Influence of soil structure on the shrinkage behaviour of a soil irrigated with saline–sodic water
X. Peng A B , R. Horn B E , D. Deery C , M. B. Kirkham D and J. Blackwell CA Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 821, Nanjing 210008, People’s Republic of China.
B Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, CAU Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, D-24118 Kiel, Germany.
C CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag Griffith, NSW 2680, Australia.
D Kansas State University, Department of Agronomy, Manhattan, KS 66506-5501, USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: rhorn@soils.uni-kiel.de
Australian Journal of Soil Research 43(4) 555-563 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR04116
Submitted: 2 August 2004 Accepted: 15 March 2005 Published: 30 June 2005
Abstract
Soil structural properties of swelling/shrinking soils play an important role in assessing hydraulic properties. However, the effect of shrinkage/swelling processes on structure formation and strength especially in saline–sodic soils, such as a Typic Chromexert, has not yet been clarified. In this study, we investigate the changes in the shrinkage pattern after applying saline sewage water and use a 3-parameter sigmoidal curve model to fit its shrinkage data. Our aims were to determine the overall effect of sewage water application on soil structure and shrinkage processes after applying saline–sodic water and to evaluate soil shrinkage behaviour through parameters in relation to soil properties. Three plots within the FILTER Project, which were irrigated for summer and winter irrigated cropping with around 1000 m3/ha every 2 weeks with different saline sewage effluent concentrations for >5 years, were sampled from the top horizon to 1.00 m depth.
The exchangeable sodium percentage is greatly decreased due to the application of low salt concentration except in the deep horizon. Soil structural properties such as aggregate strength and hydraulic properties are improved, especially in topsoil horizon. The stabilised soil structure reduces the volume change of structural shrinkage. Three parameters of the shrinkage model, defined as α, m, and n, present different physical meanings in relation to soil structure. Parameters α and m have similar functions, both a significantly exponential relationship with aggregate strength and a linear relationship with structural and residual shrinkages, whereas parameter n has a significantly linear relationship with aggregate strength and with the slope of the proportional shrinkage. The relation between parameters of the model and shrinkage behaviour facilitates the prediction of changes in pore water and soil structure and will be a useful tool for modelling water flow in non-rigid soils.
Additional keywords: soil shrinkage curve, aggregate strength, saline–sodic soil.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the grant Ho911/24–3. Dr X. Peng gratefully thanks the Max Planck Foundation providing the fellowship for his postdoctoral research at Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany. We also thank 3 anonymous reviewers for helpful reviews and discussion.
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Appendix 1. List of parameters
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