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Effect of Black Granular Mulch on Soil Temperature, Water Content, and Crusting¹

ABSTRACT

The use of black granular coke material as a mulch and its influence on soil temperature, evaporation, and soil crusting were studied under laboratory conditions and in the field. Higher soil temperatures were measured under mulch as compared to the control. Thermal regimes in a sand tank differed with treatment as to mulch strip width and geometry for dry sand. Evaporation suppression from wet sand was proportional to the relative area covered by mulch.

Application of mulch on ridges in the field resulted in the following: (i) increase in daytime soil temperatures in the top 30 cm of soil, (ii) higher water content in the top 3 cm of soil under the mulch as compared to the control, and (iii) a friable soil crust under mulch as compared with a massive rigid crust in the control.

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Agricultural Chemistry and Soils, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson. (Technical Paper 1172). This work was supported by the Collier Carbon and Chemical Corp. of Los Angeles, Calif.

² Research Associate and Professor of Soil Physics, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson.

Received for publication September 15, 1966. Accepted for publication December 22, 1966.