REN R210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Porosity, Field Capacity, Hysteresis
27 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Different texture will lead to different porosity which will cause it to have different field capacity. Coarse textured soils have large particles and pores so they drain quickly. Fine textured soils have small particles and pores so they drain more slowly. Amount of sa increases, but pore space remains the same. Infiltration increases because the pore spaces are bigger not because there"s more, infiltration is slower in fine texture because of higher matrix potential ie more sure surface area in that soil. The orientation of the horizontal aggregates in platy structure impedes infiltration. Blocky has some horizontal areas which somewhat impedes drainage and in columnar it is made up from fine textured soils which also somewhat impede drainage. Adding fertilizer (salts) causes infiltration to be slower and uniformally (increased osmotic potential of soil o) makes it harder for plants to absorb water, stops preferential flow. Fine textured layer above coarse textured layer impedes infiltration.
