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Interactions between Soil Texture and Placement of Dairy Slurry Application: I. Flow Characteristics and Leaching of Nonreactive Components
Author(s) -
Glæsner Nadia,
Kjaergaard Charlotte,
Rubæk Gitte H.,
Magid Jakob
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2010.0317
Subject(s) - loam , slurry , leaching (pedology) , soil texture , soil water , manure , environmental science , soil science , chemistry , agronomy , environmental chemistry , environmental engineering , biology
Land application of manure can exacerbate nutrient and contaminant transfers to the aquatic environment. This study examined the effect of injecting a dairy cattle ( Bos taurus L.) manure slurry on mobilization and leaching of dissolved, nonreactive slurry components across a range of agricultural soils. We compared leaching of slurry‐applied bromide through intact soil columns (20 cm diam., 20 cm high) of differing textures following surface application or injection of slurry. The volumetric fraction of soil pores >30 μm ranged from 43% in a loamy sand to 28% in a sandy loam and 15% in a loam‐textured soil. Smaller active flow volumes and higher proportions of preferential flow were observed with increasing soil clay content. Injection of slurry in the loam soil significantly enhanced diffusion of applied bromide into the large fraction of small pores compared with surface application. The resulting physical protection against leaching of bromide was reflected by 60.2% of the bromide tracer was recovered in the effluent after injection, compared with 80.6% recovery after surface application. No effect of slurry injection was observed in the loamy sand and sandy loam soils. Our findings point to soil texture as an important factor influencing leaching of dissolved, nonreactive slurry components in soils amended with manure slurry.