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Classifying arid soils near the edge of an alluvial fan in the Sultanate of Oman

The Batinah Region of Oman consists of extensive alluvial fans incised by ephemeral streams (wadis) and accumulation of fine textured coastal soils. Soils have been cultivated near the coast for time immemorial using, formerly, traditional and, latterly, mechanized water lifting systems. Rapid agricultural expansion in since 1970 has led to widespread cultivation of alluvial fan soils. This trend is projected to intensify as irrigated soils near the coast become increasingly salinized. Land use planners need to decide whether to encourage farming activities on either alluvial fans or in wadi areas. Two transects were selected across examples of both these areas, commencing beyond the area of cultivation inland and terminating at the coast. Soils along the transects were described and classified according to Soil Taxonomy. The objectives were to 1) assess the presence of a wadi on soil properties, 2) determine pattern of soil organic carbon and sand particle size distributions with depth, and 3) identify characteristics of soils in the interaction zone where fan and plain soils meet. Soils of the alluvial fans were Gypsids and Orthents, whereas in the wadi and the coastal plain Fluvents and Salids dominated. Distinguishing between Orthents and Fluvents on the basis of regular or irregular decreases in organic carbon with depth was not satisfactory, since organic carbon contents were very low and there was no consistent patterns of accumulation between soil types. Soils showed a high proportion of fine and very fine particles in the sand fraction, especially when capped by a desert pavement, suggesting that sand deposition was more related to dust entrapment than the action of flowing water. The boundary between fan and coastal plain deposits was more distinct along the fan than wadi transect, with gravelly fan material being buried by fine textured plain deposits. Classification of Salids in areas prone to salinization was problematical, since extremely saline Typic Torrifluvents may develop, within relatively short periods of time, into Haplosalids. Furthermore, recent changes in definition of salic horizons (i.e. electrical conductivity measured in saturated pastes rather than 1:1 soil water extracts) means that the extent of Salids was greater than suggested by previous surveys. The study concluded that soils bordering wadis were more suitable for agricultural development than fan soils. However, soils in both areas were less suitable than coastal plain soils currently under production, except in those areas affected by salinization.