292-16
Poster Number
See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil Physics
See more from this Session: Soil Structure and Biophysicochemical Functions At Different Scales: II
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Tampa Convention Center, East Exhibit Hall
Abstract:
Restrictive soil layers commonly known as hardpans restrict water storage in the soil profile and impedeairflow andplant root growth below the plow depth. Preventing hardpans to form or ameliorateexisting hardpans will allow plants root more deeply, increase water infiltration and reduce runoff, all resulting in greater amounts of water available for the crop (i.e., green water). However, there has been a lack of research on understanding the influence of transported disturbed soil particles from the surface to the subsurface to form restrictive soil layers, which isa common occurrence in degraded soils. In this study we investigated the effect of disturbed soil particles on clogging up of soil pores to form hardpans. Unsaturated sand column experiments were performed by applying 0.04 g/ml soil water solution in three sand textures. For each experiment, soil water solution infiltration process was visualized using a bright field microscope and soil particles remained in the sand column was quantified collecting and measuring leachate at the end of the experiment in the soil and water lab of Cornell University. Results show that accumulation of significant amount of soil particles occur in between sand particles and at air water interfaces, indicating the clogging of soil pores occurs as a result of disturbed fine soil particles transported from the soil surface to the subsurface.
See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil Physics
See more from this Session: Soil Structure and Biophysicochemical Functions At Different Scales: II