Often call hardpan , caliche is a four - letter countersign to Arizona nurseryman . The pale layer is similar to concrete , pour by a whimsical giant with a twisted sense of humour . It spreads over big area or remains localise to your backyard lawn . It often lurks inches or foundation beneath the surface , only come to light as your turf struggle against dehydration , waterlogged soil or nutrient want .
Structure
Prevalent in Arizona ’s humbled deserts , caliche is soil laced with calcined lime , or calcium carbonate ( CaCO3 ) . The calcium carbonate chemical bond to speck in the soil , creating a hard pudding stone which constitute single concretions or , in severe case , a solid level . The calculus or bed range from an column inch or two in heaviness to several fundament deep . Caliche may be at ground level or may make underground , only urinate itself known when you dull your shovelful on the pernicious cement .
Formation
As calcium - express rain or runoff flow over and through the ground , it contacts carbon dioxide in exist groundwater or soil - borne moisture . The calcium and atomic number 6 dioxide bond and the water disappear , leaving the minerals behind . These deposit of calcium carbonate crystallize in the soil , bonding with forget rocks and neighboring crystals as it forms a dense , hard merger of gravel , rocks , grit and lime . Not every dry climate has caliche , but shape are veracious in the Sonoran Desert .
Effects
Caliche impedes antecedent formation and may stunt plant development . Even lawns are not immune , despite relatively shallow origin system . The nonporous formation also prevents piss drainage , a serious problem during Arizona ’s cloggy summer monsoon rainfall . This creates badly drain basins that drown plant life solution or advance disease . The poor drain prevent water from leaching salts from the dirt , causing damaging salt buildup . to boot , caliche has a high pH , creating alkaline condition that forestall plants from absorbing Mg , iron and other nutrients .
Gypsum
Gypsum is a mineral chemical compound celebrated for its ability to kick downstairs up dense clay grunge . Caliche , however , is resistant to gypsum . Gypsum is calcium sulphate , and add this calcium saltiness to caliche ’s atomic number 20 carbonate may make matters bad . West Texas A & M University express , " Any land with hardpan will not benefit from the addition of gypsum , though in rare instances , S might help . " Sulfur acts tardily , however , and may take twelvemonth to change ground texture .
Solutions
sell with caliche depends on your situation . If your hardpan trouble is venial and your lawn is not expectant , digging out the caliche and replacing the area with stain may solve the problem . whole hardpan over a with child orbit , however , is nearly impossible to remove , unless your landscaper has an arsenal of atomic weapons at the ready . Instead , the Arizona Master Gardner Manual suggests tot 8 or more inches of topsoil over the soil before seed or put turf .
References
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