Salinity is a fundamental topic in aquatic and soil sciences describing the total concentration of dissolved inorganic salts, typically dominated by ions such as Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, and HCO₃⁻, in water or porous media. It governs key physicochemical properties including osmotic potential, electrical conductivity, density, and buffering capacity, thereby influencing biogeochemical cycles, organismal osmoregulation, and ecosystem productivity. In research, salinity is quantified using practical salinity units, electrical conductivity, or mass-based measures, and serves as a critical variable in hydrology, oceanography, agroecology, and climate studies, where spatial and temporal gradients in salinity structure circulation, stratification, and stress tolerance thresholds.
Soil salinity is a critical concern in agriculture when excessive soluble salts restrict a plant's water uptake, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hindering crop growth and reducing yields on roughly 30% of ...
Biotechnology
Mar 25, 2026
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A potentially huge underground reservoir of freshwater beneath the Great Salt Lake is coming into sharper focus with a new study that used airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys to X-ray geologic structures under Farmington ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 20, 2026
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Idaho's Silver Valley has produced about 1.2 billion ounces of silver since the late 1800s, enough to cast a solid cube roughly as tall as a five-story building, along with huge amounts of lead and zinc. Now a new study led ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 19, 2026
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Thanks to upstream diversions and climate change, Utah's Great Salt Lake has shrunk by 70% since 1989, exposing about 800 square miles of playa and mudflats—along with numerous curiosities. While a potential environmental ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 12, 2026
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A research team from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed an innovative model to accurately assess the carbon sequestration capacity of global salt marshes, addressing a long-standing ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 7, 2026
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Since the beginning of January, an unusually long period of easterly winds has caused the average water level in the Baltic Sea to fall to a historic low. Measurements at the Swedish Landsort-Norra gauge show values that ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 9, 2026
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177
Snow has returned to the Philadelphia region, and along with it the white residues on streets and sidewalks that result from the over-application of deicers such as sodium chloride, or rock salt, as well as more modern salt ...
Environment
Jan 27, 2026
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Winter has its fans, but even those who enjoy playing in the snow probably dislike the chore of clearing up after a big storm that dumps several inches or even feet of snow and ice.
Environment
Jan 23, 2026
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A new global study shows that increasing soil salinity is systematically reshaping the storage and distribution of soil inorganic carbon (SIC), a key but often-overlooked part of terrestrial ecosystems. The findings, published ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 22, 2026
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More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like modern-day Death Valley evaporated under the sun's gentle heat, leaving behind crystals of halite—rock salt.
Astrobiology
Dec 23, 2025
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