<b>Micromorphometric analysis of porosity changes in the surface crusts of three soils in the Piracicaba region, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to micromorphologically analyze modifications in soil porosity due to the occurrence of erosive rainfall events. Three types of soils, Typic Hapludox, Typic Hapludult and Rhodic Kandiudalf, were analyzed to determine their total porosity and the distribution and number of pores. The soils were tilled with a heavy disk and leveling harrow to ensure homogeneity of surface conditions at the beginning of the trial period and to simulate cropping conditions. The soils were kept uncovered during the trial period, and rainfall events with intensities greater than 25 mm h -1 were recorded. The results showed that all of the soils presented crust formation, influenced by the soil texture. NVef showed significant changes in total porosity, pore numbers and pore morphology, while LVAd and PVAd did not display marked modifications in these attributes.

Software for micromorphometric characterization of soil pores obtained from 2-D image analysis

“…In the literature, there are studies addressing soil compaction (Murphy et al, 1977a;Curmi et al, 1994;Clemente et al, 2005;Bagheri et al, 2012), cultivation and management systems (Pagliai et al,1983;Pagliai et al, 1984;Pagliai et al, 2003;Soares et al, 2005;Juhász et al, 2007;Rasa et al, 2012), effect of wetting and drying cycles on the structure of tropical soil (Pires et al, 2008), soil structure regeneration with and without selfmulching Collis-George, 1990a and1990b), application of fertilizers, manures, and organic materials (Pulleman et al, 2005;Zanuzzi et al, 2009), surface crusting (Castilho et al, 2015) and soil fauna activity (Castellanos-Navarrete et al, 2012;Piron et al, 2012).…”