Mineral Composition of Selected Soils in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Ten soil profiles from the agricultural areas in Saudi Arabia were investigated for their mineralogical properties and some general characteristics. It was found that the soils of the eastern region were Torrifluvents and Gypsiorthids, coarse in texture with high salt, gypsum and carbonate contents. Soils of the central region were found to be Torriorthents, Torrifluvents and Torripsamments, medium to coarse in texture with smaller amounts of gypsum and salt than soils in the east. Soils of the western region were Haplargids with minor amounts of carbonate and salt. Carbonate, quartz and gypsum were found to be the main constituents of the sand and silt fractions in soils of the eastern region, while quartz, carbonate and feldspars dominated the sand and silt in the central region. The sand and silt fractions of soils in the west contained mainly quartz, feldspars, hornblende and mica. Palygorskite dominated the clay fractions of soils in the east, while kaolinite was found to be dominant in the central region, and kaolinite, smectite and mica in the west. The mineral composition of the soils was affected by the rocks from which they were derived. Igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Arabian Shield affected the soils in the west, while sedimentary rocks had great influence on soils of the central and eastern regions. Mineralbestand ausgewiihlter Biiden nus Saudi ArabienZehn Boden landwirtschaftlich genutzter Flachen in Saudi Arabien wurden auf ihre chemischen, physikalischen und mineralogischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Boden der ostlichen Region zeigten hohe Salz-, Gips-und Karbonat-Gehalte; sie waren grobkornig und wurden als Torrifluvents und Gypsiorthids Llassifiziert. In der zentralen Region waren die Boden (Torriorthents, Torrifluvents und Torripsamments) mittel-bis grobkomig und enthielten weniger Gips und Salze als die Boden im Osten. Boden der westlichen Region waren Haplargids mit geringen Karbonat-und Salzgehalten. Die Sand-und Schluff-Fraktionen der Boden im Osten enthielten hauptsachlich Karbonate, Quarz und Gips, wahrend in der zentralen Region Quarz, Karbonate und Feldspate gefunden wurden. Quarz, Feldspate, Hornblenden und Glimmer machten die Sand-und Schluff-Fraktionen der Boden in der westlichen Region aus. Die Tonfraktion der Boden im Osten bestand hauptsachlich aus Palygorskit, in der zentralen Region aus Kaolinit und im Westen aus Kaolinit, Smectit und Glimmer. Der Mineralbestand der Boden wurde stark von den Ausgangsgesteinen beeinflult. Die vulkanischen und metamorphen Gesteine des Arabian Shield bestimmten die Boden im Westen, wahrend Sedimentgesteine die Boden der zentralen und ostlichen Regionen bestimmten.

Arabian Red Sea coastal soils as potential mineral dust sources

“…The impact of soil dust from natural and anthropogenic sources on climate and air quality has been recognized on a global scale (Sokolik and Toon, 1996;Tegen and Fung, 1995). However, the regional fine-scale processes of mineral dust emissions and their effect on environmental processes and human health are poorly quantified in the study region because of the spatial distribution of detailed mineralogical, physical and chemical properties of the surface soils at coastal dust source regions ("hot spots") that were previously not available.…”

“…Mineral dust is the most abundant atmospheric aerosol, primarily suspended from soils in arid and semiarid regions of the globe (Buseck et al, 1999;Washington and Todd, 2005;Goudie and Middleton, 2006;Muhs et al, 2014), including deserts of the Arabian Peninsula (Edgell, 2006). Dust aerosols profoundly affect climate, biogeochemical cycles in the ocean and overland, air quality, atmospheric chemistry, cloud formation, visibility and human activities (Prospero et al, 2002;Haywood and Boucher, 2000;Hsu et al, 2004;Sokolik and Toon, 1999;Kumar et al, 2014;De Longueville et al, 2010;Jickells et al, 2005;Mahowald, 2009;Huang et al, 2006Huang et al, , 2014Fryrear, 1981;Nihlen and Lund, 1995;Hagen and Woodruff, 1973;Bennett et al, 2006;Bennion et al, 2007;Twomey et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2010). The Arabian Peninsula is one of Earth's major sources of atmospheric dust, which contributes as much as 11.8 % (22-500 Mt a −1 ) of the total (1877-4000 Mt a −1 ) global dust emissions (Tanaka and Chiba, 2006).…”

“…Al-Farraj (2008) studied the soils from the Jīzān region of southern Saudi Arabia, identifying smectite, kaolinite and illite as the predominant clay minerals, together with lesser amounts of chlorite, quartz and feldspars. Shadfan et al (1984) investigated mineralogical content and general characteristics of soils from some agricultural areas in Saudi Arabia. They found carbonate, quartz and gypsum to be the main constituents of the sand and silt fractions in soils of the eastern region, while quartz, carbonate and feldspars dom-inate soils in the central region.…”

Sensitivity of Vadose Zone Water Fluxes to Climate Shifts in Arid Settings

“…Due to the low precipitation, large parts in eastern Saudi Arabia show a reduced soil development without a clear soil structure within the profile (Shadfan et al, 1984). In large parts of the region above the aquifer thick unconsolidated Quaternary sediments are deposited, forming extensive sand deserts and gravel sheets (Shadfan et al, 1984). The large dune regions offer a high potential for infiltration and direct groundwater recharge (Dincer et al, 1974, Engelhardt et al, 2013b).…”

Monsoon-driven changes in aeolian and fluvial sediment input to the central Red Sea recorded throughout the last 200,000 years

“…The Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary rocks, their weathering products and the soils in eastern and central Saudi Arabia are rich in palygorskite (Aba-Husayn and Sayegh, 1977;Mackenzie et al, 1984;Shadfan et al, 1984;Shadfan and Mashhady, 1985). Palygorskite is also widespread in the flood plains of Mesopotamia (Aqrawi, 1993;Al-Bassam, 2019).…”