Effect of clay content and silt—clay fabric on stability of artificial aggregates

The influence of clay content and silt–clay fabric on aggregate stability was investigated. Two silt—clay fabrics were produced in the laboratory by mixing silt particles with a clay phase: (i) a loose packing of the silt particles with clay aggregates, and (ii) a close packing of the silt particles with the dispersed clay phase, the latter coating and bridging the silt particles. Porosity and pore size distribution were measured, and the silt—clay fabric was described using scanning electron microscopy. The aggregate stability was measured under three treatments corresponding to different wetting conditions and energy levels: fast wetting, mechanical breakdown and slow wetting. Our results show that aggregate stability is related to both clay content and silt—clay fabric. Comparison of fragment size distributions and their mean weight diameter amongst the three treatments enabled identification of mechanisms responsible for the variation of aggregate breakdown. The compression of trapped air was the predominant breakdown mechanism for both fast and slow wetting and was related mainly to porosity characteristics. For the mechanical breakdown, the degree of disintegration depended on the cohesion of the silt–clay fabric, which is related to the continuity of the solid phase.     

Steepland resources: characteristics, stability and micromorphology

Steeplands of Central America are a major land resource, but due to population pressures they are rapidly being deforested leading to landscape instability. Microwatersheds of Southern Honduras were examined to correlate soil type, landform, slope gradient and slump potential. Soils most susceptible to slumping were moderately deep (0.5–1 m) Haplustalfs and Haplustepts. These soils occupy about 25% of the landscape, and have slope gradients of 45–90%. Soils are developed on plagioclase-rich andesitic parent material, are loam to clay loam in texture and have high base status. However, due to weathering of parent material, sand and silt fractions are dominated by quartz with smaller amounts of plagioclase, vermiculite and kaolinite. The A and B horizons have an open porphyric related distribution with plagioclase as the coarse fraction in a fine-grained groundmass. The andesitic parent rock contains abundant hydrothermally altered plagioclase phenocrysts in a single-spaced porphyric-related (c/f_5μm ratio of 4:1) distribution. Some feldspars are partially to completely altered to clay pseudomorphs, probably vermiculite. Microfabric analysis of soil and pararock did not show any striated b-fabric indicative of shear failure. However, microfabrics do confirm translocated clay into the subsoil as typic pore coatings indicating long-term landscape stability prior to deforestation.     

Genesis of a Xeralf on feldspathic sandstone, South Australia

A Xeralf on feldspathic sandstone was sampled from a hillslope in the Mount Lofty Ranges in order to study its genesis and, in particular, the origin of the strong texture contrast. Micromorphological study demonstrated that the clay present in void argillans and papules in the B2 horizon accounted for only a small amount of the clay present. Elemental analysis of the whole soil (< 2 mm) and sand, silt and clay fractions showed that there had been considerable weathering of both quartz and microcline, which were the dominant minerals present. Kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral weathering product. Illite appears to be forming from vermiculite in the A horizon. Using zircon as an internal standard, it was shown that elemental losses of SiO₂ and reductions in weight and volume were similar in A and B horizons. Losses of aluminium and potassium were greatest in the A horizon, least in the B3. There has been an absolute increase in the amount of iron. A possible source is iron from heavy mineral bands upslope. It was concluded from the similarity of the quartz particle-size distributions of the A2, B2 and B3 horizons that the intensity of weathering of quartz was the same in A and B horizons. In the case of feldspar (mostly microcline), there is a greater proportion of feldspar in the fine sand and silt fractions of the A2 horizon than in the B horizon. Weathering of feldspar is greatest in the A horizon. The texture profile is principally a function of greater lateral loss of clay from the A horizons compared to the B horizons.     

基于高时间分辨率农田土壤湿度观测的绿洲农业区土壤质地制图

Due to the almost homogeneous topography in low relief areas, it is usually difficult to make accurate predictions of soil properties using topographic covariates. In this study, we examined how time series of field soil moisture observations can be used to estimate soil texture in an oasis agricultural area with low relief in the semi-arid region of northwest China. Time series of field-observed soil moisture variations were recorded for 132 h beginning at the end of an irrigation event during which the surface soil was saturated. Spatial correlation between two time-adjacent soil moisture conditions was used to select the factors for fuzzy c-means clustering. In each of the ten generated clusters, soil texture of the soil sample with the maximum fuzzy membership value was taken as the cluster centroid. Finally, a linearly weighted average was used to predict soil texture from the centroids. The results showed that soil moisture increased with the increase of clay and silt contents, but decreased with the increase of sand content. The spatial patterns of soil moisture changed during the entire drying phase. We assumed that these changes were mainly caused by spatial heterogeneity of soil texture. A total of 64 independent samples were used to evaluate the prediction accuracy. The root mean square error (RMSE) values of clay, silt and sand were 1.63, 2.81 and 3.71, respectively. The mean relative error (RE) values were 9.57% for clay, 3.77% for silt and 12.83% for sand. It could be concluded that the method used in this study was effective for soil texture mapping in the low-relief oasis agricultural area and could be applicable in other similar irrigation agricultural areas used in this study.     

浑水含沙率和泥沙粒度组成对膜孔灌入渗特性的影响

通过室内清水膜孔灌自由入渗试验和4种不同含沙率及4种不同泥沙粒度组成的浑水膜孔灌自由入渗试验,研究了含沙率和泥沙粒度组成对浑水膜孔灌入渗特性的影响。结果表明:综合考虑含沙率和泥沙粒度组成的联系,定义了相对黏粒含量的概念;基于相对黏粒含量建立了单位膜孔面积累积入渗量、水平湿润锋运移和垂直湿润锋运移的数学模型,经检验该数学模型具有较好的相关性;提出了浑水膜孔灌自由入渗情况下灌水均匀度分析的数学模型。研究结果为浑水膜孔灌的进一步研究奠定了基础。     

贵州省地面组成物质对土壤机械组成的影响

通过对贵州省主要的几类地面组成物质发育的土壤进行调查,利用统计分析的手段,对比研究地面组成物质与土壤机械组成的关系。结果表明：地面组成物质明显地影响土壤机械组成,不同类型地面组成物质发育的土壤,在石砾、砂粒及黏粒含量方面均存在显著差异,而粉砂粒含量差异不显著;整体上,碳酸盐岩形成的土壤砂粒含量低（17.84%）,而粉砂粒含量（43.93%）与黏粒含量（38.24%）较高,紫色砂页岩与砂页岩土壤均表现为砂粒含量高而粉砂粒和黏粒含量较低,而煤系地层土壤比较接近于碳酸盐岩土壤,板岩组土壤适中。研究结果可为贵州省的土壤侵蚀研究提供理论依据。     

Potassium and magnesium in some Kenyan soils: their mineral sources and release to Ca-resin

Five soil types from Kenya were examined for their ability to release K and Mg to crops by extracting them with a calcium-saturated cation exchange resin, and for the mineral sources of K and Mg. Amounts and rates of release of exchangeable, short- and long-term reserves of K and Mg were determined. This was done for K before and after one, two and 10 wetting and drying (WD) cycles, designed to mimic the effect of the local climate on K release. The order of decreasing K and Mg contents of the soils was Muguga > > Katumani > Kampi-ya-Mawe (KYM) ∼ Ithookwe ∼ Kwale. In the case of K, wetting and drying increased the exchangeable fraction in all of the soils. The Muguga, Ithookwe and KYM soils have the capacity to release a great deal of K in the long-term, but at very different rates; the Kwale soil has few reserves and fixes K on WD.
The K and Mg contents of the soils were closely related to the mica contents of the clay + silt fractions. Exchangeable and non-exchangeable K was released from soil micas primarily by ion exchange, with some contribution to non-exchangeable K from dissolution. Release of exchangeable Mg was primarily by ion exchange, whilst that of non-exchangeable matrix Mg was by dissolution of trioctahedral mica in the clay + silt and the sand fractions of the soils. Response would be expected only to K fertilizers and only with the Kwale soil. However, all the other soils should, in the interests of good husbandry, receive maintenance dressings of K and Mg at convenient times in the crop rotation.     

平原区土壤质地的反射光谱预测与地统计制图

基于地统计方法的土壤属性制图通常需要大量的采样与实验室测定。本研究提出利用可见光近红外(visible-nearinfrared spectroscopy,VNIR)光谱技术测定替代实验室测定,并与地统计方法相结合预测土壤质地的空间变异。通过建立砂粒(0.02 mm),粉粒(0.002~0.02 mm),黏粒(0.002 mm)含量的VNIR光谱预测模型,将模型预测得到的质地数据和建模点实测质地数据一同用于地统计分析和Kriging插值制图。以江苏北部黄淮平原地区为案例的研究结果表明,砂粒、粉粒、黏粒含量的预测值和实测值的均方根误差(RMSE)分别为8.67%、6.90%3、.51%,平均绝对误差(MAE)分别为6.46%、5.60%、3.05%,显示了较高的预测精度。研究为快速获取平原区土壤质地空间分布提供了新的可能的途径。     

沙柳沙障对沙丘土壤颗粒粒径及分形维数的影响

统计分析了库布齐沙漠流动沙丘、设置沙柳活沙障和死沙障沙丘的土壤颗粒粒径分布、分形维数及其与土壤砂粒(>0.05 mm)、粉粒(0.05~0.002 mm)和黏粒(<0.002 mm)含量的关系。结果表明:与流动沙丘相比,设置沙障沙丘的粉粒和黏粒含量增加,且随着土层的加深而表现为下降趋势,不同部位则均呈沙丘下部>上部>中部的趋势。土壤颗粒分形维数因设置沙障而呈增大趋势,且表现为活沙障沙丘>死沙障沙丘>流动沙丘;垂直分布上,设置沙障沙丘的土壤分形维数随土层加深而逐渐减小,而流动沙丘表现为表层与下层大而中层小的特征,沙丘不同部位的分形维数则均表现为沙丘下部>上部>中部。土壤颗粒分形维数大小与土壤质地的细粒化有一致的变化趋势,且与砂粒含量呈极显著负相关关系,而与黏粒含量、粉粒含量呈极显著正相关关系。<0.05 mm粒径物质含量的增加和>0.05 mm粒径物质含量的降低共同导致了土壤颗粒分形维数在设置沙障后的增大。     

土壤持水特性参数与土壤质地尺度关系的联合多重分形分析

Soil water-retention characteristics at measurement scales are generally different from those at application scales, and there is scale disparity between them and soil physical properties. The relationships between two water-retention parameters, the scaling parameter related to the inverse of the air-entry pressure (αvG, cm-1) and the curve shape factor related to soil pore-size distribution (n) of the van Genuchten water-retention equation, and soil texture (sand, silt, and clay contents) were examined at multiple scales. One hundred twenty-eight undisturbed soil samples were collected from a 640-m transect located in Fuxin, China. Soil water-retention curves were measured and the van Genuchten parameters were obtained by curve fitting. The relationships between the two parameters and soil texture at the observed scale and at multiple scales were evaluated using Pearson correlation and joint multifractal analyses, respectively. The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that the parameter αvG was significantly correlated with sand, silt, and clay contents at the observed scale. Joint multifractal analyses, however, indicated that the parameter αvG was not correlated with silt and sand contents at multiple scales. The parameter n was positively correlated with clay content at multiple scales. Sand content was significantly correlated with the parameter n at the observed scale but not at multiple scales. Clay contents were strongly correlated to both water-retention parameters because clay content was relatively low in the soil studied, indicating that water retention was dominated by clay content in the field of this study at all scales. These suggested that multiple-scale analyses were necessary to fully grasp the spatial variability of soil water-retention characteristics.     

Factors influencing carbon decomposition of topsoils from the Brazilian Amazon Basin

 The influence of texture and local climate, especially precipitation, on C decomposition was evaluated in topsoils under forest and pastures at different sites located in the western, central, and eastern Brazilian Amazon Basin. Independent of the geographical location and vegetation cover, C decomposition was lower in topsoils of fine texture with a sand/clay ratio of less than 1, compared to topsoils of coarse a texture with a sand/clay ratio ranging from 2 to 8. In the former, the low sand/clay ratio appears to reduce C decomposition. In the latter, besides the effect of the high sand/clay ratio, the local climate, especially the annual precipitation, seems to play an important role in controlling C decomposition. Received: 2 March 1998     

Experimental study of soil microfabrics induced by anisotropic stresses of confined swelling and shrinking

This experimental study examines the micromorphological changes resulting from confined swelling and shrinking of aggregated samples. Two factors, namely bulk density (two levels) and sample composition (five levels) were considered. Thin sections were cut and the microfabrics studied in detail both qualitatively and quantitatively. A broad range of significant and systematic microfabric changes were observed. With an increase in the activity and content of the clay fraction, the void volume (especially those >30 μm) decreased drastically whereas the shape changed from compound packing voids to occluded planar voids and vughs. Aggregates were flattened at contacts, became more angular and showed evidence of fusion into compound units. Related distribution patterns were altered from dominantly matrigranic to matrigranoidic, fragmoidic and porphyric with scattered vughs. There was a gradual closing of voids and a concomitant coalescence of aggregates. Plasmic fabrics showed mainly an increase in long (> 10 μm) and narrow (<5 μm) but sharply defined plasma separations. High bulk density resulted in a more vigorous and conspicuous expression of fabric unit deformation and movement. The pedological implications are discussed in relation to the dynamic properties of clay-water interactions, stress-strain regime of swelling soils, and the concept of plastic deformation of soils according to the Mohr-Coulomb theory of failure.     

Particle packing and organization of the textural porosity in clay–silt–sand mixtures

The packing of elementary particles in soil largely determines the properties that depend on the textural soil pore space, but is studied little. The relations between packing and size and nature of soil particles were studied using fractions of clay, silt and sand, mixed when wet and then dried. Ternary mixtures (clay:silt:sand) were compared with binary mixtures (clay:silt, clay:sand). The pore space of the mixtures was studied using mercury porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. In all the mixtures the textural pore space was divided into two compartments: (1) lacunar pores due to the presence of skeleton particles and to the shrinkage of the clay phase between these particles, and (2) the clay–fabric pores due to the packing of the clay. In the ternary mixtures, lacunar pores could be divided into two classes: (1) those due to sand particles within the clay–slit phase considered as a single phase, and (2) those due to silt particles within this same phase. For certain mixtures, lacunar pores, referred to as hidden lacunar pores, were not interconnected but were occluded. This occurred both for hidden pores caused by the presence of sand and occluded by the clay–slit phase, and for hidden pores caused by the presence of silt and occluded by the clay phase. The relations between these types of textural pores and the proportions of different size fractions in the mixtures provide guidelines for making optimum use of the particle-size characteristics of the soil to determine its properties.     

激光法与湿筛－吸管法测定土壤颗粒组成的转换及质地确定

湿筛-吸管法是测定土壤颗粒组成(PSD)的传统方法,而激光法则是新兴的土壤颗粒测定方法,为了明确二者测定数据间的转换关系,应用两种方法分别测定了中国6个主要土纲的265个土壤样品。结果表明,激光法测定的土壤黏粒含量明显地小于湿筛-吸管法测定的数据,激光法测定的土壤粉粒含量明显地大于湿筛-吸管法测定的数据,而对于土壤砂粒含量的测定结果二者互有高低。两种方法测定的黏粒、粉粒和砂粒间均分别具有很好的相关性,甚至按照美国的7级分类标准,每个粒度级别在两种方法间均具有很好的相关性。按照激光法和吸管法测定数据间的转换关系式得出了用激光法测定数据的砂土、壤土和黏土质地划分界限,从而能够应用激光法测定的数据直接进行质地划分,这对于推动激光法在土壤学中的进一步应用和推动土壤科学的发展均具有重要意义。     

基于地表昼夜温差的平原区土壤质地模糊聚类与预测制图

The use of landscape covariates to estimate soil properties is not suitable for the areas of low relief due to the high variability of soil properties in similar topographic and vegetation conditions.A new method was implemented to map regional soil texture (in terms of sand,silt and clay contents) by hypothesizing that the change in the land surface diurnal temperature difference (DTD) is related to soil texture in case of a relatively homogeneous rainfall input.To examine this hypothesis,the DTDs from moderate resolution imagine spectroradiometer (MODIS) during a selected time period,i.e.,after a heavy rainfall between autumn harvest and autumn sowing,were classified using fuzzy-c-means (FCM) clustering.Six classes were generated,and for each class,the sand (> 0.05 mm),silt (0.002-0.05 mm) and clay (< 0.002 mm) contents at the location of maximum membership value were considered as the typical values of that class.A weighted average model was then used to digitally map soil texture.The results showed that the predicted map quite accurately reflected the regional soil variation.A validation dataset produced estimates of error for the predicted maps of sand,silt and clay contents at root mean of squared error values of 8.4%,7.8% and 2.3%,respectively,which is satisfactory in a practical context.This study thus provided a methodology that can help improve the accuracy and efficiency of soil texture mapping in plain areas using easily available data sources.     

Estimation of soil texture from permanent wilting point measured with a chilled‐mirror dewpoint technique

Soil texture is an important factor governing a range of physical properties and processes in soil. The clay and fine fractions of soil are particularly important in controlling soil water retention, hydraulic properties, water flow and transport. Modern soil texture analysis techniques (x‐ray attenuation, laser diffraction and particle counting) are very laborious with expensive instrumentation. Chilled‐mirror dewpoint potentiameters allows for the rapid measurement of the permanent wilting point (PWP) of soil. As the PWP is strongly dictated by soil texture, we tested the applicability of PWP measured by a dewpoint potentiameter in predicting the clay, silt and sand content of humid tropical soils. The clay, silt, and sand content, organic matter and PWP were determined for 21 soils. Three regression models were developed to estimate the fine fractions and validated using independent soil data. While the first model showed reasonable accuracy (RMSE 16.4%; MAE 13.5%) in estimating the clay, incorporating the organic matter into the equation improved the predictions of the second model (RMSE 17.3%; MAE 10.9%). When used on all soil data, the accuracy of the third model in predicting the fine fraction was poor (RMSE 31.9%; MAE 24.5%). However, for soils with silt content greater than 30%, the model prediction was quite accurate (RMSE 7–12%; MAE 7–9%). The models were used to estimate the sand content and soil textures of soils, which proved relatively accurate. The dewpoint potentiometer can serve a dual purpose of rapidly estimating the PWP and the clay, fine fraction, and soil texture of soils in a cost efficient way.     

碱化盐土掺砂对土壤理化性状和玉米产量影响的研究

为解决内蒙古河套平原黏性碱化盐土土壤黏重,作物难以正常生长、产量低下等问题,对河套平原黏性碱化盐土进行了土壤耕层(0~20 cm)掺砂的土壤改良试验,研究掺砂对土壤理化性状和玉米产量的影响。结果表明:试验区土壤掺砂可以降低土壤容重,改变土壤机械组成和土壤质地,提高了黏性碱化盐土的通气孔隙度,改善土壤的通气透水性,降低土壤全盐量和碱化度,有效改善玉米生长环境,提高了玉米的产量。掺砂20%处理的土壤容重从1.64 g/cm3(CK)降低到1.49 g/cm3,土壤通气孔隙度从8.57%提高到18.17%,达到正常范围,使土壤砂粒、粉粒、粘粒含量比例趋向适中,土壤质地由壤质黏土转变为黏壤土,土壤全盐量下降了13%,碱化度降低了21%,玉米产量提高了301%。综合分析,掺砂20%处理对当地碱化盐土改良效果较为适宜。     

紫色土流失土壤的颗粒特征及影响因素

土壤可蚀性是影响坡面水蚀过程的内在因素,与土壤质地,土壤有机质等理化性质密切相关.本研究利用田间人工模拟降雨观测资料,分析了侵蚀过程中流失土壤颗粒组成的变化.结果表明:(1)在次降雨过程中,流失土壤颗粒组成不断变化.随着降雨的进行,细砂含量逐步增加,而粉粒含量基本不变,黏粒含量逐渐减小;(2)雨强是影响流失土壤颗粒组成的重要因素.随雨强增加,细砂含量呈逐步增大的趋势,而粉粒与黏粒含量均逐步下降;(3)坡度对流失土壤颗粒组成影响比较复杂.随坡度增加,细砂含量先增大后减小,粉粒与黏粒含量先减小后增大;在20°坡度时,细砂含量最大,粉粒与黏粒含量最小.     

Water-facilitated dispersal of inoculant Bradyrhizobium japonicum in soils

Summary Studies were performed to assess the influence of percolating water and an advancing wetting front on the transport of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in sand and silt loam soils, and to assess the influence of clay content on water-facilitated dispersal of these bacteria in a sand amended with various amounts of kaolin. The data obtained showed that movement of B. japonicum in soil was dependent upon water movement and that both percolating water and an advancing wetting front readily transported bacteria in coarse-textured soils. Percolation with the equivalent of 10 cm of rainfall dispersed B. japonicum throughout 40-cm columns containing sand and silt loam soils. Percolation with 5 cm of water was sufficient to disperse B. japonicum throughout 20-cm columns of these soils but did not transport these bacteria below the surface 4 cm of a sand amended with 12% kaolin. Our finding that cells of B. japonicum are readily transported by an advancing wetting front indicates that non-saturated flow of soil water contributes to dispersal of inoculum in soils.     

鄱阳湖沙山地区沙化土地特征及成因分析

鄱阳湖沙山地区土地沙化属于南方荒漠化的一种典型类型,是在湖滨沙质阶地的基础上形成的,它既有别于北方的土地沙漠化,又区别于南方其它类型的荒漠化.基于野外调查的基础上对该地区土地沙化特征进行描述,同时从历史背景、当代气候特征以及鄱阳湖水位变化等几个方面对沙化的成因进行了分析.分析结果表明:(1)目前该地区土地沙化趋于变好态势;(2)历史上的海平面变化及气候特征成为鄱阳湖沙山形成的主要因素,而沙山又为该地区当代土地沙化提供了丰富的物质来源.(3)当代气候特征下,流水及固定风向的长期侵蚀为土地沙化提供了动力因素,而鄱阳湖水位的周期性变化,为土地沙化的物质循环提供了有利的环境.总的来说,鄱阳湖沙山地区的土地沙化是在历史地质地貌变迁、当代气候条件、湖泊变化以及人为活动等因素的共同作用下形成的独具特色的亚热带土地荒漠化.