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Influence of climate, water content and leaching on seasonal variations in potential water repellence
Citation
Hardie, MA and Cotching, WE and Doyle, RB and Lisson, S, Influence of climate, water content and leaching on seasonal variations in potential water repellence, Hydrological Processes, 26, (13) pp. 2041-2048. ISSN 0885-6087 (2012) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
DOI: doi:10.1002/hyp.8312
Abstract
Seasonal variation in potential water repellence has not been widely reported in the literature, and little is known of the processes
that cause changes in potential water repellence. In this study, the severity and stability of potential water repellence varied
seasonally from being weakly hydrophobic in July 2009 (water drop penetration time, 0.19 min; water entry potential, 0.0 cm) to
severely hydrophobic (water drop penetration time, 54 min; water entry potential, 14.3 cm) in May 2009. Seasonal variation in
the stability of potential water repellence was significantly correlated with cumulative rainfall, air temperature and soil water
deficit, which indicated that the accumulation of water-repellent compounds, presumably polar waxes, resulted from microbial or
plant inputs to the soil. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that saturating and mixing the soil resulted in a two to three order
of magnitude reduction in the stability of potential water repellence, even after oven drying at 40 °C and 60 °C. Repeated
leaching resulted in sequential reduction in both the stability and severity of water repellence. The significant correlation between
soil water repellence and dissolved organic carbon content of the leachate, together with pedological evidence of organic staining
of ped faces in the clay subsoil indicate that seasonal rainfall leached soluble water-repellent compounds from the topsoil. The
reestablishment of water repellence after saturation and leaching required the input of new water-repellent compounds. These
findings suggest that the use of surfactants before sowing may assist to leach water-repellent compounds from the topsoil,
allowing improved infiltration and reduced runoff through the remainder of the cropping season.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | hydrophobic, duplex soil, texture-contrast soil, water entry potential |
Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
Research Group: | Soil sciences |
Research Field: | Soil physics |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
Objective Field: | Soils |
UTAS Author: | Hardie, MA (Mr Marcus Hardie) |
UTAS Author: | Cotching, WE (Dr Bill Cotching) |
UTAS Author: | Doyle, RB (Associate Professor Richard Doyle) |
UTAS Author: | Lisson, S (Dr Shaun Lisson) |
ID Code: | 79586 |
Year Published: | 2012 (online first 2011) |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 16 |
Deposited By: | Agricultural Science |
Deposited On: | 2012-09-23 |
Last Modified: | 2017-10-31 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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