-28℃. The hill soil and the sand both give the same volume of water which is 20ml and it is also the highest amount of water within the soil sample. Time taken for sand is the fastest which it only takes 27 minutes and ground soil takes the longest time which is 118 minutes. All the soils are turn into a paste and put inside the vacuum pump to filtrate it, as the water obtained from the pump vacuum from each soil are also different. This is because higher salinity water will have an increased charge as it contained a larger number of dissolved ions. This increased charge means that less total solution is necessary to balance the charge on clay platelets. Hence, less water is present between clay platelets, in the microspores, when saline water is present than when no saline water is present (Hanson et al., 1999). 

Salinity becomes a problem when a lot of salts accumulate in the root and give a negatively impact to plant growth this is due to osmotic stress and toxic ions.Soil microorganisms play an important role in soils through a process known as mineralization of organic matter into plant available nutrients, it help to maintain high microbial activity in soils. Salinity tolerant soil microbes hinder osmotic stress by synthesizing osmolytes which allows them to maintain cell turgor and metabolism and therefore affect both electrical conductivity and soil water content. Therefore the salinity and water content of soil is important for crop production and plant growth.When plant growth is compared in two identical soils with the same moisture levels, but one soil has salty water and the other soil has salt-free water, plants will be able to extract and use more water from the soil with salt-free water. Similarly, a plant must expend increased energy to get water from the soil if sufficient salts are present to affect the osmotic potential (Western Fertilizer Handbook, 1995). The experiment shows that the higher the salt concentration, the lower the soil drainage and have improper drainage for planting. 

6.0 CONCLUSION

The permeability soils test is related to water holding capacity of the soil. As the permeability test are to determine the physical properties of the ground soil, hill soil, sand soil, red soil and wetland soil which can transmit water and air. The experiment shows that sand have the highest permeability of soil, as sand soil has low water holding capacity and a have a good drainage. The movement of water and air are influence by the soil structure which gives big effectsfrom the arrangement of soil pores. The salinity soils test is test to determine the electric conductivity of soil. The electric conductivity of soils is also related to permeability of soils, soil moisture, and soil pH and soil texture. If the soil texture are coarse, it will have high salinity contained as it able to hold the high salt contain as it high permeability and less leaching fraction which is sand soil. The experiment shows how all physical properties of soil are related to form a vegetation soil profile on Earth. 

REFERENCE

1. Jeff Ball, 2011, Soil and Water Relationship, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. Retrieve from : http://kbsgk12project.kbs.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Soil-and-Water-Relationships.pdf

2. Oxford Bibliographies, Soil Salinity, April 8 2018, Retrieved from; http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document

3. Recare, Soil Salinization, April 8 2018, Retrieved from;https://www.recare-hub.eu/soil-threats/salinization

4. Geotechdata.info, Soil Permeability, April 8 2018, Retrieved from; www.geotechdata.info/parameter/permeability.html

5. Jeff Ball, 2011, Soil and Water Relationship, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. Retrieve from : http://kbsgk12project.kbs.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Soil-and-Water-Relationships.pdf

6. Oxford Bibliographies, Soil Salinity, April 8 2018, Retrieved from; http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document

7. Recare, Soil Salinization, April 8 2018, Retrieved from; https://www.recare-hub.eu/soil-threats/salinization

8. Geotechdata.info, Soil Permeability, April 8 2018, Retrieved from; www.geotechdata.info/parameter/permeability.html

9. Hanson, B., S.R. Grattan and A. Fulton. 1999. "Agricultural Salinity and Drainage." University of California Irrigation Program. University of California, Davis. 

10. Saskatchewan Water Corporation. 1987. "Irrigation Water Quality - Soil Compatibility: Guidelines for Irrigation in Saskatchewan." Saskatchewan Water Corporation, 60 pp. 

11. Western Fertilizer Handbook. 1995. Produced by the Soil Improvement Committee of the California Fertilizer Association. Interstate Publishers, Inc., Sacramento, California, 1995.