2.2.3 Site Soil Data
Five coastal sites in the Abu Dhabi Emirate were identified by the Abu
Dhabi Urban Planning Council
(www.upc.gov.ae) as potential sites for
the halophyte farming field demonstration (Figure 1 ). The soil
types at these sites were determined from the Abu Dhabi Soil Survey
(Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, 2009),
which also contained detailed physical and chemical composition
(including mineral stratigraphy) of each soil type. Soil types AD128,
AD129, AD134, AD146, AD157, and TF (tidal flats) were identified as
being present at the five proposed sites. Owing to the shallow
groundwater table possibly encroaching into the root zone at the
locations of soil types AD128, AD129, and TF, these soil types were
excluded from further analysis. The remaining soil types, AD134, AD146,
and AD157, were chosen for geochemical modelling (Tables
3(a)-(c) ). The total soil column depth was taken from the
depth-to-groundwater in the Soil Survey at the location of the potential
sites.