### Aggregate stability and erosion response to antecedent water content of a loess soil

Jan Vermang UGent, Wim Cornelis UGent and Donald Gabriëls UGent (2009) 73(3). p.718-726
abstract
Soil erosion processes are affected by the erodibility of the soil and by the erosivity of the rain. The effects of rain characteristics and invariant soil properties such as texture and organic matter content on soil erosion processes are well documented. However, the effect of antecedent soil-water content (θa) on aggregate breakdown, seal formation and subsequent soil erosion is much more disputable as opposing effects have been reported. We conducted lab experiments with a rainfall simulator on a Belgian silt loam soil. The objectives were to determine the effect of θa on seal formation, runoff and soil loss and to evaluate its effect on an empirical sediment transport equation. Air-dried soil aggregates were subjected to antecedent soil-water contents of 0.04 (air-dry aggregates), 0.12 and 0.19 m3 m-3. No runoff occurred on the soils with highest antecedent soil-water content, highest total runoff values were observed for the intermediate θa, while intermediate amounts of total runoff were noticed for the air-dry aggregates. Soil loss, however, showed a different trend: highest values were found for the lowest θa, intermediate values for the intermediate θa and no soil loss for the highest θa. We further observed that θa had no influence on the final runoff rates and on the final infiltration rate through the soil surface. In using a water discharge and stream power equation to predict sediment transport, the intercept and exponent of the regression equations were found to be lower for θa of 0.19 m3 m-3 compared to θa of 0.12 m3 m-3, indicating a decreasing erodibility with increasing θa. We therefore suggest including θa as an additional variable to assess soil erodibility in deterministic event-based water erosion models.
author
organization
year
type
journalArticle (original)
publication status
published
subject
keyword
MOISTURE-CONTENT, SEAL FORMATION, CRUST FORMATION, ORGANIC-MATTER, RUNOFF, ERODIBILITY, COHESION, CRUSTABILITY, RESISTANCE, CLAY
journal title
SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.
volume
73
issue
3
pages
718 - 726
Web of Science type
Article
Web of Science id
000265621900004
JCR category
SOIL SCIENCE
JCR impact factor
2.179 (2009)
JCR rank
7/31 (2009)
JCR quartile
1 (2009)
ISSN
0361-5995
DOI
10.2136/sssaj2007.0134
language
English
UGent publication?
yes
classification
A1
id
525431
handle
http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-525431
date created
2009-03-19 11:08:59
date last changed
2016-12-19 15:43:44
@article{525431,
abstract     = {Soil erosion processes are affected by the erodibility of the soil and by the erosivity of the rain. The effects of rain characteristics and invariant soil properties such as texture and organic matter content on soil erosion processes are well documented. However, the effect of antecedent soil-water content (\ensuremath{\theta}a) on aggregate breakdown, seal formation and subsequent soil erosion is much more disputable as opposing effects have been reported. We conducted lab experiments with a rainfall simulator on a Belgian silt loam soil. The objectives were to determine the effect of \ensuremath{\theta}a on seal formation, runoff and soil loss and to evaluate its effect on an empirical sediment transport equation. Air-dried soil aggregates were subjected to antecedent soil-water contents of 0.04 (air-dry aggregates), 0.12 and 0.19 m3 m-3. No runoff occurred on the soils with highest antecedent soil-water content, highest total runoff values were observed for the intermediate \ensuremath{\theta}a, while intermediate amounts of total runoff were noticed for the air-dry aggregates. Soil loss, however, showed a different trend: highest values were found for the lowest \ensuremath{\theta}a, intermediate values for the intermediate \ensuremath{\theta}a and no soil loss for the highest \ensuremath{\theta}a. We further observed that \ensuremath{\theta}a had no influence on the final runoff rates and on the final infiltration rate through the soil surface. In using a water discharge and stream power equation to predict sediment transport, the intercept and exponent of the regression equations were found to be lower for \ensuremath{\theta}a of 0.19 m3 m-3 compared to \ensuremath{\theta}a of 0.12 m3 m-3, indicating a decreasing erodibility with increasing \ensuremath{\theta}a. We therefore suggest including \ensuremath{\theta}a as an additional variable to assess soil erodibility in deterministic event-based water erosion models.},
author       = {Vermang, Jan and Demeyer, Vicky and Cornelis, Wim and Gabri{\"e}ls, Donald},
issn         = {0361-5995},
journal      = {SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL},
keyword      = {MOISTURE-CONTENT,SEAL FORMATION,CRUST FORMATION,ORGANIC-MATTER,RUNOFF,ERODIBILITY,COHESION,CRUSTABILITY,RESISTANCE,CLAY},
language     = {eng},
number       = {3},
pages        = {718--726},
title        = {Aggregate stability and erosion response to antecedent water content of a loess soil},
url          = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2007.0134},
volume       = {73},
year         = {2009},
}


Chicago
Vermang, Jan, Vicky Demeyer, Wim Cornelis, and Donald Gabriels. 2009. “Aggregate Stability and Erosion Response to Antecedent Water Content of a Loess Soil.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 73 (3): 718–726.
APA
Vermang, J., Demeyer, V., Cornelis, W., & Gabriels, D. (2009). Aggregate stability and erosion response to antecedent water content of a loess soil. SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL, 73(3), 718–726.
Vancouver
1.
Vermang J, Demeyer V, Cornelis W, Gabriels D. Aggregate stability and erosion response to antecedent water content of a loess soil. SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL. 2009;73(3):718–26.
MLA
Vermang, Jan, Vicky Demeyer, Wim Cornelis, et al. “Aggregate Stability and Erosion Response to Antecedent Water Content of a Loess Soil.” SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL 73.3 (2009): 718–726. Print.