What you are looking at here is salt. European style farming is putting our country out of wack. Here's the story behind salinity.
"Ground water recharge is the amount of water being added to the ground water. If this is higher than discharge, which is the amount of water lost from the ground water, then the water table rises. As it does, the water dissolves salt held in the soil profile, and the salt becomes more and more concentrated as the water moves upwards. If the salty water keeps rising, it eventually reaches the surface and subsurface layers of the soil. The water evaporates, leaving the salt behind."
There are two sorts of dry land salinity ... one caused by irrigation (adding too much water), the other caused by excess tree clearing (not enough to use the ground water up).
Around the Murray tonnes and tonnes or salt are leaching into the the river every day. A recent Basin Salinity Management Strategy is keeping 17,500 tonnes of salt from entering the Murray annually which is a very good thing. A byproduct of the process is pink salt a naturally pink coloured salt desirable to gourmets .
That's such a barren scene. At least they've found some use for all the excess salt, although it's come too late, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI should think there is infinitisimal use for this salt, yes?
ReplyDeleteI did not realise that is was the rising water table that is the problem. So, equilibrium is the aim, I gather. Equilibrium and regular flow?
I do not understand this. I need to read more. Any adivce?
Julie, sorry I've been AWOL with visitors. I don't have any suggestions ... most of my knowledge has come from watching Landline for the past 20 years. I found the facts of some website. (It's not a university thesis so I didn't keep the citation).
ReplyDeleteVery interesting (and disturbing) - I have never heard of this before (i.e. rising water table fact).
ReplyDeleteIt looks like snow in the first photo.
Hi Martina, much of Australia's landscape is naturally saline but it is generally deep in the soil profile where it doesn't bother the plants. It's only when the water table rises that the salt comes up to the top and causes trouble like this. I don't know if other countries have the similar problems.
ReplyDeleteThe first shot is amazing and full of drama, but it's awful knowing the reason why!...
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