Tillage translocation and tillage erosion in the complex upland landscapes of southwestern Ontario, Canada

Tillage translocation and tillage erosion were measured throughout the topographically complex landscapes of two fields in the upland region of southwestern Ontario. Translocation of soil by tillage was measured by labelling plots of soil with chloride and measuring the tracer's forward displacement in response to single passes by four tillage implements (mouldboard plough, chisel plough, tandem disc and field cultivator). The change in translocation within the landscape was used to measure tillage erosion. All four implements were erosive. A relationship between tillage translocation and slope gradient was observed; however, the variability in translocation could not be explained by slope gradient alone. Slope curvature was responsible for some translocation through the planning action of tillage implements. Tillage depth and speed were subject to considerable discontinuous and inconsistent manipulation by the operator in response to changing topographic and soil conditions. Tillage speed decreased by as much as 60% during upslope tillage and increased by as much as 30% during downslope tillage, relative to that on level ground. Tillage depth decreased by as much as 20% and increased by as much as 30%, relative to that on level ground. This manipulation is typical for tillage in complex landscapes and was presumed largely responsible for the variability in the results. The manipulation of tillage depth and speed are affected by the tractor-implement match and the responsiveness of the tillage operator.     

Ergebnisse zur bodenverlagerung durch bearbeitungserosion in der jungmoränenlandschaft Nordostdeutschlands: Investigations of soil movement by tillage as a type of soil erosion in the young moraine soil landscape of Northeast Germany

Soil translocation by soil tillage can have a considerable importance on arable land. These results were published in the international literature. The aim of the experiments is to quantify the translocation of soil due to tillage with different typical tools. A mouldboard plough and a disc harrow were tested in field experiments on a slope (4° inclination) with sandy soil. The average movement of soil particles of the top soil was determined about the changed tracer concentration. The tracer coloured gravels were most suitable of all tested tracer. The comparison of the tools showed more soil translocation caused by mouldboard plough (145?kg) than by disc harrow (12?kg). The transport was also different: plough 0.50?m and disc harrow 0.11?m average distance.     

犁旋一体机自动调平系统设计与试验

为了解决犁旋一体机作业过程中调节机具问题,设计了一种犁旋一体机自动调平系统,该系统包括执行机构、控制系统、液压系统。根据犁旋一体机自身的特点,提出了一种确定调平角度范围的方法,并根据实际田间作业情况,运用EDEM仿真软件进行田间作业的虚拟仿真,仿真结果表明:地表平整度小于2 cm,满足农艺要求。在设计和仿真的基础上,进行田间试验,将手动调平的犁旋一体机的作业情况和自动调平的犁旋一体机的作业情况进行对照,分析了作业过程中机具的角度变化和作业后的耕深及其稳定性,地表平整度。结果表明:自动调平犁旋一体机相对于手动调平犁旋一体机,在耕深的稳定性和耕后地表平整度上有较为明显的提高,前者耕深稳定系数达到87.31%,后者为84.76%。前者地表平整度为1.97 cm,后者为2.56 cm。     

Effects of agricultural machinery with high axle load on soil properties of normally managed fields

In a field study, conducted on 10 conventionally managed field sites in Germany, the effects of high axle loads (15–25 Mg) on soil physical properties were investigated. Soil texture classes ranged from loamy sand to silty clay loam. All sites were annually ploughed, and one site was additionally subsoiled to 40 cm depth. In the context of common field operations wheeling was performed either by a sugar beet harvester (45 Mg total mass, 113 kPa average ground contact pressure) or a slurry spreader (30 Mg total mass, 77 kPa average ground contact pressure). Soil moisture conditions varied from 3.2 to 32 kPa water tension during this pass. Penetration resistance was measured before the pass. Soil cores were collected in a grid scheme at each site before and after the machine passed. Bulk density, aggregate density, air-filled porosity and air permeability at seven distinct soil water tensions ranging from 0.1 to 32 kPa were determined in these cores taken from three layers (topsoil, plough pan and subsoil).At most sites, a pass by the sugar beet harvester or slurry spreader strongly affected topsoil properties. Bulk density and aggregate density increased while air-filled porosity and air permeability decreased. The plough pan was already severely compacted before wheeling: therefore changes were small. The subsoil showed no changes or only minor signs of compaction. Only at one site, which was subsoiled the year before, significant signs of compaction (i.e. changes in bulk density, air-filled porosity and air permeability) were detected in subsoil layers.The results show that using present-day heavy agricultural equipment does not necessarily lead to severe subsoil compaction in soils where a compacted plough pan already exists. However, fields which were subsoiled leading to an unstable soil structure are in serious danger of becoming severely compacted.     

Spatial distributions of soil chemical and physical properties prior to planting soybean in soil under ridge‐, no‐ and conventional‐tillage in a maize–soybean rotation

Detailed information on the profile distributions of agronomically important soil properties in the planting season can be used as criteria to select the best soil tillage practices. Soil cores (0–60 cm) were collected in May, 2012 (before soybean planting), from soil transects on a 30‐yr tillage experiment, including no‐tillage (NT), ridge tillage (RT) and mouldboard plough (MP) on a Brookston clay loam soil (mesic Typic Argiaquoll). Soil cores were taken every 19 cm across three corn rows and these were used to investigate the lateral and vertical profile characteristics of soil organic carbon (SOC), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil volumetric water content (SWC), bulk density (BD), and penetration resistance (PR). Compared to NT and MP, the RT system resulted in greater spatial heterogeneity of soil properties across the transect. Average SOC concentrations in the top 10 cm layer were significantly greater in RT than in NT and MP (P = 0.05). NT soil contained between 0.8 and 2.5% (vol/vol) more water in the top 0–30 cm than RT and MP, respectively. MP soil had lower PR and BD in the plough layer compared to NT and RT soils, with both soil properties increasing sharply with depth in MP. The RT had lower PR relative to NT in the upper 35 cm of soil on the crop rows. Overall, RT was a superior conservation tillage option than NT in this clay loam soil; however, MP had the most favourable soil conditions in upper soil layers for early crop development across all treatments.     

Grass mixtures for afforested opencast spoils in South Wales

An experiment that investigated the establishment of seven grass and legume seed mixes on opencast coal mining spoil in South Wales is described. After three years, mixtures containing Poa pratensis and Festuca rubra var. rubra were the most successful in covering the spoil; the ‘Johnson JR33’ seed mix proved the best of those commercially available that was tested. Tree growth was not detrimentally affected by the establishment of a grass ground cover. Erosion was not an important process at the experimental site, though slumping occurred locally from plough ridge to plough furrow.     

Dye tracer infiltration in the plough layer after straw incorporation

Straw residues may be accumulated in isolated zones in the plough layer after mouldboard ploughing. This may limit straw decomposition because of limited nitrogen availability depending on the prevalent water flow pathways induced by tillage. In this study, we used the food dye Brilliant Blue FCF (Color Index 42090) to make visible the flow pathways in the plough layer of a loamy soil after incorporation of 10 tonne of dry mass ha^− 1, and to get a qualitative and quantitative interpretation of the small-scale flow behaviour. Approximately 1.3 L of a 4 g L^− 1 Brilliant Blue solution was applied at a matric head of − 1 cm with an infiltrometer, equipped with a 25 cm-diameter disk. Horizontal cross-sections of 50 × 50 cm were photographed at 1.5 to 3.5 cm depth intervals. High-resolution spatial maps of Brilliant Blue concentration were derived from the scanned photographs, using separate calibration relationships between the measured Brilliant Blue concentrations and the color spectra and depth for the soil and the straw. Pronounced lateral dye movement was observed through the soil matrix owing to soil sorptivity. In cases of high sorptivity, the dye barely reached the depth of straw incorporation. Otherwise, enhanced preferential dye transport directed towards the incorporated straw was made visible and the stained water eventually ponded on the plough pan which induced lateral redistribution. Although the straw inclusions contributed to dye transport, they did not retain a substantial part of the applied dye mass, owing to the low density and surface area of straw. However, these inclusions may enhance the fast migration of potential pollutants such as nitrate or pesticides out of the tilled layer where much of the transformation occurs due to biological activity.     

Comparative analysis of the field performances of a reversible animal-drawn prototype and conventional mouldboard ploughs pulled by a single donkey

The performance of two conventional animal-drawn mouldboard ploughs and a reversible prototype mouldboard plough were studied under field conditions in Kenya on previously ploughed and harrowed clay nitisol. The two mouldboard ploughs were a Victory plough, manufactured in the United Kingdom, and a cylindrical mouldboard plough manufactured by the Rumptstad factory of The Netherlands. The reversible prototype wooden mouldboard plough was developed at the Department of Agricultural Engineering of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences as a mouldboard type, modernized version of the ard type plough.

Simultaneous and dynamic measurement of forces, moments, ground speed and tillage depth were made. The results of the comparison between the three ploughs showed that both the horizontal and vertical components of forces resulting from the reversible plough were about 50 and 65% of the forces resulting from the Rumptstad and the Victory ploughs, respectively.

In the case of the reversible plough, the effect of a tail angle on horizontal and vertical forces was investigated. The results of field tests confirmed the laboratory results in that the form of graphs and equations describing the relationship between the forces and tail angle were similar to those obtained during the laboratory tests.

A single donkey was used to draw the implements throughout the experiment. It pulled about 25% of its body weight at an average speed of 0.8 m s⁻¹ and worked for 9 h per day.     

犁底层深度对膜下滴灌土壤水盐运移影响的模拟研究

为了探寻膜下滴灌条件下犁底层深度对土壤水盐运移的影响规律,采用室内土柱模拟试验与数值模拟相结合的方法,对不同犁底层深度(无犁底层,CK;25 cm深度,PB25;30 cm深度,PB30;35 cm深度,PB35;40 cm深度,PB40;45 cm深度,PB45)下土壤水盐运移规律进行了研究,结果表明:犁底层可以阻碍...     

Soil ridge geometry for green control in French fry potato production on loamy clay soils in The Netherlands

Green potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers are rejected by the processing industry. Therefore their amount should be reduced to minimum. The objective of this study was to assess the reduction of greening of new French fry varieties in experiments conducted from 1998 to 2001 on ridge qualities like geometry and the compression and crumbling degree of the loose soil in the ridge.The experiments were mainly carried out on the experimental husbandry farm Westmaas on a Calcaric Fluvisol having a clay content of ca. 200 g kg⁻¹. French fry potato varieties used were Agria and Fambo, whereas Bintje was used as a reference. Row spacings were 0.75 m (30 in.) and 0.90 m (36 in.). Net ridge size was determined by the internal height (distance between the plate and the top of the ridge) and by the width of the top of the ridge combined with planting near the surface of the plate.For the traditional French fry variety Bintje a reduction in greening was achieved by ridges having a gross size of 0.06–0.07 m². New French fry potato varieties like Agria and Fambo, however, are characterized by higher yields, larger cluster widths and longer tubers than Bintje. These properties favor the greening of tubers and require adjustment of the ridge geometry.Increase of the internal height and of the top width were found to be crucial to reduce greening of tubers to minimum. An increase of the top width of standard 0.75 m ridges from 0.15–0.18 to 0.25 m combined with an internal height of 0.18–0.20 m was realized by the so-called plateau ridges. This ridge type required ca. 0.04 m deeper seedbed than the depth of the seedbed for standard 0.75 m ridges. Without deeper loosening of the seedbed such larger ridges could also be realized by an increase of row spacing to 0.90 m. Net yields of new French fry varieties of plateau and 0.90 m ridges were generally similar or higher than the yields of standard 0.75 m ridges with the same internal height. With 0.90 m ridges over-sizing occurred sometimes.Greening of new varieties of French fry potatoes was reduced to minimum by the new knowledge on ridge geometry: an increase of the internal ridge height to 0.18–0.20 m, a top width to 0.25 m and reduction of cracking by relatively coarse, non-compressed ridges.     

Influence of mouldboard plough and rotary harrow tillage on microbial biomass and nutrient stocks in two long-term experiments on loess derived Luvisols

The nutrient-specific effects of tillage on microbial activity (basal respiration), microbial biomass (C, N, P, S) indices and the fungal cell-membrane component ergosterol were examined in two long-term experiments on loess derived Luvisols. A mouldboard plough (30 cm tillage depth) treatment was compared with a rotary harrow (8 cm tillage depth) treatment over a period of approximately 40 years. The rotary harrow treatment led to a significant 8% increase in the mean stocks of soil organic C, 6% of total N and 4% of total P at 0–30 cm depth compared with the plough treatment, but had no main effect on the stocks of total S. The tillage effects were identical at both sites, but the differences between the sites of the two experiments were usually stronger than those between the two tillage treatments. The rotary harrow treatment led to a significant increase in the mean stocks of microbial biomass C (+18%), N (+25%), and P (+32%) and to a significant decrease in the stocks of ergosterol (−26%) at 0–30 cm depth, but had no main effect on the stocks of microbial biomass S or on the mean basal respiration rate. The mean microbial biomass C/N (6.4) and C/P (25) ratios were not affected by the tillage treatments. In contrast, the microbial biomass C/S ratio was significantly increased from 34 to 43 and the ergosterol-to-microbial biomass C ratio significantly decreased from 0.20% to 0.13% in the rotary harrow in comparison with the plough treatment. The microbial biomass C-to-soil organic C ratio varied around 2.1% in the plough treatment and declined from 2.6% at 0–10 cm depth to 2.0 at 20–30 cm depth in the rotary harrow treatment. The metabolic quotient qCO₂ revealed exactly the inverse relationships with depth and treatment to the microbial biomass C-to-soil organic C ratio. Rotary harrow management caused a reduction in the microbial turnover in combination with an improved microbial substrate use efficiency and a lower contribution of saprotrophic fungi to the soil microbial community. This contrasts the view reported elsewhere and points to the need for more information on tillage-induced shifts within the fungal community in arable soils.     

保护性耕作农田和柠条带状配置草地防风蚀效果的风洞测试

为比较分析保护性耕作农田与柠条带状配置修复退化草地的防风蚀机理和防风蚀效果,利用移动式风蚀风洞及相关配套设备对内蒙古乌兰察布寒旱区的保护性耕作农田、传统旱作农田和退化草地、柠条带状配置草地进行风蚀风洞原位测试,研究其风速廓线、输沙通量等风沙运动规律,分析保护性耕作农田、柠条带状配置草地的防风蚀情况。结果表明:保护性耕作农田、柠条带状配置修复草地的输沙通量随地表高度的变化呈"C"字形分布,有别于传统耕作农田和退化草地的输沙通量随地表高度的增加按指数规律迅速衰减;保护性耕作农田、柠条带状配置草地的防风蚀机理,主要在于保护性耕作农田的直立残茬和柠条带状配置可对近地表风速产生阻挡、分解、疏散作用,从而使近地表风速造成不同程度削弱;当风洞中心风速为11 m/s时,在距地表50 mm处保护性耕作农田相比传统耕作农田的风速降低率达86.44%,柠条带状配置草地相比退化草地的风速降低率为70.69%,近地表风速的降低是保护性耕作农田和柠条带状配置草地有效防治土壤风蚀的根本原因;保护性耕作农田和柠条带状配置草地的风沙流主要活动在距地表40 cm高度以下,占总输沙量的90%左右,而对照传统耕作农田和退化草地的风沙流则主要活动在距地表20 cm以下,占总输沙量的85%以上。     

SW—Soil and Water: Improvement of Whitish Oasis Soil, Part 1: Field Experiments with a Four-stage Subsoil Mixing Plough

A prototype four-stage subsoil mixing plough was designed in Japan and built in China for the improvement of whitish oasis soil. The machine was transported to two places in China for field tests where the whitish oasis soil is found. This paper presents the trash mixing rate into mixed layer of Bca and C horizons, the inverting rate of the Bca and C horizons and the draught of the plough in the whitish oasis soil.The results show that the rolling resistance of the tracked vehicle (T802), on which the plough was mounted, was about 8 kN and the draught of the first plough body which tilled the Ap horizon was about 4 kN with a working depth of 200 mm and a working width of 500 mm. The draught of the second plough body, which tilled the surface of the Ap horizon, was about 2 kN with a working depth of 50 mm. The draught of the third plough body increased steeply with greater working depths. The draughts were about 8, 14 and 24 kN, respectively, for working depths of 117, 239 and 300 mm. The draught of the fourth plough body also increased steeply with greater working depth. The draughts were about 7, 14 and 18 kN, respectively, for working depths of 117, 178 and 239 mm. When the whitish oasis soil was disturbed by the plough bodies, it was observed that the whitish oasis soil was very hard but comparatively brittle and easily broken up. This property explains the smaller draught requirements in the whitish oasis soil despite a greater soil strength. The values of the soil-inverting rate ranged between 0·45 and 0·6, and the average value was 0·5. Perfect inversion of the Bca and C horizons was not possible, but good mixing was achieved by the plough. The average trash mixing rate in Inner Mongolia was 0·85, and that in North of River was 0·95. These data show that even in Inner Mongolia where the trash material is long, a fairly uniform trash mixing was possible.     

Measurement and modelling of the effects of initial soil conditions and slope gradient on soil translocation by tillage

Tillage erosion studies have mainly focused on the effect of topography and cultivation practices on soil translocation during tillage. However, the possible effect of initial soil conditions on soil displacement and soil erosion during tillage have not been considered. This study aims at investigating the effect of the initial soil conditions on net soil displacement and the associated erosion rates by a given tillage operation of a stony loam soil. Tillage erosion experiments were carried out with a mouldboard plough on a freshly ploughed (pre-tilled) soil and a soil under grass fallow in the Alentejo region (Southern Portugal).

The experimental results show that both the downslope displacement of soil material and the rate of increase of the downslope displacement with slope gradient are greater when the soil is initially in a loose condition. This was attributed to: (i) a greater tillage depth on the pre-tilled soil and (ii) a reduced internal cohesion of the pre-tilled soil, allowing clods to roll and/or slide down the plough furrow after being overturned by the mouldboard plough.

An analysis of additional available data on soil translocation by mouldboard tillage showed that downslope displacement distances were only significantly related to the slope gradient when tillage is carried out in the downslope direction. When tillage is carried out in the upslope direction, the effect of slope gradient on upslope displacement distances was not significant. This has important implications for the estimation of the tillage transport coefficient, which is a measure for the intensity of tillage erosion, from experimental data. For our experiments, estimated values of the tillage transport coefficient were 70 and 254 kg m⁻¹ per tillage operation for grass fallow and pre-tilled conditions, respectively, corresponding to local maximum erosion rates of ca. 8 and 35 Mg ha⁻¹ per tillage operation and local maximum deposition rates of ca. 33 and 109 Mg ha⁻¹ per tillage operation.     

Fine-earth translocation by tillage in stony soils in the Guadalentin, south-east Spain: an investigation using caesium-134

Tillage erosion is increasingly recognised as an important soil erosion process on agricultural land. In view of its potential significance, there is a clear need to broaden the experimental database for the magnitude of tillage erosion to include a range of tillage implements and agricultural environments. The study discussed in this paper sought to address the need for such data by examining tillage erosion by a duckfoot chisel plough in stony soils on steep slopes in a semi-arid environment. Results of the investigation of coarse fraction (rock fragment) translocation by tillage in this environment have been presented elsewhere and the paper focuses on tillage translocation and erosion of the fine earth. Tillage translocation was measured at 10 sites, representing both upslope and downslope tillage by a duckfoot chisel plough on five different slopes, with tangents ranging from 0.02 to 0.41. A fine-earth tracer, comprising fine earth labelled with ¹³⁴Cs, was introduced into the plough layer before tillage. After a single pass of the plough, incremental samples of plough soil were excavated and sieved to separate the fine earth from the rock fragments. Translocation of the fine-earth tracer was established by analysing the ¹³⁴Cs content of the samples of fine earth. These data were used to establish translocation distances for each combination of slope and tillage direction. Translocation distances of the fine earth were not significantly different from translocation distances of the coarse fraction. For all sites, except uphill on the 0.41 slope, translocation distances were found to be linearly related to slope tangent. The soil flux due to tillage for each site was calculated using the translocation distance and the mass per unit area of the plough layer. For slopes with tangents <0.25, the relationship between soil flux and tangent was linear and the soil flux coefficient derived was 520–660 kg m⁻¹ per pass. This is much larger than the coefficients found in other studies and this high magnitude is attributed to the non-cohesive nature and high rock fragment content of the soil in this investigation. A second contrast with previous studies was found in non-linearity in the relationship between soil flux and tangent when steeper slopes were included. This was a product of variation in plough depth between the steepest slopes and the remainder of the study area. On the basis of the study it is suggested that an improved understanding of tillage erosion may be obtained by considering the dual processes of tillage detachment (mass per unit area of soil subject to tillage) and tillage displacement (equivalent to translocation distance per pass) in assessing, comparing and modelling tillage translocation. An improved model is proposed that recognises the complexity of soil redistribution by tillage, provides a framework for process-based investigation of the controls on tillage fluxes, and allows identification of potential self-limiting conditions for tillage erosion.     

Impacts of long-term and recently imposed tillage practices on the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon

Although many studies suggest that no-tillage (NT) increases soil organic carbon (SOC) within the soil profile relative to mouldboard ploughing, other studies indicate that no net change occurs. The latter studies suggest that NT only stratifies the SOC, where a near-surface increase in SOC is offset by a concomitant decrease in the subsurface. We examined the SOC distribution and stocks in a cool, humid Brookston clay (Typic Argiaquoll) soil under four soil management systems with a corn–soybean rotation. The objectives of this study were to compare the profile distribution and total amount of SOC under long-term (21 years) NT and mouldboard plough (MP) tillage with the changes that occur over 8 years when 13-years continuous NT is converted to MP, and when 13-years continuous MP is converted to NT. In the top 5 cm of soil, the long-term NT management accumulated greater SOC compared with the long-term MP treatment. However, this near-surface increase was offset by lower SOC concentrations in the 10–20 cm depth, resulting in similar total amounts of SOC stored in 0–20 cm for both long-term NT and MP. The SOC stratification that existed after 13 years of NT management was eliminated with one mouldboard ploughing operation, however the total SOC content in the plough layer of the new-MP treatment remained relatively constant over the subsequent 8 years. Soil organic carbon stratification was evident in the new no-tillage treatment 3 years after the cessation of tillage. The continuous build-up of SOC in the surface of new-NT soils was associated with no change in the total amount of SOC in the plough layer relative to long-term NT. This implies that the diminution of SOC in the 10–20 cm depth was at the same rate as the accumulation of SOC in the 0–5 cm depth. Although there was no net effect of tillage on total carbon stocks in this fine-textured soil, SOC stratification required several years to build-up after adoption of NT, but only a single year to destroy under MP.     

保护性耕作对农田土壤风蚀影响的试验研究

在河北省北部的丰宁县坝上地区建立农田土壤风蚀试验区，采用美国BSNE采样器观测不同耕作处理条件下的农田风蚀土壤损失情况。试验结果表明：在风蚀过程中，土壤颗粒主要集中在近地表层运动，悬浮在空气中的土壤颗粒随着高度的增加逐渐减少，且与高度之间符合幂函数关系；风蚀土壤颗粒粒度组成随高度增加，砂粒级颗粒含量减少，而粉砂及粘土含量增加；免耕覆盖(NTC)、免耕覆盖＋耙(NTCH)和免耕无覆盖(NTN)三种处理分别比传统翻耕减少风蚀量73.75%、75.31%和14.17%，由秸秆覆盖和少免耕相结合的保护性耕作可明显地减少农田土壤损失；在覆盖和耕作两因素中，覆盖对减小风蚀的作用最大，地表耕作的作用次之；另外，保护性耕作地能够减少农田土壤养分损失。     

The long-term effect of tillage on soil displacement of hilly areas used for growing wheat in Greece

Abstract. Tillage displaces large amounts of soil from upper slopes and deposits soil in lower landscape positions, greatly affecting productivity in these areas. The long-term effect of tillage on soil erosion was studied in four field sites growing mainly rainfed wheat. The soil loss from landscape positions with slopes, ranging from 3 to 28%, was estimated by: (a) comparing data of horizon thickness described at the same position at different times; and (b) using soil movement tracers added to the soil. Existing empirical relationships were used for estimating soil loss by tillage and runoff water, and loss in wheat biomass production. The experimental data showed soil losses of 0.4 to 1.4 cm yr^–1 depending on slope gradient, plough depth, and tillage direction. In two of the sites, soil depth has been reduced by 24–30 cm in a period of 63 years. The mean soil displacement of the plough layer (30 cm thick), measured by soil movement tracers, ranged from 31 to 95 cm yr^–1 depending mainly on slope gradient, corresponding to a rate of soil loss of 0.3 cm to 1.4 cm yr^–1. Soil eroded from the upper slopes was deposited on the lower slopes increasing soil thickness by 0.4 cm to 1.4 cm yr^–1. The application of empirical relationships, estimating soil loss by tillage and water runoff, showed that soil erosion at the field sites can be mainly attributed to tillage. The loss in wheat biomass production due to erosion was estimated at 26% on upper slopes for a period of 63 years, while a 14.5% increase in wheat production was estimated due to deposition of soil material in the lower landscape.     

Bulk density of surface crusts: depth functions and relationships to texture

A range of soils from Pleistocene deposits with sandy to sandy loam textures, and a group of loess-derived soils with predominantly silty textures were subjected to 60 mm of simulated rainfall to form structural seals. After drying, samples of the surface crusts were collected to determine their bulk: densities at a high resolution of depth (0–15 mm) using an immersion method. The bulk density data obtained for each soil sample were plotted as a function of depth beneath the soil surface. Two models were fitted to these plots. The first was an exponential decay type function as proposed by Mualem et al. (1990), and the second was a sigmoidal type of function assuming that maximum compaction had already progressed to some depth below the soil crust surface.All of the results indicated a gradual decrease in the bulk density with depth below the surface, until convergence with the initial bulk density of the undisturbed soil was attained. The maximum bulk densities recorded for crust segments representing the uppermost 2 mm of the crusts ranged from 1.713 to 1.91 g cm⁻³ for soils with silty sand, loamy sand or sandy loam textures. Crusts of loess-derived soils showed lower values, ranging from 1.44 to 1.65 g cm⁻³. The maximum surface bulk density was shown to be highly significantly correlated with the log of geometric mean diameter of the primary grain size distribution. In most cases, both models showed good to very good fits to the measured data; the exponential decay function appeared to better represent the initial stages of surface compaction, and the sigmoidal function the later stages of structural crust formation.     

犁体曲面轮廓线的有理设计方法及应用

近年来,犁体曲面的设计正在由经验设计向以数学解析法来描述和设计的方向发展,将农业技术要求与犁体曲面的参数在设计中有机地联系起来,无疑已成为今后犁体曲面设计的发展方向。本文以计算机为手段,对犁体曲面轮廓线的形成原理及方法进行研究与探讨,将农业技术对耕作质量的要求与设计参数联系起来,建立了不同农艺要求、不同犁体曲面数学模型、不同设计参数与其应具有的轮廓线之间的定量关系。