Articles | Volume 26, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2499-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2499-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Compaction effects on evaporation and salt precipitation in drying porous media
Nurit Goldberg-Yehuda
Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural
Research Organization – Volcani Institute, Rishon Lezion 7505101, Israel
The Institute of Environmental Sciences, The Robert H. Smith Faculty
of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
Rehovot 7610001, Israel
Shmuel Assouline
Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural
Research Organization – Volcani Institute, Rishon Lezion 7505101, Israel
The Institute of Environmental Sciences, The Robert H. Smith Faculty
of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
Rehovot 7610001, Israel
Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural
Research Organization – Volcani Institute, Rishon Lezion 7505101, Israel
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This study investigates contaminant transport and accumulation in sandy arid soils, focusing on a severe pollution event in 2017 in the Ashalim Basin, Israel. It employs long-term field monitoring, lab experiments, and numerical models to understand pollutant transport dynamics. Findings reveal that contaminants persist near the surface and circulate vertically. The surface evaporation capacitor concept proves to be useful in predicting contaminant fate along the soil profile.
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Salinity and sodicity can cause irreversible degradation to soil, threatening agricultural production and food security. To date, very little is known about the degree to which soil degradation can be reversible. We introduce a model for describing this partial reversibility (hysteresis) and lay out the experimental procedures necessary for characterizing the soil in this regard. We must shift our focus from degradation measurements to reversal measurements so that we can maintain healthy soils.
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Short summary
In this work the interactions between soil compaction, evaporation, and salt accumulation at the vadose zone are discussed. Changes at the micro and macro scales of the soil physical and hydraulic properties were studied using high-resolution imagining techniques, alongside column experiments, aiming to characterize water flow and evaporation processes at natural, compacted, and tilled soil conditions. In addition, salt accumulation at the soil profile was examined for these setups.
In this work the interactions between soil compaction, evaporation, and salt accumulation at the...