Abstract

HINCAPIE GOMEZ, Edgar  and  TOBON MARIN, Conrado. SOIL WATER DYNAMICS IN ANDISOLS UNDER HILLSLOPE CONDITIONS. Rev. Fac. Nac. Agron. Medellín [online]. 2012, vol.65, n.2, pp.6765-6777. ISSN 0304-2847.

Abstract. Soil water flux is qualified as a dynamic processes that regulate soil chemical reactions, physical and biological events, which in turn influence plant growth and nutrition. Water flow in soils is considered of environmental importance, since it influences the distribution and transmission of water, solutes and contaminants through the vadose zone. The aim of this study was to evaluate the water dynamics and the matric potential of an Andisols, which were determined over a period of wetting and drying of soil monlith, located on a hillslope area close to Chinchiná (Caldas) and Quimbaya (Quindío) - Colombia. At each site, we selected and isolated three soil monoliths of 1.5 m wide and 6.0 m long, with different slope (20, 40 and 70% in Chinchiná and 20, 40 and 75% in Quimbaya). Soil moisture sensors and tensiometers were installed at different soil depths. The soil volumetric moisture and the matric potential were monitored simultaneously, during 80 days, from which we obtained the drying curves. The resulting potential model fitted the best to the soil volumetric moisture behavior in relation to time. In general, volumetric moisture declined faster during the first drying step (0-24 hours), followed by a slow drainage in which the volumetric moisture changes over time were minimum. The rate of soil drying increased as the increased the slope angle, attributed to a refraction of the water flow, whereas the gravitational potential is influenced by the hillslope of the slope and at the time this indicates that this slope controls the soil water movement.

Keywords : Soil water flow; geomorphology; soil drainage; soil hydraulic properties.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )