Long-term effects of irrigated agriculture on Luvisol pedogenesis in semi-arid region, northeastern Brazil

Abstract Long-term irrigation in semi-arid regions leads to shifts in the soil moisture regime, affecting soil attributes and pedogenesis. Drylands are expected to increase worldwide, possibly because of climate change. Few studies have investigated changes in the pedogenic processes due to extensive irrigation in the Brazilian semi-arid region. This study assesses the effects of land use changes (irrigation and cultivation) on the morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of soils. We evaluated two soil profiles in the semi-arid region in northeastern Brazil. We investigated an irrigated profile (IP) with long-term irrigation (26 years) and cultivation, and another profile under natural conditions (rain-fed hyperxerophilic Caatinga), that is, a non-irrigated profile (N-IP). The results indicate that land use affected chemical and mineralogical attributes of soils as well as the pedogenetic processes. Both soil profiles showed different behaviors in relation to salts: (1) reduction in soil exchangeable Na content (solodization) in IP, and (2) accumulation of soluble salts (salinization) and increased soil exchangeable Na content (solonization) in N-IP. Land use, possibly irrigation, induced mineralogical alteration pathways, such as the progressive mineral transformations via R0 MLM (mixed-layered minerals), suggesting differences in weathering and mineral evolution. The K-I (kaolinite-illite) and I-V (illite-vermiculite) phases predominated in the clay fraction in both soils and exhibited a greater trend for progressive kaolinization in IP. The other two MLMs (kaolinite-vermiculite, K-V and illite-smectite, I-S) were detected in N-IP and could be a proxy for the lowest weathering degree. This is consistent with the trend for a slight reduction in the SiO2/Al2O3 molecular ratio in IP. Illite was possibly the precursor mineral for other phyllosilicates, such as kaolinite, in IP. Fe-enriched MLM was detected in the decreasing sequence: illite, smectite, and kaolinite layers. The pedogenic trends observed, such as mineral weathering, may be attributed to system response to climate change.