A novel method for the remediation
of salinized soils utilizes
recretohalophytes, plants that secrete salts onto their leaf surfaces.
Wind blows the excreted salts from the leaves, dispersing and diluting
them over great distances. In this study, the first model was established
to estimate the amount of salt that could be transferred from a given
field site via haloconduction. Further, the model allows for the determination
of the location and concentrations of deposited salts. Greenhouse
and wind tunnel experiments were used to determine the excretion and
salt emission rates of Spartina pectinata. Based on this data, a theoretical emission profile for S. pectinata at a salt-impacted field site in Bath,
ON, was generated. AERMOD View modeling software was used to visualize
the dispersal of the emitted salts. Finally, a field monitoring program
was implemented to determine the actual chloride deposition rates
and airborne concentrations using passive wet candles and a high-volume
air sampler. Based on this model, approximately 180 kg/year of potassium
chloride (KCl) salt could be displaced from the Bath site and deposited
over an ∼70 km2 region while maintaining deposition
concentrations well below background levels.
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