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ROTHAMSTED STUDIES OF SOIL STRUCTURE IV.
Author(s) -
CURRIE J.A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1979.tb00999.x
Subject(s) - porosity , soil water , dimensionless quantity , diffusion , wetting , characterisation of pore space in soil , soil science , materials science , mineralogy , chemistry , geology , geotechnical engineering , thermodynamics , composite material , physics
Summary Porosity and gas diffusion have been measured within dry crumbs sieved from the horizons of one soil from each of the Hanslope, Ragdale, Evesham, Denchworth, Flint and Salop series. Crumb porosities, ɛc, ranged from 0.19 to 0.33, dimensionless gas diffusivities, D c /D 0 , from 0.015 to 0.098, and the effectiveness of unit pore space for diffusion, given by α c = (D c /D 0 )/ɛ c , from 0.06 to 0.29. Values of ɛ c and D c /D 0 were used to calculate complexity factors k c for the crumb pores. The results are discussed in terms of soil texture, pore size, ease of soil management, and the frequency and intensity of wetting and drying of the soil in each horizon. None of the results suggests why the soils of the Ragdale, Denchworth and Salop series should be more difficult to manage than the others.