Evaluation of the magnetite as a magnetic tracer of eroded sediment from ephemeral gullies: conditioning factors of magnetic susceptibility

Author(s):  
Elena Zubieta ◽  
Juan Larrasoaña ◽  
Rafael Giménez ◽  
Alaitz Aldaz ◽  
Javier Casalí

<p>In gully erosion, the soil detached by the action of the erosive flow can be transported over long distances along the drainage network of the watershed. In this long way, the eroded material can be redistributed and/or deposited on the soil surface, and then eventually buried by eroded material from subsequent erosion events. Likewise, the variability of the soil (i.e., in texture and moisture content) over which this material moves can be considerable. The presence of the eroded material could be detected through magnetic tracers attached/mixed with the eroded soil. In this experiment, the degree to which the magnetic signal of the magnetite is conditioned by (i) the burying tracer depth, (ii) the texture and moisture content of the soil covering the tracer and (iii) the tracer concentration was evaluated.</p><p>The study was carried out in the lab in different containers (0.5 x 0.5 x 0.3 m<sup>3</sup>). Each container was filled with a given soil. In the filling process, a 0.5-cm layer of a soil-magnetite mixture of a certain concentration was interspersed in the soil profile at a certain depth. Overall, 3 different soil:tracer concentrations (1000:1, 200:1, 100:1), 4 tracer burying depths (0 cm, 3 cm, 5 cm and 10 cm from soil surface), and  2 contrasting soils (silty clay and sandy clay loam) were used. In each case, the magnetic susceptibility was measured with a magnetometer (MS3 by Bartington Instruments). Experiments were repeated with different soil moisture contents (from field capacity to dry soil).</p><p>If the tracer is located under the soil surface a minimum soil:tracer concentration of 200:1 is required for its correct  detection from the surface using a magnetometer. The intensity of the magnetic signal decreases dramatically with the vertical distance  of the tracer from the soil  surface (burying depth). The maximum detection depth of the tracer magnetic signal is strongly dependent on the natural magnetic susceptibility of the soil which hides the own tracer signal. Variation in soil moisture content does not significantly affect the magnetic signal. For extensive field studies the soil-tracer volume to be handled would be very high. Therefore, it is necessary to explore new tracer application techniques.</p>

2013 ◽  
Vol 742 ◽  
pp. 272-277
Author(s):  
Liang Shan Feng ◽  
Zhan Xiang Sun ◽  
Jia Ming Zheng

In this study, the results showed that water is the most important factor to affect crop yields and optimum soil moisture is lower under the conditions of peanut-and-millet interplanting. Thus, peanut-and-millet interplanting is generally able to fit most of the semi-arid region. In the interaction of various factors, the coupling effect of water and phosphorus was stronger than the coupling effect of fertilizers, following by the coupling effect of water and nitrogen. Among peanuts factors of water, nitrogen, and multi-factorial interaction of water, nitrogen, and phosphorus, water and nitrogen showed a negative effect, whereas the two-factor interactions had a positive effect. There were some differences between peanut and millet in the need for water and fertilizer, in which peanut required more nitrogen and millet needed slightly higher soil moisture and phosphorus. When other factors were in rich level, both of the optimal value for single factors of water, nitrogen, and phosphorus and the optimal value for two-factor interactions of water-nitrogen, water-phosphorus, and nitrogen-phosphorus, were higher than the optimal value for the interaction of water, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The tiny demand difference on moisture in peanut-millet interplanting could be compromised by configuring a reasonable interplanting population structure and the corresponding demand difference on fertilizer could be resolved by uneven crop planting strips. Under the condition of water-nitrogen-phosphorus interaction, the soil moisture content optimal for peanut accounted for 57.3% of the field capacity, and the related appropriate application rates of nitrogen and phosphorus were 0.98 g/pot (81.18 kg/hm2) and 0.39g/pot (32.18 kg/hm2), respectively. Likewise, the soil moisture content optimal for millet was 59.1% of the field capacity, and the counterpart appropriate application rates of nitrogen and phosphorus were 0.57 g/pot (47.03 kg/hm2) and 0.45g / pot (37.13 kg/hm2), respectively.


Soil Research ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 1095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang-Guo Ying ◽  
Rai Kookana

Degradation of a new insecticide/termiticide, fipronil, in a soil was studied in the laboratory and field. Three metabolites of fipronil (desulfinyl, sulfide, and sulfone derivatives) were identified from soils after treatment. Laboratory studies showed that soil moisture content had a great effect on the degradation rate of fipronil and products formed. High soil moisture contents (>50%) favored the formation of a sulfide derivative of fipronil by reduction, whereas low soil moisture (<50%) and well-aerated conditions favored the formation of fipronil sulfone by oxidation. Microorganisms in soil accelerated the degradation of fipronil to sulfide and sulfone derivatives. The third transformation product, a desulfinyl derivative, was formed by photodecomposition of fipronil in water and on the soil surface under sunlight. The desulfinyl derivative degraded rapidly in field soils with a half-life of 41–55 days compared with an average half-life of 132 days for fipronil. The half-life of the 'total toxic component' (fipronil and its metabolites) in field soil was 188 days on average.


1965 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Wilcox

Drainage curves following irrigation were determined at six depths in eight soils having unrestricted drainage but varying widely in soil texture. The field capacities were determined under relatively high rates of evapotranspiration. The time after irrigation that it was necessary to wait before sampling the soil, to determine field capacity, was also determined. A high positive correlation was obtained between the log of field capacity in inches and the log of time after irrigation at which to sample the soil. The time varied from about 0.5 day with 1.5 in. field capacity to 4.0 days with 35 in. From the curves of soil moisture content versus time, the errors caused by sampling too soon or too late were determined. The percentage error (i.e. percent of field capacity) increased with an increase in the error in time of sampling; it decreased with an increase in field capacity in inches; and it was greater when sampling was too soon than when it was too late.


Weed Science ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 469-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. V. Parochetti ◽  
E. R. Hein

Vapor losses of trifluralin (α,α,α-trifluoro-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-p-toluidine), benefin (N-butyl-N-ethyl-α,α,α-trifluoro-2,6-p-toluidine), and nitralin [4-(methylsulfonyl)-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropylaniline] were studied under controlled laboratory conditions using a Florisil vapor trap. No nitralin vapor losses were detected at 50 C from a Lakeland loamy sand at field capacity with an air flow rate of 0.04 m3/hr for 3 hr; whereas, 24.5% and 12.5% of trifluralin and benefin, respectively, were lost as vapors. Volatility of trifluralin and benefin increased with increasing temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 C and increasing soil moisture from air dryness to field capacity. Vapor losses from granular benefin were similar to the spray applications at 30 and 40 C. Volatilization of granular trifluralin was reduced when compared to the spray application at 40 C and 30 C but was similar for both formulations for benefin. No significant losses from photodecomposition were noted for trifluralin, benefin, or nitralin when comparing radiated and unradiated soil surface treated samples.


2013 ◽  
Vol 838-841 ◽  
pp. 926-929
Author(s):  
Xia Zhao

Take the silty clay and clay as the research object, the correlation between bulk density, moisture content, cohesion, friction angle and unconfined compressive strength was analyzed using laboratory tests, and the results showed that soil cohesion, friction angle and unconfined compressive strength with good correlation, the correlation coefficients were all above 0.9, while severe and soil moisture content and unconfined compressive strength of correlation is weak, followed by the correlation formulas of the index and unconfined compressive strength were established, these formulas can used to predict the unconfined compressive strength of soil.


1975 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 196-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Day ◽  
G. R. MacGillivray

The root regenerating potential of fall-lifted 2+0 white spruce nursery stock is described after transplanting into soil-maintained at 8, 10 and 15% soil moisture content (SMC) in glass fronted root boxes. At 15% SMC (0.1 bar soil moisture tension), which is close to field capacity, root regeneration began 10 days after transplanting and root elongation continued at a high rate for the remainder of a 40-day study period. At 10% SMC (0.6 bar SMT) root regeneration was delayed until 20 days after transplanting and root elongation was at a slower rate. At 8% SMC (1.5 bars) root regeneration and elongation was negligible. Plant moisture stress measured at 40 days was least when root regeneration was most and vice versa. The results suggest that field planting of white spruce in soils with moisture tensions of over 0.6 bar will be hazardous.


1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Valette ◽  
V Gomendy ◽  
J Marechal ◽  
C Houssard ◽  
D Gillon

The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of duff thickness and moisture content, and of soil moisture content on the transfer of heat in the soil. The experimental design used intact soil blocks with their duff layer, subjected to controlled fires of variable very low intensities of up to 100 kW m-1. The fuel on the surface was composed of needles and twigs of Pinus pinaster. The maximum temperatures measured within the fuel were of the order of 650 degrees C and were independent of the fireline intensities. For fires with fireline intensity of the order of 30 kW m-1, the presence of the duff layer reduced from 330 degrees C the temperature rise at the soil surface. Duff thickness played only a secondary role, but increasing moisture content reinforced its insulating effect, so that the temperature rise was 2.5 times less at 1 cm depth in the duff when the moisture content exceeded 70% dry weight, than when the moisture content was less than 30%. For more intense fires (> 50 kW m-1) that produced longer-lasting surface heating, duff thickness and moisture content played an important role in significantly reducing the temperature rise at the soil surface (range 140 degrees C to 28 degrees C). Because of low soil thermal conductivity, temperature attenuation with increasing depth was noticed. In the case of low intensity fires (< 30 kW m-1) in the absence of a duff layer, the maximum temperatures were reduced from 350 degrees C at the surface to 7 degrees C at 3.5 cm. The temperature rise in the soil decreased with depth according to a negative exponential relation. The rate constant of this relation was greater when the initial surface temperature and the soil moisture content were higher. For the soil studied, and under the moisture conditions encountered (between 7 and 19% of dry weight), the rate constant could be predicted with acceptable precision (r2 = 0.67), if the surface soil temperature rise and the soil moisture content were known. In these experimental fires, which were carried out when the air temperature did not exceed 20 degrees C, lethal temperatures (> 60 degrees C) were measured in the upper few centimetres of the duff layer in very low-intensity fires, and in the upper few centimetres of the soil (where nutrients are most concentrated and biological activity most intense) in the slightly more intense fires. The fire intensities were always very moderate, and of the order of magnitude df those encountered in the prescribed burns conducted on fuel-breaks of the french Mediterranean area. Their impact on the surface of the forest soil, in terms of lethal temperatures transmitted to the horizon rich in organic matter, are not negligible. In contrast, below 3 to 5 cm depth, prescribed burns, conducted under the conditions of the experiments, would not lead to significant change to nutrients or microfaunal or microfloral activity; in particular, root tips would not be subjected to heat stress sufficient to kill them.


1978 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-356
Author(s):  
W. N. BLACK

Irrigation and nitrogen (N) requirements of a natural pasture sward were studied on a Charlottetown sandy loam soil over a 5-yr period. The soil moisture content at the 0-to 15- and 15- to 30-cm depths was determined at from 7- to 10-day intervals, while irrometer soil moisture readings at 15-, 30-, and 45-cm depths were recorded more frequently during the grazing seasons. Soil moisture content in irrigated plots averaged 92 and 94% of field capacity, respectively, at 0- to 15- and 15- to 30-cm sampling depths. In non-irrigated plots, corresponding values were 77 and 82%. N treatments resulted in significant dry matter (DM) increases over untreated plots. Yield differences among plots receiving 56, 84, and 112 kg of N/ha in mid-June and again in mid-August were not significant. Early spring and September applications of N at 56 kg/ha, combined with mid-June and early August supplements of N at 84 kg/ha were superior to all other treatments in prolonging the grazing period. Neither irrigation nor N affected the characteristic yield decline of naturally occurring forage species in mid- and late-season. Mean DM production for the 5-yr period, and for years, showed no significant N treatment × moisture level interaction. While irrigation failed to increase yields significantly, livestock preferred to graze the irrigated plots. As a result of less competition from grasses, volunteer white clover became better established, and constituted a larger percentage of the sward than on non-irrigated plots.


1966 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Bourget ◽  
B. J. Finn ◽  
B. K. Dow

Young seedlings of flax and cereals, grown in a greenhouse, were subjected to 0, 12.5, and 25.0 cm of soil moisture tension for periods of 7, 14, and 21 days The grain, straw, and root yields of all plant species, except barky, increased with increasing soil moisture content was maintained near field capacity during the growth of plants. The yields of oats, winter wheat, and fall rye decreased with increasing duration of flooding, whereas those of barley, flax and spring wheat were variable. Correlation coefficients between yields of tops and roots were positive.


2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-50
Author(s):  
Kukuh Murtilaksono ◽  
Enny Dwi Wahyuni

This research was conducted to study relationship between soil moisture content and soil physical characteristics that affected the moisture.The soil samples were collected from 22 scattered sites of West Java and Central Java. Analysis of soil physical properties (texture, bulk density, particle density, total porosity and soil moisture retention) and soil chemical property (organic matter) was conducted at the laboratory of Department of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University. Analysis of simple linier regression was applied to know the correlation between soil moisture content and other basic soil physical properties.Availability of soil moisture (pF 4.20 – pF 2.54) significantly correlated with organic matter, total porosity, and micro pores. The higher organic matter content as well as total porosity and micro pores the higher available soil moisture. Soil moisture of field capacity significantly correlated with clay content, sand content, micro and macro pores. The higher clay content and micro pores the higher soil moisture of field capacity. In the contrary, the higher macro pores and sand content the lower the field capacity. Soil moisture of wilting point significantly correlated with clay content and macro pores. The higher clay content the higher the wilting point, while the higher macro pores the lower soil moisture of wilting point. Keywords : Available soil water, field capacity, organic matter, soil pores, wilting point


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