Soil anti-scourability enhanced by herbaceous species roots in a reservoir water level fluctuation zone

Revegetation is one of the successful approaches to soil consolidation and streambank protection in reservoir water level fluctuation zones(WLFZs).However,little research has been conducted to explore the impact of herbaceous species roots on soil anti-scourability during different growth stages and under different degrees of inundation in this zone.This study sampled two typical grasslands(Hemarthria compressa grassland and Xanthium sibiricum grassland)at two elevations(172 and 165 m a.s.l.)in the water level fluctuation zone(WLFZ)in the Three Gorges Reservoir(TGR)of China to quantify the changes in soil and root properties and their effects on soil anti-scourability.A simulated scouring experiment was conducted to test the soil anti-scourability in April and August of 2018.The results showed that the discrepancy in inundation duration and predominant herbaceous species was associated with a difference in root biomass between the two grasslands.The root weight density(RWD)values in the topsoil(0-10 cm)ranged from 7.31 to 13 mg cm^(-3) for the Hemarthria compressa grassland,while smaller values ranging from 0.48 to 8.61 mg cm^(-3) were observed for the Xanthium sibiricum grassland.In addition,the root biomass of the two herbs was significantly greater at 172 m a.s.l.than that at 165 m a.s.l.in the early recovery growth period(April).Both herbs can effectively improve the soil properties;the organic matter contents of the grasslands were 128.06%to 191.99%higher than that in the bare land(CK),while the increase in the water-stable aggregate ranged from 8.21%to 18.56%.Similarly,the topsoil antiscourability indices in both the herbaceous grasslands were larger than those in the CK.The correlation coefficients between the root length density(RLD),root surface area density(RSAD)and root volume density(RVD)of fine roots and the soil antiscourability index were 0.501,0.776 and 0.936,respectively.Moreover,the change in the soil antiscourability index was more sensitive to alternations in the RLD with diameters less than 0.5 mm.Overall,the present study showed that the perennial herbaceous(H.compressa)has great potential as a countermeasure to reduce or mitigate the impact of erosion in the WLFZ of the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Soil Anti-Scouribility Enhanced by Plant Roots

The magnitude of soil anti-scouribility depends on the physical condition of the soil. Plant roots can greatly enhance soil stability and anti-erodibility. A scouring experiment of undisturbed soil was conducted to investigate the effects of roots on soil anti-scouribility and its distribution in the soil profile. At the end of each erosion test, plant roots were collected from soil samples and root surface area was calculated by means of a computer image analysis system (CIAS). Root surface area density (RSAD), the surface area of the roots per unit of soil volume, was related to soil anti-scouribility. More than 83% of root surface area was concentrated in the 0 - 30 cm soil layer. Soil anti-scouribility increased with an increase in RSAD and the value of intensified soil anti-scouribility (ΔAS) can be expressed by exponential equations, depending on the plant species. These equations were ΔAS =9.578 6 RSAD0.8321 (R2= 0.951) for afforested Pinus tabulaeformis Carr, ΔAS = 7.808 7 RSAD0.7894 (R2= 0.974) for afforested Robinia pseudoacacia L., and ΔAS= 9.256 6RSAD0.8707 (R2= 0.899) for Bothriochloa ischemum L.

EFFECTIVENESS OF PLANT ROOTS TO INCREASE THE ANTI-SCOURABILITY OF SOIL ON THE LOESS PLATEAU

The recent study results show that the intensification ability of plant roots to the anti-scourability of soil mainly depends on the distribution and twining of effective root density in the soil profile, and the physical basis of effective root density is the number of

Anti-scourability of purple soil on hillslopes with different land uses

A large-scale flume (40 cm×10 cm×10 cm) was used to determine soil anti-scourability of 4 different land uses of purple soil in hilly areas of Sichuan, China under artificial removal of vegetation to examine the effects of land uses on sediment production by runoff. The results showed that soil anti-scourability declined with the increase of slope gradients in the form of power function, but there was a significant difference in the effects of slope gradients on anti-scourability between different land uses. The ratio of the mean values of soil anti-scourability was 1︰2.2︰2.5︰3.6 for forest land, new waste pasture, old waste pasture, crop land respectively, indicating that forest and grass use can significantly improve soil anti-scourability. Compared with the observations from the runoff plots located at the same sites in this region, an inconsistent result was found between anti-scourability and anti-erodibility in hilly areas of Sichuan. Essential causes of the differences in soil anti-scourability were further discussed based on analyzing the influence of inherent soil characteristics induced by different land uses on soil anti-scourability.

A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON MECHANISM OF SOIL ANTI-SCOURABILITY ON THE LOESS PLATEAU

The resistance of soil to erosion by water can be classified into anti-washability and antiscourability. The former refers to the resistance of soil to dispersion and suspension caused by runoff, and the latter refers to the resistance of soil to mechanical disruption and the downward pushing caused by runoff. A systematic research on soil anti-scourability, however, is still lacking. The relationships between the anti-scourability, profile structure and physical properties of the soil on the Loess Plateau have been systematically studied in this note.

Experimental Study on Engineering Behavior of Solidified Soil for Scour Repair and Protection

A new scour countermeasure using solidified slurry for offshore foundation has been proposed recently.Fluidized solidified slurry is pumped to seabed area around foundation for scour protection or pumped into the developed scour holes for scour repair as the fluidized material solidifies gradually.In the pumping operation and solidification,the engineering behaviors of solidified slurry require to be considered synthetically for the reliable application in scour repair and protection of ocean engineering such as the pumpability related flow value,flow diffusion behavior related rheological property,anti-scour performance related retention rate in solidification and bearing capacity related strength property after solidification.In this study,a series of laboratory tests are conducted to investigate the effects of mix proportion(initial water content and binder content)on the flow value,rheological properties,density,retention rate of solidified slurry and unconfined compressive strength(UCS).The results reveal that the flow value increases with the water content and decreases with the binder amount.All the solidified slurry exhibits Bingham plastic behavior when the shear rate is larger than 5 s^(-1).The Bingham model has been employed to fit the rheology test results,and empirical formulas for obtaining the density,yield stress and viscosity are established,providing scientific support for the numerical assessment of flow and diffusion of solidified slurry.Retention rate of solidified slurry decreases with the water flow velocity and flow value,which means the pumpability of solidified slurry is contrary to anti-scour performance.The unconfined compressive strength after solidification reduces as the water content increases and binder content decreases.A design and application procedure of solidified soil for scour repair and protection is also proposed for engineering reference.

PRELIMINARY STUDY ON MECHANISM OF PLANT ROOTS TO INCREASE SOIL ANTISCOURIBILITY ON THE LOESS PLATEAU

The effects of the root system of trees, shrubs and grasses on the hydraulic andphysical properties of soil and their interrelation with increasing soil anti--scouribility byroots are quantitatively demonstrated in this paper for the first time. Based on the analysisof the leading factors of roots to increase the soil anti--scouribility, a mathematical modelon increasing soil anti-scouribility by roots is established. The value in application of themodel is to explain the mechanism of roots to increase the soil anti-scouribility and toevaluate the increasing effects of soil anti-scouribility by roots in different layers of soilThe calculated results of the values in soil anti--scouribility intensified by roots at variousintensities of rainfall and slopes of the model have higher precision, all of the meanmaximum deviations between the estimated and observed values being less than 1.417 s/g.