SOIL PROPERTIES IN RELATION TO WATER REGIME AT A SITE NEAR QUEBEC CITY

1974 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. DE KIMPE ◽  
J. A. McKEAGUE ◽  
G. C. TOPP

Properties of soils along the 3% slope were affected both by water table levels and by the nature of the parent sedimentary rock. All of the soils had upper sola of medium to fine texture, due largely to the disintegration of the underlying shaly gravel. Relatively impermeable shaly bedrock at depths of 1–2 m from the surface maintained generally high water tables. Redox potentials, gley colors and mottling were closely associated with proximity to the surface of the water table. Evidence of podzolisation and of clay weathering and translocation were obscured by the release of bases and clay from the disintegrating gravel. Hydraulic conductivities of the surficial layers were generally much lower than those of the gravelly subsoil layers, but the data were highly variable due to soil variability, seasonal changes in soil structure and problems with methodology. The data suggest that surface ridging might be more effective than tiles for draining soils such as these.

Botany ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (11) ◽  
pp. 779-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Félix Gagnon ◽  
Line Rochefort ◽  
Claude Lavoie

There are very few studies on the spontaneous revegetation of cutover fens or bogs from which peat has been extracted to the minerotrophic layers. Most peatlands with fen-type residual peat have problems regenerating a plant cover satisfactorily from a restoration point of view. We nevertheless found a site (Moss Spur, Manitoba, Canada) presenting a substantial and diversified spontaneous plant cover. We estimated that the site would provide insights about natural revegetation processes operating in peatlands. Vegetation assemblages and environmental conditions were surveyed 19 years after extraction activities ceased. Moss Spur has densely revegetated (163 plant species, vegetation cover of 94%) with minimal human assistance. However, the composition of plant assemblages varies considerably across the site, depending on certain abiotic variables, particularly water pH, water table level, and the thickness of the residual peat layer. Moss Spur was remarkably wet considering the past peat extraction activities and the absence of active rewetting procedures. The high water table level may in part explain the successful revegetation. However, plant assemblages were not of equal quality from a restoration perspective. Some assemblages were highly diversified, and especially those dominated by Scirpus cyperinus, a species that should be further considered in peatland restoration projects to direct the recovery of the peatland towards a natural fen species composition.


1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Haug ◽  
D. J. L. Forgie ◽  
S. L. Barbour

This paper presents the design concept for a case study sanitary landfill on a site that would not normally have been approved owing to the presence of a high water table. In this design, the base of the landfill was intentionally placed below the water table. A massive 2.5 m wide, 2.5 m high cutoff wall and a 0.3 m thick liner with hydraulic conductivities of approximately 5 × 10−10 m/s were constructed of recompacted glacial till to limit both groundwater intrusion into the landfill and leachate migration out of the landfill. In this case study, the landfill base was placed below the water table to (i) provide a relatively inexpensive source of cover material and (ii) use the hydrodynamic gradient from the high water table to help contain the leachate. Finite element modelling of the seepage and contaminant transport, for alternate designs for lined and unlined landfills placed above and below the groundwater table, is shown to confirm a previous, less-sophisticated, estimation that placing a lined landfill below the groundwater table has definite advantages in reducing both leachate seepage and contaminant transport. Key words: landfill, leachate, hydrodynamic containment, liners, compacted earth cutoff walls, seepage and contaminant transport modelling.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Marcisz ◽  
Piotr Kołaczek ◽  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu ◽  
Mariusz Lamentowicz

<p>Over the last few hundred years peatlands worldwide are experiencing substantial drying that is lowering their carbon storage potential. However, our high-resolution reconstruction of hydrological changes in a small <em>Sphagnum</em>-dominated peatland show that we can still observe healthy bogs in the fragmented landscape of Europe (Marcisz et al., 2020). We investigated last 1500 years history of a bog located in a young glacial landscape in Central Eastern Europe (NE Poland) using a multi-proxy approach and high-resolution dating. Our reconstruction showed a rare case of hydrological stability in the peatland that did not experience any dry shift over the last 1500 years, allowing for an undisturbed growth of <em>Sphagnum</em>, stable microbial communities, and high peat accumulation rates. High water tables (>12 cm depth to water table) influenced high resilience of the bog which was not affected by disturbances (deforestations, grazing or farming). Our palaeoecological data suggest that nature conservation practices which target high water tables are essential to maintain peatlands as a sink and not as a source of carbon in the future, supporting an earlier study that concluded a ca. 11-12 cm water table depth as a target number for peatland protection (Lamentowicz et al., 2019).</p><p>References:</p><p>Lamentowicz, M., Gałka, M., Marcisz, K., Słowiński, M., Kajukało-Drygalska, K., Druguet Dayras, M., Jassey, V.E.J., 2019. Unveiling tipping points in long-term ecological records from <em>Sphagnum</em>-dominated peatlands. Biology Letters 15, 20190043.</p><p>Marcisz, K., Kołaczek, P., Gałka, M., Diaconu, A.-C., Lamentowicz, M., 2020. Exceptional hydrological stability of a <em>Sphagnum</em>-dominated peatland over the late Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 231, 106180.</p>


1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Barnett ◽  
M. R. Bullen ◽  
C. R. de Kimpe

To study potato (Solanum tuberosum) response to drainage in a poorly drained high-S de l’Anse clay loam (sulfaquept), five or six cultivars were grown for 3 consecutive years on separate plots where the water table fluctuated naturally or was maintained at 0.46-, 0.76-, or 1.22-m depth during the growing season. As the fixed water table was maintained at progressively lower levels, marketable tuber (> 45 mm) yields declined linearly from 0.46 to 1.22 m in a year with normal July rainfall. Marketable yield plateaued at 0.76 m then decreased in years with wet or dry July periods. Specific gravity of the potatoes declined each year. The reduction was greater from 0.46 to 0.76 than from 0.76 to 1.22 m in the dry and wet years. In the wet year, there was a slight increase in specific gravity from 0.76 to 1.22 m. Soil temperature and soil pH showed no effect of water table reduction. Generally, the values for variables measured on the controls where the water table fluctuated naturally occurred somewhere between the two extremes of those measured between 0.46 and 1.22 m. Therefore, there was no advantage in lowering the water table for crop growth on a high-water-table soil and doing so resulted in negative effects due to less water being available. These negative effects were not due to increased acidity on this cat clay. Since water table had no effect on soil pH, it may be that the sulfur compounds in this soil were not significantly labile.Key words: Solanum tuberosum L., cat clay, water table


1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (12) ◽  
pp. 67-72
Author(s):  
Yukio Komai

A water sample was taken once a day for 15 months at a site near an estuary of the Kako River, Japan, to estimate nutrient loads from rivers to the sea. Total phosphorus (T-P), total nitrogen (T-N), suspended solids (SS) and electronic conductivity (EC) were measured. T-P and SS concentrations varied in proportion to the discharge, and T-P concentrations increased with those of SS, too. EC varied inversely with the discharge, but the fluctuations of T-N concentrations were less than those of T-P and SS concentrations. Water quality remained, for the most part, constant throughout the day. T-P, T-N and SS load were 181t/year, 2320t/year and 51000t/year in 1992, respectively, 54% of T-P load, 47% of T-N load and 80% of SS loads outflowed in those cases where the discharge was more than 100 m3/s, which were 36 days in 1992. 79% of T-P load, 69% of T-N load and 92% of SS load outflowed in periods of high water discharge, which were 88 in 1992. T-P and T-N loads calculated by using one day's data in every month were 151t/year and 2450t/year. But nutrient loads calculated by using the average value of data from an ordinary discharge were two or three times lower than calculated yearly loads. These results showed the importance of estimating the yearly load considering the discharge condition and sampling at a time of high water discharge.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 775
Author(s):  
Carlos Esse ◽  
Francisco Correa-Araneda ◽  
Cristian Acuña ◽  
Rodrigo Santander-Massa ◽  
Patricio De Los Ríos-Escalante ◽  
...  

Pilgerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin is an endemic, threatened conifer that grows in South America. In the sub-Antarctic territory, one of the most isolated places in the world, some forest patches remain untouched since the last glaciation. In this study, we analyze the tree structure and tree diversity and characterize the environmental conditions where P. uviferum-dominated stands develop within the Magellanic islands in Kawésqar National Park, Chile. An environmental matrix using the databases WorldClim and SoilGrids and local topography variables was used to identify the main environmental variables that explain the P. uviferum-dominated stands. PCA was used to reduce the environmental variables, and PERMANOVA and nMDS were used to evaluate differences among forest communities. The results show that two forest communities are present within the Magellanic islands. Both forest communities share the fact that they can persist over time due to the high water table that limits the competitive effect from other tree species less tolerant to high soil water table and organic matter. Our results contribute to knowledge of the species’ environmental preference and design conservation programs.


1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. MILLER ◽  
D. F. ACTON ◽  
R. J. ST. ARNAUD

The results of this study indicate the importance of groundwater flow and water table depth on the genesis, characteristics and distribution of soils within a hummocky morainal landscape. Non-saline and non-carbonated soils in upland depressions can be attributed to "depression-focused" recharge by snowmelt and snowmelt runoff in the spring, as evidenced by deep sola and/or eluvial horizons. Non-saline and carbonated soils on lower slopes adjacent to depressions are associated with local discharge and/or lateral flow from the adjacent groundwater mounds under the depressions in spring, as well as upward flow in the summer resulting from water use by phreatophytes such as willows, creating a water table depression around the slough fringes. Saline and carbonated soils at low elevations are associated with shallow and rather stable water tables, and local discharge from surrounding uplands. Soil types on uplands are more dependent on slope position and infiltration than on depth to water table or groundwater flow. Non-saline soils of different profile types occur on mid- and upper slope positions. These areas have a deep water table with mainly recharge or lateral flow occurring in the saturated zone. The infiltration of surface runoff water in upland depressions is the dominant factor influencing the distribution of soluble salts in this hummocky landscape. Key words: Water table, landscape position, recharge, discharge, soluble salts, soil genesis, morphology, carbonate soil


1971 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Enkeboll

abstract Soil and water conditions had an effect on the degree of damage to structures. Most structures were located on alluvium with a high water table. Settlements occurred in dike and causeway fill in Chimbote harbor. Severe problems to communication occurred in some areas through embankment failures and road slides.


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