Fig. 3. Relative cumulative water absorption by intact and cut soil aggregate samples of Soil Block 5B as a function of the square root of time (in min) for applied pressure head values of h₀ = -1 cm and h₀ = -5 cm of water. Each data series represents absorption rates obtained from a group of 21 individual soil aggregates relative to the total area-related water uptake, q_in, at the end of the imbibition experiment (Table 4). Values of the sorptivity, S, indicated by solid lines, were obtained from the initial (t < 2 min) linear parts of the absorption curves.