The effect of gravel on the cumulative infiltration in two different soil textures

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Soil Science Engineering; Faculty of Agriculture; Alborz Province;Iran

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of content and size of gravel on water infiltration in two loam and sandy loam soils. For this purpose, two series of repacked soil samples, with loam and sandy loam textures, and mass contents of 10, 20, 30 and 40 % fine gravel (4-4.75) and coarse gravel (7.9- 15.8) mm, and a treatment with no gravel (CK) were created separately. The prepared soil samples were compacted into 50 cm high cylinders with an inner diameter of 21.5 cm. The cumulative infiltration of both series of soil samples were measured using the Marriott system. Regarding both series of experiments, 10 cylinders were used. The experiments of infiltration were done with no replication. The presence of the gravel increased the cumulative infiltration in both sandy loam and loam soils compared to the (CK). The average amount of water infiltration in loam treatments, combined with fine and coarse gravel were, respectively 25 and 104 percent, higher than the one in sandy loam treatments, combined with fine and coarse gravel. Fine gravel of sandy loam and coarse gravel of loam soils, had the highest effect on the increase of cumulative infiltration. However, some fluctuations were observed under the gravel content of 20 %. The results showed that the gravel does not always increase the amount of soil water infiltration. The results also indicated that the gravel affects the amount of water infiltration in both soils by affecting the total, and the fine earth bulk densities.

Keywords

Main Subjects

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

 

Background and purpose:

Soil water infiltration is one of the main hydrological properties which is controlled by different physical and chemical factors, including soil texture and coarse inclusions. This study was done to investigate the effect of gravel’ size and content on the cumulative infiltration, in loam and sandy loam soils.

Materials and methods:

The laboratory measurements were done on large repacked soil samples. Sandy loam and loam soils were combined well with fine gravel (4-4.75 mm) and coarse gravel (7.9- 15.8 mm) separately, to obtain four different weight contents (10, 20, 30, and 40 %) and no gravel treatment (0%) as a control (CK). All soil samples compacted into 50 cm high cylinders with an inner diameter of 21.5 cm. The compaction process was done in three stages. The desired total soil bulk density was fixed 1.7 (g cm-3). The flow experiments of both series of the soil samples were done by Marriott device and a constant 4 cm water head was maintained on soil surface The experiments continued until the water infiltration reached a steady state.

Results:

The gravel decreased the fine earth bulk density and increased the total bulk density of both loam and sandy loam soils, (P< 0.05). The average amount of water infiltration in sandy loam treatments combined with fine and coarse gravel was 13.6 and 11.8 cm, respectively. In loamy soils, the average amount of water infiltration was 24.1 cm and 17 cm respectively. In both soil series, the gravel increased the time of water outflow from stony treatments, compared to the (CK). The longest time of water outflow was reported for sandy loam treatments combined with 20 % of fine and coarse gravel Regarding these treatments the time needed for water outflow respectively increased up to 16.3 and 18.6 fold compared to the (CK). In loam stony treatments, the longest time of water outflow was recorded for the samples combined with 10 % of fine and 40 %t of coarse gravel

Conclusion 

The results of this study indicated that the gravel affects the cumulative infiltration, by changing the total and fine earth bulk densities., fine and coarse gravel respectively had the highest effect on the increase of the cumulative infiltration in both sandy loam and loam soil samples, anyway some fluctuations were observed in trend of changes under 20 % of In sandy loam and loam soil samples in both sandy loam and loam soil samples, and revealed that gravel does not always increase the cumulative infiltration. The reduction of the cumulative infiltration, under some gravel contents, indicates the negative effect of gravel on the water flow, by reducing the water cross section. The results also showed that the time needed for water outflow from stony sandy loam treatments was higher than the stony loam treatments indicating that gravel had more effect on increasing the curvature of water flow paths in sandy loam soils compared to loam soils.

Author Contributions:

Conceptualization, Sedayee Azar.Z.; methodology, writing—original draft preparation, Sedayee Azar.Z.; software, Excel (2016) and Spss (26).; validation, Mohammadi.M. H.;, Asadi.H.; resources, writing—review and editing, Sedayee Azar.Z; Mohammadi.M. H.; Asadi.H.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data Availability:

 Data will be made available from the authors on reasonable request

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank all reviewers whose valuable and constructive comments have helped to improve the manuscript

Ethical considerations

The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and misconduct.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

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Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 55, Issue 12
March 2025
Pages 2483-2498

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