Surface Cracking of a Vertisol Related to the History of Available Water

Kishné, Andrea Sz.; Ge, Yufeng; Morgan, Cristine L.S.; Miller, Wesley L.

doi:10.2136/sssaj2011.0060

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Surface cracks affect the functioning of soil to such a degree that their occurrence is a diagnostic criterion in identifying Vertisols (Soil Survey Division Staff, ; IUSS Working Group WRB, ), but the essential mechanism of soil surface cracking is still not completely understood. A large number of factors influencing soil cracking behaviour have been studied; for example, temperature, wetting‐drying cycles, layer thickness and soil types (Tang et al ., ), mineral composition, soil moisture (Kishné et al ., ) and tillage practices (Bandyopadhyay et al ., ). However, there is still a lack of studies on the influence of rock fragments on soil surface crack development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of rock fragments in crack and soil structure development: a laboratory experiment with a Vertisol

Gargiulo

Mele

Terribile

2015

European J Soil Science

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A large number of factors that influence soil surface cracking behaviour in swell-shrink soils have been studied, but there are few studies on the influence of rock fragments on crack development. Effects of rock fragments have been investigated with reference to the soil pore system but they have mainly been studied indirectly through measurements of water flow and/or bulk density changes. A laboratory experiment was carried out with repacked soil samples that were prepared by adding rock fragments of three different sizes (2-4, 4-8 and 12-16 mm) to a Vertisol at two different rates (10 and 25% by volume). Soil image analysis procedures were applied in order to describe quantitatively the network of surface cracks and the pore system to a depth of 8 cm below the surface, which developed after wetting-drying cycles. Mean values and standard deviations of surface crack or pore widths decreased with the increase in rock fragment content and the decrease in rock fragment size, while the density of the 'skeleton' of the crack and pore networks increased. Rock fragments also induced vertical homogenization of the soil structure. The number of rock fragments was a key factor in determining some crack network characteristics, inducing inverse variations in mean width and skeleton density of the crack or pore network. Overall results suggested that rock fragments acted as triggering points for crack and pore development in Vertisols. The findings of this work provide a contribution to the understanding of the mechanisms of crack network and soil structure development that are induced by stones in swell-shrink soils.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of rock fragments in crack and soil structure development: a laboratory experiment with a Vertisol

Gargiulo

Mele

Terribile

2015

European J Soil Science

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“…Vertisols usually have a poor soil structure due to their high clay content and swelling clay minerals, which results in high bulk densities and swelling-shrinkage capacities (Rahman et al, 2017), along with poor water retention and air permeability (Brierley et al, 2011;Kishne et al, 2012). In this study, intact soil cores were collected from three fertilization treatments in a Vertisol: no fertilization as a control (Control), inorganic N, P, K fertilization (NPK) and organic fertilization (OF).…”

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confidence: 99%