Search results for "macropore"
showing 10 items of 33 documents
Experimental investigation of the effect of moisture on the acoustic properties of lightweight substrates used in green envelopes
2021
International audience; Substrates are used in green walls and roofs to supply air and water to the roots of the growing plants. These substrates are porous with micropores which store water and macropores which facilitate drainage and air entry. Effect of moisture on acoustic absorption is studied for two lightweight substrates: coir dust and perlite. Measurement of dry and moistened substrates are conducted to evaluate their effective speed of sound, attenuation, characteristic impedance, compressibility and density between 100 Hz and 1000 Hz using an impedance tube and the three microphone-two load method. Effect of moisture on these quantities is found to depend strongly upon the intera…
Characterization of the porous structure of Chilean volcanic soils by nitrogen adsorption and mercury porosimetry
2004
Pore volume, specific surface area (SSA), and total intragranular porosity (TIP) of Chilean soils derived from volcanic materials were studied. Soil samples involving the 0-15 and 15-30 cm depth of virgin and cultivated Collipulli (Ultisol) and Diguillin (Andisol) soils at two particle size fractions (<1 mm and <2 µm) were considered. From mercury porosimetry and N2 adsorption, mainly mesopores (pore diameter, dpore, about 10 nm) were determined for <1 mm Collipulli samples. Diguillin <1 mm soil shows macroporosity with dpore from 70 nm to 7000 nm. The clay fraction of Collipulli has macropores (dpore from 2000 nm to 40000 nm) and mesopores (dpore from 3 nm to 23 nm), while for Diguillin cl…
Water transmission properties of a sandy-loam soil estimated with Beerkan runs differing by the infiltration time criterion
2021
Abstract The Beerkan method consists of a ponded infiltration experiment from a single ring inserted a small depth into the soil. Fixed, small volumes of water are repeatedly poured into the ring to maintain a quasi-zero head on the soil surface. According to the standard Beerkan infiltration run, a new water volume is poured on the infiltration surface when the previously applied volume has completely infiltrated and the soil surface is entirely exposed to air (ta criterion). However, water could also be applied when the soil exposition to air begins (to criterion) or half the soil surface is exposed to air (tm criterion). The effect of the infiltration time criterion on determination of t…
Nanoparticulated Silicas with Bimodal Porosity: Chemical Control of the Pore Sizes
2008
Nanoparticulated bimodal porous silicas (NBSs) with pore systems structured at two length scales (meso- and large-meso-/macropores) have been prepared through a one-pot surfactant-assisted procedure by using a simple template agent and starting from silicon atrane complexes as hydrolytic inorganic precursors. The final bulk materials are constructed by an aggregation of pseudospherical mesoporous primary nanoparticles process, over the course of which the interparticle (textural) large pore system is generated. A fine-tuning of the procedural variables allows not only an adjustment of the processes of nucleation and growth of the primary nanoparticles but also a modulation of their subseque…
The role of plant species on runoff and soil erosion in a Mediterranean shrubland.
2021
Shrubland is a Mediterranean biome characterized by densely growing evergreen shrubs adapted to fire events. To date, scientific research has focused on the impact of vegetation on soil erosion mainly through the control that plant biomass or plant cover exerts on sediment delivery and runoff discharge, being the individual plant species influence on hydrological and erosional processes not achieved in detail. The objective of this research is to determine: i) runoff and soil losses in a shrubland-covered rangeland at Sierra de Enguera, Spain; and ii) how four plant species affect soil and water losses. We measured soil cover, soil properties, runoff discharge and sediment yield under natur…
Rainfall timing and runoff: The influence of the criterion for rain event separation
2016
Abstract Rain is not uniform in time and space in semiarid areas and its distribution is very important for the runoff process. Hydrological studies usually divide rainfall into events. However, defining rain events is complicated, and rain characteristics vary depending on how the events are delimited. Choosing a minimum inter-event time (MIT) is a commonly used criterion. Our hypothesis is that there will be an optimal MIT that explains the maximum part of the variance of the runoff, with time to runoff used as a surrogate. The objective is to establish a procedure in order to decide upon this optimal MIT. We developed regressions between time to runoff (T0) and three descriptive variable…
Response of soil bacteria to Hg (II) in relation to soil characteristics and cell location
2006
The response of indigenous bacterial communities to the addition of inorganic mercury (50 μM of Hg(II)) was compared over a 30 day period in four soils of contrasting properties. Hg(II) impact was estimated by following population dynamics of viable heterotrophic bacteria (VH) and mercury resistant bacteria (HgR) by indirect enumeration in unfractionated soil and in the inner and outer parts of soil aggregates obtained by successive washings. Numbers of VH bacteria in unfractionated soils were not affected by mercury in any of the studied soils, whereas an increase in resistant bacteria was observed in all of them. The lag phase before the increase of HgR bacteria and the magnitude of the e…
Soil structure and bypass flwo processes in a Vertsol under sprinkler and drip irrigation.
2007
In this paper morphological and physical characteristics, as well as flow behaviour of a Mediterranean Vertisol under the influence of two different irrigation systems currently used for irrigation, i.e. drip and sprinkler systems, were compared. No differences in soil texture, compaction and in potential cracking were found on cores from the two fields. However, field application of methylene blue showed the presence of continuous macropores, penetrating up to depths of 20-25 cm from the soil surface, in the field where the drip system was in use (field 1). This was considered to be the pre-existing soil structure. Instead, macropores terminating at a depth ranging between 5 and 10 cm from…
Using Static and Dynamic Indicators to Evaluate Soil Physical Quality in a Sicilian Area
2013
Both capacitive indicators derived from the water retention curve and dynamic measurements of the flow-weighted mean pore radius, R0, were used to assess the soil physical quality of two agricultural areas (cropland and olive orchard) and two natural areas (grassland and managed woodlot plantation) potentially subject to soil degradation. The overall idea of the study was to investigate whether a dynamic indicator quantitatively derived from hydraulic conductivity measurements could be used to supplement the traditionally applied capacitive indicators retrieved from water retention measurements. According to the available criteria, only the surface layer of the cropland site showed optimal …
Soil hydrological response under simulated rainfall in the Dehesa land system (Extremadura, SW Spain) under drought conditions
1998
Soil hydrology was investigated in the Guadelperalon experimental watershed in order to determine the influence of land use and vegetation cover on runoff and infiltration within the Dehesa land system. Five soil–vegetation units were selected: (1) tree cover, (2) sheep trials, (3) shrub cover, (4) hillslope grass and (5) bottom grass. The results of the simulated rainfall experiments performed at an intensity of 56·6 mm h−1 during one hour on plots of 0·25 m2, and the water drop penetration time test indicate the importance of water repellency in the Dehesa land system under drought conditions. Low infiltration rates (c. 9–44 mm h−1) were found everywhere except at shrub sites and in areas…