Page 174 - Arabian Studies (II)

166 Arabian Studies II

five years, there lias been the rapid development of agriculture on
these soils, for with the groundwater table at a depth well below the
rooting depth of any plants likely to be grown, there is little
likelihood of salinity being a problem in the near future. Further­
more, with the low cation exchange capacities of the sandy soils
having a low content of adsorbed sodium, alkalinity problems are not
in evidence. The only problems that are likely to arise are through an
over use of the limited supplies of water and a consequent draw
down of the aquifer preventing the full area being irrigated.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Brammer, H., ‘Decalcification of soils developed in calcareous Gangetic alluvium
in East Pakistan, Pakistan J. Soil Sci., 1968,4.2., 8-20.
Butzer, K. W., ‘Climatic change in arid regions since the Pliocene’ in L. D. Stamp
(ed.),/l History of Land Use in Arid Regions, UNESCO, 1961,31 —56.
---------, ‘The last ‘pluvial’ phase of the Eurafrican sub-tropics’, Proc. Rome
Symp. Arid Zone Research, 20, UNESCO, 1963,211-22.
Halcrow, Sir W. and Partners, Local Report on Al Khatt Springs, Trucial States
Council, 1966.
---------, Report on the Water Resources of the Trucial States, Trucial States
Council, 1969.
Hutton, P. T., ‘Local weather characteristics — Sharjah’, mimeo, Sharjah, 1964.
Stevens, J. H., ‘The soils of the Trucial States: Classification and Capability’,
Trans. IXth Inst. Congr. Soil Sci, Adelaide, 1968, Vol. IV, 253-360.
—------- , ‘Quaternary events and their effect on soil development in an arid
environment, Trucial States’, Quatemaria, X, 1969,73-81.

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