Amr Faisal Jarajreh, Dana Shalabi
Jubilee School, Amman, JORDAN
The basicity and high saline content of soil is a conflict in the agricultural field; since basic soil that is saturated with (K+, Na+, Mg, Ca+) has different chemical and physical characteristics than standard soil, which causes ammonium volatilization, increasing salinization and reducing the fertility of the soil. This study endeavors to improve the calcareous soil characteristics by reducing its saturation and the saline content to improve its fertility using modified Zeolite. The Zeolite raw material used in this study was modified by increasing its H+ content (more acidic) to reduce the basicity of soil upon mixing . At the same time, modified Zeolite was capable through ion exchange to reduce the salinity of the soil. This was conducted by monitoring the pH of the acid where the Zeolite was soaked in for different times. The filtrate pH of the modified Zeolite was 8.28 which suggested 2 diverged options: Either the Zeolite was completely destroyed from the highly acidic medium, or the modification process was successfully completed. Thus; the (XRD) was used to observe the crystal structure for the Zeolite substance. XRD results confirmed that Zeolite maintained its crystalline structure. Moreover; the modified Zeolite sample was applied on a selective soil using various concentrations to examine whether treated soil with modified Zeolite improved the characteristics of the soil. The results showed the base saturation of the sample decreased from 2.07 to 1.89. In conclusion; this modified natural Zeolite succeeded to reduce base saturation and salinization to treat the fertility of soil.Â
Awards won at the 2013 ISEF
Third Award of $250 - American Geosciences Institute