HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McNeal, B. L. Articles by Coleman, N. T. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by McNeal, B. L. Articles by Coleman, N. T. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by McNeal, B. L. Articles by Coleman, N. T.

Effect of Solution Composition on Soil Hydraulic Conductivity¹

ABSTRACT

Decreases in hydraulic conductivity with decreasing electrolyte concentration and increasing sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of the percolating solution were assessed for seven soils of varying clay mineralogy. The decreases were particularly pronounced for soils high in 2:1 layer-silicates, with the most labile hydraulic conductivities being exhibited by those soils containing the most montmorillonite. A soil containing considerable amorphous material was much more stable then the average, and a soil high in kaolinite and sesquioxides was virtually insensitive to variations in solution composition. No property of the solution alone was sufficient to characterize the response of the soils to a given solution, though expression of results in terms of the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of the soil and the total salt concentration of the ambient solution produced more nearly similar curves for soils of similar clay mineralogy. The soils commonly demonstrated rather pronounced hydraulic conductivity decreases in the ESP range of 20 to 35 at salt concentrations of 3 to 50 meq/liter. The decreases were largely irreversible upon the reapplication of high salt or high Ca solutions to the soil, except for those soils containing greater than 10% montmorillonite on a whole-soil basis.

¹ Joint contribution from the US Salinity Laboratory, SWCRD, ARS, USDA, and the Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition, University of California, Riverside. This research is from the doctoral dissertation of the senior author. Presented before Div. S-1 and S-2, Soil Science Society of America, Nov. 1, 1965, at Columbus, Ohio.

² Soil Scientist, US Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, California, and Professor of Soils and Plant Nutrition, University of California, Riverside.

³ Sincere appreciation is expressed to C. A. Bower and J. T. Hatcher for supplying the SAR-ESP data used herein.

Received for publication October 15, 1965. Accepted for publication January 31, 1966.