scholarly journals The impact of landscape evolution on soil physics: Evolution of soil physical and hydraulic properties along two chronosequences of proglacial moraines

Author(s):  
Anne Hartmann ◽  
Markus Weiler ◽  
Theresa Blume

Abstract. Soil physical properties highly influence soil hydraulic properties which define the soil hydraulic behavior. Thus, changes within these properties affect water flow paths and the soil water and matter balance. Most often these soil physical properties are assumed to be constant in time and little is known about their natural evolution. Therefore, we studied the evolution of physical and hydraulic soil properties along two soil chronosequences in proglacial forefields in the Central Alps, Switzerland. One soil chronosequence developed on silicate and the other on calcareous parent material. Each soil chronosequence consisted of 4 moraines with the ages of 30, 160, 3000, and 10 000 years at the silicate forefield and 110, 160, 4900, and 13 500 years at the calcareous forefield. We investigated bulk density, porosity, the content of clay, silt, sand, and gravel as well as loss on ignition and hydraulic properties in form of retention curves and hydraulic conductivity curves. Samples were taken in three depths (10, 30, 50 cm) at six sampling sites at each moraine. Soil physical and hydraulic properties change considerably over the chronosequence. Particle size distribution shows a pronounced reduction in sand content and an increase in silt and clay content over time at both sites. Bulk density decreases and porosity increases during the first 10 millenia of soil development. The trend is equally present at both parent materials, but the reduction in sand and increase in silt content was more pronounced at the calcareous site. The organic matter content increases, which is especially pronounced in the top soil at the silicate site. With the change in physical soil properties and organic matter content the hydraulic soil properties change from fast draining coarse textured soils to slow draining soils with high water holding capacity, which is also more pronounced in the top soil at the silicate site. The dataset presented in this paper is available at the online repository of the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ, Hartmann et al. (2020b)). The dataset can be accessed via the link: http://pmd.gfz-potsdam.de/panmetaworks/review/f46bd4d822a0766a9c0baf356bc7e55644d65d62d7ab71527f5d80c35eed11e5 and will be published with the DOI specified under the link.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 3189-3204
Author(s):  
Anne Hartmann ◽  
Markus Weiler ◽  
Theresa Blume

Abstract. Soil physical properties highly influence soil hydraulic properties, which define the soil hydraulic behavior. Thus, changes within these properties affect water flow paths and the soil water and matter balance. Most often these soil physical properties are assumed to be constant in time, and little is known about their natural evolution. Therefore, we studied the evolution of physical and hydraulic soil properties along two soil chronosequences in proglacial forefields in the Central Alps, Switzerland: one soil chronosequence developed on silicate and the other on calcareous parent material. Each soil chronosequence consisted of four moraines with the ages of 30, 160, 3000, and 10 000 years at the silicate forefield and 110, 160, 4900, and 13 500 years at the calcareous forefield. We investigated bulk density, porosity, loss on ignition, and hydraulic properties in the form of retention curves and hydraulic conductivity curves as well as the content of clay, silt, sand, and gravel. Samples were taken at three depths (10, 30, 50 cm) at six sampling sites at each moraine. Soil physical and hydraulic properties changed considerably over the chronosequence. Particle size distribution showed a pronounced reduction in sand content and an increase in silt and clay content over time at both sites. Bulk density decreased, and porosity increased during the first 10 millennia of soil development. The trend was equally present at both parent materials, but the reduction in sand and increase in silt content were more pronounced at the calcareous site. The organic matter content increased, which was especially pronounced in the topsoil at the silicate site. With the change in physical soil properties and organic matter content, the hydraulic soil properties changed from fast-draining coarse-textured soils to slow-draining soils with high water-holding capacity, which was also more pronounced in the topsoil at the silicate site. The data set presented in this paper is available at the online repository of the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ; Hartmann et al., 2020b). The data set can be accessed via the DOI https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.4.2020.004.


1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 747-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. NAETH ◽  
A. W. BAILEY ◽  
W. B. McGILL

A study was conducted in Solonetzic mixed prairie of southern Alberta to evaluate and determine the longevity of selected ecosystem responses to pipeline installation. Five adjacent natural gas pipelines on a series of rights-of-way (ROW) were studied at three sites. The lines, which were installed in 1957, 1963, 1968, 1972 and 1981, had diameters of 86, 86, 91, 107 and 107 cm, respectively. Soils were analyzed for particle size distribution, bulk density, pH, electrical conductivity, ion composition, and organic matter content. It was concluded that pipeline construction in Solonetzic mixed prairie range-land initially tended to improve surface soil chemical and physical properties compared to blowouts, but reduced soil quality in vegetated native prairie. Surface bulk density increased to 1.3–1.6 Mg m−3 from an undisturbed density of 0.9–1.0 Mg m−3. Increased densities were evident to 55 cm in all 1981 transects except the trench where subsurface densities were reduced. Chemical changes were associated with reduced organic matter and increased salts at the surface. On the basis of differences between the various ages of pipelines (1981, youngest; 1957, oldest) there was evidence for greater amelioration of chemical changes than of physical disturbances over time. The time needed to restore half the lost organic matter was estimated to be approximately 50 y. Key words: Pipeline, Solonetzic soil, rangeland (native), soil chemistry, bulk density, reclamation


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1007-1024
Author(s):  
B. Turgut

Abstract. The aim of this study was to compare the soils of the wheat cultivation area (WCA) and the safflower cultivation area (SCA) within semi-arid climate zones in terms of their total carbon, nitrogen, sulphur contents, particle size distribution, aggregate stability, organic matter content, and pH values. This study presents the results from the analyses of 140 soil samples taken at two soil layers (0–10 and 10–20 cm) in the cultivation areas. At the end of the study, it has been established that there were significant differences between the cultivation areas in terms of soil physical properties such as total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulphur (TS) contents and pH, while only the TN content resulted in significantly different between the two soil layers. Moreover significant differences were identified in the cultivation areas in terms of soil physical properties including clay and sand contents, aggregate stability and organic matter content, whereas the only significant difference found among the soil layers was that of their silt content. Since safflower contains higher amounts of biomass than wheat, we found higher amounts of organic matter content and, therefore, higher amounts of TN and TS content in the soils of the SCA. In addition, due to the fact that wheat contains more cellulose – which takes longer to decompose – the TC content of the soil in the WCA were found to be higher than that of the SCA. The results also revealed that the WCA had a higher carbon storage capacity.


Jurnal Solum ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Asmar Asmar ◽  
Amrizal Saidi ◽  
Masliyunas Masliyunas

A research about relationship between soil properties and crop yield was conducted in Pandai Sikek, Tanah Datar Region, center for cabbage and carrot production, West Sumatra in 2004 and 2005.  Soil samples were collected from rainfed paddy soils by purposive random sampling.  Soil samples were analyzed in Soil Laboratory, Agriculture Faculty and Agriculture Polytechnique Laboratory, Andalas University.  Several soil physical properties analysed were soil bulk density and total soil pores by using gravimetric method, permeability with de Boodt method, soil water content at several pF values using pressure plate apparatus, and soil strength by using penetrometer.   Soil chemical parameters analysed were soil pH using pH-meter, organic-C using Walkley and Black, available P using Bray II, and cation exchange capacity using NH4-leaching at pH 7.0, and N-total using Kjehdhal method.  Crop productions were sampled from a 3x3 m2 of soil sampling area.  The result showed that soils planted by cabbage and carrot had good soil physical properties, such as having balanced pore size distribution.  The chemical properties of the soils were good as well, except N, K- and Ca-exchangeable which were very low.  The other soil properties were quite good.  Soil physical properties gave different response on both crops.  Carrots were more response aeration pore and soil organic matter content, then cabbage was more response on BV, TSP, and slow drainage pores.  While soil chemical properties did not give significant response.  Both crops responded on Ca, but cabbage was more response on N-total, and carrot on CEC and saturated cationKey Words: Soil Physical Properties, Soil Fertility, Crop Productivity


Author(s):  
E.O. Ogundipe

Soil properties are important to the development of agricultural crops. This study determined some selected soil properties of a drip irrigated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum M.) field at different moisture regime in South-Western Nigeria. The experiment was carried out using Randomized Complete Block Design with frequency and depth of irrigation application as the main plot and sub-plot, respectively in three replicates. Three frequencies (7, 5 and 3 days) and three depths equivalent to 100, 75 and 50% of water requirement were used. Undisturbed and disturbed soil samples were collected from 0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm soil layers for the determination of some soil properties (soil texture, organic matter content, bulk density, infiltration rate and saturated hydraulic conductivity) were determined using standard formulae. Soil Water Content (SWC) monitoring was conducted every two days using a gravimetric technique. The soil texture was sandy loam for all the soil depths; average value of soil organic matter was highest (1.8%) in the 0-5 cm surface layer and decreased with soil depth; the soil bulk density value before and after irrigation experiment ranged from 1.48 and 1.73 g/cm3 and 1.5 and 1.76 g/cm3, respectively; there was a rapid reduction in the initial infiltration and final infiltration rate. Saturated hydraulic conductivity show similar trend although the 20-30 cm layer had the lowest value (50.84 mm/h); the SWC affect bulk density during the growing season. The study showed that soil properties especially bulk density and organic matter content affect irrigation water movement at different depth..


1981 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. DE KIMPE ◽  
M. R. LAVERDIERE ◽  
J. ZIZKA

Rounding of the lands in a field involves changes in the surface horizons. The thickness of Ap horizons at various sites in corn fields varied from 15 to 41 cm. In these horizons, the organic matter content that ranged between 10 and 250 t/ha influenced the real density of the particles, the bulk density of soils with similar texture, and also the shape of the water retention curves at tensions from 0 to 1.5 MPa. Maximum available water in the Ap horizons between 33.3 kPa and 1.5 MPa varied from 0.5 to 4 cm H2O. Yield differences reached 74% while the standard deviations were generally lower than 15%. Higher yields were observed at higher, intermediate and lower sites of the fields. The differences in the yield were not entirely accounted for by the variations in the chemical and physical properties of the soils.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Abdulkadir Abdullahi

The study was conducted to investigate if erosion is a major problem and to identify the effect of erosion on some physical properties on selected farmlands on four farms in Gidan kwano. It was done by observation, interview, and questionnaire and soil sample analysis. The infiltration rate, bulk density, porosity, organic matter content, particle size and aggregate stability were determined for all the sample location. The erosion fields results were compared with the results of the non-eroded fields. The results showed that farming was done with simple method and mechanized equipment when available and erosion was considered a major problem in all the farms. The results revealed that bulk density values ranged between 1.475gcm-3and 1.606gcm-3, cumulative infiltration rate fluctuated between 29.75cm/hr and 37.48cm/hr, porosity ranged between 36.49% and 44.34%, organic matter content fluctuated between 0.29% and 0.73% and aggregate stability ranged between 58.00% and 67.60% for the erosion field. The results also revealed that bulk density fluctuated between 1.458gcm-3and 1.544gcm-3, cumulative infiltration rate ranged between 32.19 cm/hr and 40.48cm/hr, porosity fluctuated between 41.73% and 44.98%, organic matter content ranged between 0.30% and 1.09% and aggregate stability ranged between 63.97% and 68.93% for the non-eroded field. From the results, it provides evidence that the effects of erosion on the physical properties were increased bulk density, decreased infiltration rate, organic matter content, porosity, aggregate stability and percentage sand, silt and clay content. Statistical analysis proved that the results were significant (p<0.05) except for the bulk density and porosity which could be attributed to the swelling and compaction characteristics of the soils.


Solid Earth ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 719-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Turgut

Abstract. The aim of this study was to compare the soils of the wheat cultivation area (WCA) and the safflower cultivation area (SCA) within semi-arid climate zones in terms of their total carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur contents, particle size distribution, aggregate stability, organic matter content, and pH values. This study presents the results from the analyses of 140 soil samples taken at two soil layers (0–10 and 10–20 cm) in the cultivation areas. At the end of the study, it was established that there were significant differences between the cultivation areas in terms of soil physical properties such as total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulphur (TS) contents and pH, while only the TN content was significantly different between the two soil layers. Moreover, significant differences were identified between the cultivation areas in terms of soil physical properties including clay and sand contents, aggregate stability, and organic matter content, whereas the only significant difference found among the soil layers was that of their silt content. Since safflower contains higher amounts of biomass than wheat, we found higher amounts of organic matter content and, therefore, higher amounts of TN and TS content in the soils of the SCA. In addition, due to the fact that wheat contains more cellulose – which takes longer to decompose – the TC content of the soil in the WCA was found to be higher than that in the SCA. The results also revealed that the WCA had a higher carbon storage capacity.


Author(s):  
Trina Stephens

Land‐use change can have a major impact on soil properties, leading to long‐term changes in soilnutrient cycling rates and carbon storage. While a substantial amount of research has been conducted onland‐use change in tropical regions, empirical evidence of long‐term conversion of forested land toagricultural land in North America is lacking. Pervasive deforestation for the sake of agriculturethroughout much of North America is likely to have modified soil properties, with implications for theglobal climate. Here, we examined the response of physical, chemical and biological soil properties toconversion of forest to agricultural land (100 years ago) on Roebuck Farm near Perth, Ontario, Canada.Soil samples were collected at three sites from under forest and agricultural vegetative cover on bothhigh‐ and low‐lying topographic positions (12 locations in total; soil profile sampled to a depth of 40cm).Our results revealed that bulk density, pH, and nitrate concentrations were all higher in soils collectedfrom cultivate sites. In contrast, samples from forested sites exhibited greater water‐holding capacity,porosity, organic matter content, ammonia concentrations and cation exchange capacity. Many of these characteristics are linked to greater organic matter abundance and diversity in soils under forestvegetation as compared with agricultural soils. Microbial activity and Q10 values were also higher in theforest soils. While soil properties in the forest were fairly similar across topographic gradients, low‐lyingpositions under agricultural regions had higher bulk density and organic matter content than upslopepositions, suggesting significant movement of material along topographic gradients. Differences in soilproperties are attributed largely to increased compaction and loss of organic matter inputs in theagricultural system. Our results suggest that the conversion of forested land cover to agriculture landcover reduces soil quality and carbon storage, alters long‐term site productivity, and contributes toincreased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.


Author(s):  
Juliana Vantellingen ◽  
Sean C. Thomas

Log landings are areas within managed forests used to process and store felled trees prior to transport. Through their construction and use soil is removed or redistributed, compacted, and organic matter contents may be increased by incorporation of wood fragments. The effects of these changes to soil properties on methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) flux is unclear and unstudied. We quantified CH<sub>4</sub> flux rates from year-old landings in Ontario, Canada, and examined spatial variability and relationships to soil properties within these sites. Landings emitted CH<sub>4</sub> throughout the growing season; the average CH<sub>4</sub> emission rate from log landings was 69.2 ± 12.8 nmol m<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> (26.2 ± 4.8 g CH<sub>4</sub> C m<sup>-2</sup> y<sup>-1</sup>), a rate comparable to CH<sub>4</sub>-emitting wetlands. Emission rates were correlated to soil pH, organic matter content and quantities of buried woody debris. These properties led to strong CH<sub>4</sub> emissions, or “hotspots”, in certain areas of landings, particularly where processing of logs occurred and incorporated woody debris into the soil. At the forest level, emissions from landings were estimated to offset ~12% of CH<sub>4</sub> consumption from soils within the harvest area, although making up only ~0.5% of the harvest area. Management practices to avoid or remediate these emissions should be developed as a priority measure in “climate-smart” forestry.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document