Edaphic Effects of Carbon Dioxide II. Calcareous Incrustations.

Calcium carbonate scale formation in soil occurs whenever calcium carbonate speciations in the pore water either Calcite or Aragonite have saturation indices above 0,5.

Obear and Soldat, 2015, studied the vertical distribution of total dissolved inorganic carbon in 28 USGA greens, to check whether calcium carbonate accumulations occurred, as usually occurs in agricultural soils, as a consequence of irrigation with more or less hard water and high bicarbonate and carbonate contents resulting from the dissolution of CO2 in the soil. The study showed different values from those occurring in agriculture. It turned out that when the pH The pH value of the soil was below 7.8 and the soil had very low amounts of inorganic carbon, whereas at pH values above 7.8 the amounts of inorganic carbon were variable. Furthermore, in most of the samples the pH increased with depth, with the highest values in the lower profile. Soils with acidic pH did not show traces of inorganic carbon, but from alkaline values, in particular from pH values above 7.8, the probability increased, although there were still cases without carbonate present.

Common assumptions such as the accumulation of calcium and magnesium carbonate crusts in USGA greens profiles and associated physical infiltration problems due to irrigation with highly alkaline water have not been proven true on USGA greens, and are being challenged, as these soil profiles are very different from agricultural ones (Carrow et al., 199; Ellis, 2009; Fidanza, 2001; Harivandi, 1999; Simmons 2010). The high foliage density, excessive CO2 production, and other inherent characteristics of these sports constructions mean that these effects common in agriculture are not common in USGA greens (Obear et al, 2015).

Hard irrigation water with high carbonate and bicarbonate contents can cause impermeable crusts on agricultural soils, but the same water on greens does not cause such problems. This is due to high CO2 release rates, high foliage densities and special characteristics of the greens themselves. It is more common to see limescale in the irrigation system than on the greens where it is applied.