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Surface Factors Affecting the Rate of Intake of Water by Soils
Author(s) -
Duley F. L.
Publication year - 1940
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1940.036159950004000c0011x
Subject(s) - soil conservation , citation , service (business) , soil water , agriculture , library science , environmental science , computer science , archaeology , business , geography , soil science , marketing
DETERMINATIONS of runoff and erosion from agricultural lands have invariably shown, that cultivated bare soils lose a high amount,of the rainfall as runoff and a large amount of soil by erosion. This is particularly true where the soils are compact or have been surface worked by disking, harrowing, or other operations which leave the surface of the soil in a relatively smooth condition. Leaving the surface rough in order to entrap the water and permit greater intake has been a common farm practice where there was to be a considerable time between plowing and the planting operations. During'the last two seasons tests have been made on the intake of water by certain Nebraska soils under a variety of surface conditions. Water has been applied artificially by sprinkling and intake has been calculated as the difference between the application and the runoff. / One of the first questions considered was the effect of different soils, varying rather widely in texture and profile characteristics. Soils containing large amounts of coarse material such as sandy loams have been compared with silt loams and clay loams as to their rate of water absorption. The results with a number of different soil types have already been reported. Table I, taken from this publication, will show the intake of.water by each of a group of soils which vary widely in their physical characteristics. The soil was spaded uniformly 6inches deep and worked down with a hoe and garden rake before water was applied. The plots used were 1/200 acre in size and the water was applied with an overhead sprinkling device. Even though the soils are very diverse in their physical properties the total intake of water as well as the rate of intake showed no striking variability among the different soils and was reduced on the second day, particularly, to a very low level. The increased runoff and erosion from bare land as compared with cropped land, has, of course, been TABLE i .—Ef fec t of soil type on total intake of water and infiltration rates on bare cultivated, soil with a slope of 4%-