Effect of kaolinite and Ca-montmorillonite on the alleviation of soil water repellency

Dlapa, Pavel; Doerr, Stefan H.; Lichner, Ľubomír; Šír, Miloslav; Tesař, Miroslav

doi:10.17221/4044-pse

Cited by 40 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The seasonality of water repellency has already been noted, for example, where rainfall has been found to wet some soils more readily in summer months than winter months . Increasing frequency of extreme climatic events (rainfalls and droughts) in the future could cause soils, which were previously considered wettable, to exhibit some degree of repellency (Dlapa et al, 2004). Therefore, an understanding of the impact of environmental conditions on water repellency and on the breakdown of water repellency needs consideration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental characterization of the impact of temperature and humidity on the breakdown of soil water repellency in sandy soils and composts

Whelan

Kechavarzi

Coulon

et al. 2014

Hydrological Processes

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Soil water repellency is a widespread phenomenon with the capacity to alter hydrological and geomorphological processes. Water repellency decays with time, and the consequences are only of concern during the timescale at which the water repellency persists. This study aimed to characterize the influence of temperature and humidity on the breakdown of water repellency. Apparent contact angle measurements were carried out on samples consisting of sand treated with stearic acid as well as naturally repellent dune sands and composts. Temperature and humidity were controlled using a cooled incubator and a purpose designed enclosed box in which humidity could be raised or lowered. Results showed the contact angle of the stearic‐acid‐treated sands decayed with time and that there was a significant increase with stearic acid concentration. For all samples, the decay in apparent contact angle could be described with a continuous breakdown model. The stearic‐acid‐treated sands showed a significant increase in contact angle with relative humidity at a temperature of 10 and 20 °C. These differences diminished with increasing temperature. Similar results were seen for the dune sands and composts. Despite the influence of temperature and humidity on contact angles, there was no significant change in the rate at which the contact angle decayed in any sample. Absolute humidity was found to provide a more relevant indicator than relative humidity when assessing the influence of humidity on repellency over a range of temperatures. The contact angle initially increased with absolute humidity before plateauing owing to the confounding effect of temperature. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental characterization of the impact of temperature and humidity on the breakdown of soil water repellency in sandy soils and composts

Whelan

Kechavarzi

Coulon

et al. 2014

Hydrological Processes

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“…Even in the absence of surfactants, clay alters water repellency (Roper, ). On the one hand, the greater proportion of hydrophilic polar hydroxyl groups on kaolinitic rather than Ca‐montmorillonitic clay surfaces will preferentially adsorb water, likely limiting the sorption of hydrophobic organic compounds and thereby reducing water repellency (Bachmann and van der Ploeg, ; Dlapa et al ., ; Mataix‐Solera et al ., ). Water repellent sandy soils wet easier when treated with clay mixtures containing kaolinite rather than illite or smectite (Ma'shum et al ., ; Mataix‐Solera et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surfactant effects on the water‐stable aggregation of wettable soils from the continental USA

Lehrsch

2012

Hydrological Processes

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Surfactants may affect soil structure differently depending upon the soil or the quality of rainfall or irrigation water. This study examined whether the water‐stable aggregation of 11 wettable soils was affected by surfactants and the water in which the soils were sieved. The study also examined whether the wettable soils' water drop penetration time (WDPT) was affected by surfactants, water drop quality, and elapsed time since the surfactants were applied. Two nonionic surfactants and a surfactant‐free water control were sprayed (by misting) upon air‐dry soil, then WDPT was measured 1 and 72 h thereafter. Subsequently, this treated soil was slowly wetted with an aerosol to its water content at a matric potential of −3 kPa, then immediately sieved for 600 s in water that contained either appreciable or few electrolytes. Water‐stable aggregation, quantified as mean weight diameter (MWD), varied widely among soils, ranging from 0.10 to 1.36 mm. The MWDs were affected (at p = 0.06) by surfactant treatments, depending upon the soil but not sieving water quality. Surfactants affected the MWD of an Adkins loamy sand and Feltham sand, two of the three coarsest‐textured soils. Although WDPTs never exceeded 5 s, depending upon the soil WDPTs were affected by surfactant treatments but not by water drop quality. After surfactant application, WDPTs generally decreased with time for three soils but increased with time for one soil. Findings suggested that surfactants interacted (1) with clay mineralogy to affect MWD and (2) with soluble calcium to affect WDPT for certain soils. Surfactant treatments but not water quality affected both MWD and WDPT for some but not all of 11 wettable, US soils. Published 2012. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

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“…However, not all clays are the same. Sodium (Na + )-dominated kaolinitic clays have been observed to be the most effective in reducing repellency, with less benefit from other clays such as smectite (Ward and Oades 1993;McKissock et al 2000;Hall 2009), whereas Ca 2+ -dominated montmorillonite clay appears to have little or no benefit (Ward and Oades 1993;Dlapa et al 2004). Benefits of application of clay to water-repellent soils include increased productivity due to more even wetting of the soil, even germination of weeds, increased water retention, increased cation exchange capacity and nutrient retention, improved soil stability, and increased soil organic carbon (Cann 2000;Carter and Hetherington 2006;Hall et al 2010) and microbial biomass (M. M. Roper, unpubl.…”

Section: Clayingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management options for water-repellent soils in Australian dryland agriculture

Roper

Davies²,

Blackwell³

et al. 2015

Soil Res.

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Abstract. Water-repellent ('non-wetting') soils are a major constraint to agricultural production in southern and south-west Australia, affecting >10 Mha of arable sandy soils. The major symptom is dry patches of surface soil, even after substantial rainfall, directly affecting agricultural production through uneven crop and pasture germination, and reduced nutrient availability. In addition, staggered weed germination impedes effective weed control, and delayed crop and pasture germination increases the risk of wind erosion. Water repellency is caused by waxy organic compounds derived from the breakdown of organic matter mostly of plant origin. It is more prevalent in soils with a sandy surface texture; their low particle surface area : volume ratio means that a smaller amount of waxy organic compounds can effectively cover a greater proportion of the particle surface area than in a fine-textured soil. Water repellency commonly occurs in sandy duplex soils (Sodosols and Chromosols) and deep sandy soils (Tenosols) but can also occur in Calcarosols, Kurosols and Podosols that have a sandy surface texture. Severity of water repellency has intensified in some areas with the adoption of no-till farming, which leads to the accumulation of soil organic matter (and hence waxy compounds) at the soil surface. Growers have also noticed worsening repellency after 'dry' or early sowing when break-of-season rains have been unreliable.Management strategies for water repellency fall into three categories: (i) amelioration, the properties of surface soils are changed; (ii) mitigation, water repellency is managed to allow crop and pasture production; (iii) avoidance, severely affected or poorly producing areas are removed from annual production and sown to perennial forage. Amelioration techniques include claying, deep cultivation with tools such as rotary spaders, or one-off soil inversion with mouldboard ploughs. These techniques can be expensive, but produce substantial, long-lasting benefits. However, they carry significant environmental risks if not adopted correctly. Mitigation strategies include furrow-seeding, application of wetting agents (surfactants), no-till with stubble retention, on-row seeding, and stimulating natural microbial degradation of waxy compounds. These are much cheaper than amelioration strategies, but have smaller and sometimes inconsistent impacts on crop production. For any given farm, economic analysis suggests that small patches of water repellency might best be ameliorated, but large areas should be treated initially with mitigation strategies. Further research is required to determine the long-term impacts of cultivation treatments, seeding systems and chemical and biological amendments on the expression and management of water repellency in an agricultural context.

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Effect of kaolinite and Ca-montmorillonite on the alleviation of soil water repellency

Cited by 40 publications

References 26 publications

Experimental characterization of the impact of temperature and humidity on the breakdown of soil water repellency in sandy soils and composts

Experimental characterization of the impact of temperature and humidity on the breakdown of soil water repellency in sandy soils and composts

Surfactant effects on the water‐stable aggregation of wettable soils from the continental USA

Management options for water-repellent soils in Australian dryland agriculture

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