Lacquer profile of a Solontschak soil under a field under reclamation from high salinisation near Massa/Morocco

Saline vegetation on top of a former seawater evaporation lake for salt production in Massa near Agadir. The soil is the result of a long time of sedimentation of fine material with an average soil water salinity of 7% down to the watertable. The vegetation consists mainly of Arthrocnemum which can extract salt from the top soil in order to prepare the field for utilisation with normal crops. Here a ditch about 1 m deep and about 1x2 m wide is initiated.

For better demonstration of soil texture and structure, one side is being smoothened carefully with a showel. Details of the soil history like sedimentation and disturbances are demonstrated to the group shown on the picture. A gas bottle shown in the foreground contains the gas to feed the burner for drying the soil profile. The burner set is normally used to melt asphalt roof tiles together.

Mr. Uwe Menzel heats the smoothened soil with the burner until the soil surface changes color and appears to be dry. After drying the soil is sprayed with acetone and then the acetone is incended. This will be repeated several times until the surface of the soil profile surface appears to be dry to at least about 1 cm depth.

A mixture of 25, 50, and 75% leather glue in acetone is put intermittantly on the soil surface several times in increasing time intervals between two applications. Finally the glue concentration reaches 100%. From this time on several layers of cotton tissue are pasted with leather glue on the surface. They are carefully attached to the soil surface to reach all minor crevices, and to fix small gravel and shell pieces protruding from the profile surface.

Coarse plastic sash is glued onto the cotton layers and covered with glue several times until all holes between outer soil layer, cotton layers and plastic sash are bonded together with the glue. When the entire profile is covered, it will be left to dry completely overnight so that it becomes a stiff sheet.

The sheet can be cut vertically into pieces of about 75-100 cm. These can be pulled away from the wet soil behind the profile by carefully cutting the latter along the topsoil with a knife. The entire sheet can be removed from the wet soil from top to bottom. If the soil was homogeneous and dry enough, one gets an accurate soil profile about 5-10 mm thick which shows structure, texture, sedimentation, rooting zones and smaller stones or shells at the places where they were deposited in the soil layers. The lacquer profile in this figure shows an obviously farmed horizon (a situation shown in the next figure) above a smooth layer just below, and the coarse body of the soil beneath until the ground water horizon is reached. At this level the soil can not stick coherently to the cotton and plastic sash because of its wetness.
In this form the "lacquer profile" can be mounted on plywood for demonstration and teaching purposes.

The area is presently irrigated with freshwater in order to use it as farm land lateron. The picture shows alfalfa growth used with unsatisfactory success because of the high salinity of the soil. Several useful halophytes from our list could be grown for fodder or as for vegetable on these plots much sooner than alfalfa. They would draw salt from the soil and bring the fields sooner to a commercial production with normal irrigation crops.

		Saline vegetation on top of a former seawater evaporation lake for salt production in Massa near Agadir. The soil is the result of a long time of sedimentation of fine material with an average soil water salinity of 7% down to the watertable. The vegetation consists mainly of Arthrocnemum which can extract salt from the top soil in order to prepare the field for utilisation with normal crops. Here a ditch about 1 m deep and about 1x2 m wide is initiated.
		For better demonstration of soil texture and structure, one side is being smoothened carefully with a showel. Details of the soil history like sedimentation and disturbances are demonstrated to the group shown on the picture. A gas bottle shown in the foreground contains the gas to feed the burner for drying the soil profile. The burner set is normally used to melt asphalt roof tiles together.
		Mr. Uwe Menzel heats the smoothened soil with the burner until the soil surface changes color and appears to be dry. After drying the soil is sprayed with acetone and then the acetone is incended. This will be repeated several times until the surface of the soil profile surface appears to be dry to at least about 1 cm depth.
		A mixture of 25, 50, and 75% leather glue in acetone is put intermittantly on the soil surface several times in increasing time intervals between two applications. Finally the glue concentration reaches 100%. From this time on several layers of cotton tissue are pasted with leather glue on the surface. They are carefully attached to the soil surface to reach all minor crevices, and to fix small gravel and shell pieces protruding from the profile surface.
		Coarse plastic sash is glued onto the cotton layers and covered with glue several times until all holes between outer soil layer, cotton layers and plastic sash are bonded together with the glue. When the entire profile is covered, it will be left to dry completely overnight so that it becomes a stiff sheet.
		The sheet can be cut vertically into pieces of about 75-100 cm. These can be pulled away from the wet soil behind the profile by carefully cutting the latter along the topsoil with a knife. The entire sheet can be removed from the wet soil from top to bottom. If the soil was homogeneous and dry enough, one gets an accurate soil profile about 5-10 mm thick which shows structure, texture, sedimentation, rooting zones and smaller stones or shells at the places where they were deposited in the soil layers. The lacquer profile in this figure shows an obviously farmed horizon (a situation shown in the next figure) above a smooth layer just below, and the coarse body of the soil beneath until the ground water horizon is reached. At this level the soil can not stick coherently to the cotton and plastic sash because of its wetness. In this form the "lacquer profile" can be mounted on plywood for demonstration and teaching purposes.
		The area is presently irrigated with freshwater in order to use it as farm land lateron. The picture shows alfalfa growth used with unsatisfactory success because of the high salinity of the soil. Several useful halophytes from our list could be grown for fodder or as for vegetable on these plots much sooner than alfalfa. They would draw salt from the soil and bring the fields sooner to a commercial production with normal irrigation crops.