source : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2025.105475
Abstract
Oases are key agricultural landscapes in semi-arid to hyper-arid regions. They are currently threatened by socio-economic shifts, decreasing water-soil resources and rising salinity issues. In the UAE, the Masafi oasis has been farmed for millennia, prompting questions about how ancient societies managed salinity. To assess current salinity, we collected surface water samples and salt efflorescences in the oasis. To analyse how agricultural and hydraulic practices influence salt accumulation and leaching processes, we studied a Reference Pit in a plot in which we collected soil samples and a continuous core for a 3-month laboratory experiment of reconstructed irrigation practices. Sedimentological, physico-chemical and micromorphological analyses were performed before and after irrigation. Results were confronted with similar analyses processed in an Archaeological Pit in which ancient cultivated soils were identified. Findings show that Masafi soils currently face salinity-sodicityproblems. Salt accumulation was also found in ancient soils. These traces may have been preserved thanks to the burial of these soils under thick non-cultivated sediments and gully deposits, along with reduced irrigation and increased evaporation. Changes in salt composition over time suggest shifts in water quality, highlighting the role of both natural and human-driven processes in the long-term evolution of oasis agriculture.
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