Water infiltration and soil-water characteristics of compacted loess under applied vertical stress

Additional stress formed by postconstruction buildings in loess-filling areas affects water infiltration in soil and causes soil deformation.To investigate this effect,under constant water head,vertical infiltration tests on compacted loess with two initial dry densities for different applied vertical stresses were developed using vertical stresscontrollable one-dimensional soil columns.The timehistory curves of vertical deformation,wetting front depth,cumulative infiltration depth,volumetric water content(VWC)and suction were measured,and the soil-water characteristic curves(SWCCs)were determined.The results showed that:(1)the infiltration ability of the soil column weakens with increasing applied vertical stress and initial dry density;(2)vertical deformation increases rapidly at first and then tends to be stable slowly at the consolidation and wetting-induced deformation stage,and is positively correlated with applied vertical stress and is negatively correlated with initial dry density.The stability time of wetting-induced deformation and the corresponding wetting front depth increase with the increase of applied vertical stress,while they decrease obviously when initial dry density increases;(3)the influence of applied vertical stress on soilwater characteristics in soil columns with various initial dry densities is related to the deformation depth of soil column.The VG(Van Genuchten)model is suitable for fitting the SWCCs at different monitoring positions.A normalized SWCC model introducing the applied vertical stress was proposed for each initial dry density using the mathematical relationship between the fitting parameters and the applied vertical stress.

Soil-water characteristic surface model of soil-rock mixture

The relationship between the water content or saturation of unsaturated soils and its matrix suction is commonly described by the soilwater characteristic curve(SWCC).Currently,study on the SWCC model is focused on fine-grained soils like clay and silty soils,but the SWCC model for grinding soil-rock mixture(SRM)is less studied.Considering that the SRM is in a certain compaction state in the actual project,this study established a surface model with three variables of coupling compaction degree-substrate suction-moisture content based on the Cavalcante-Zornberg soil-water characteristic curve model.Then,the influence of each fitting parameter on the curve was analyzed.For the common SRM,the soil-water characteristic test was conducted.Moreover,the experimental measurements exhibit remarkable consistency with the mode surface.The analysis shows that the surface model intuitively describes the soil-water characteristics of grinding SRM,which can provide the SWCC of soils with bimodal pore characteristics under specific compaction degrees.Furthermore,it can reflect the influence of compaction degrees on the SWCC of rock-soil mass and has a certain prediction effect.The SWCC of SRM with various soil-rock ratios have a double-step shape.With the increase in compaction degree,the curves as a whole tend toward decreasing mass moisture content.The curve changes are mainly concentrated in the large pore section.

Soil-Water Charateristics of Tropical Clay Soil under High and Low Suction Conditions

Tropical clay soil was compacted at different moisture conditions (dry, wet and optimum) and compactive efforts (Reduced proctor, Standard proctor, West African standard and Modified proctor). Experimental Soil-Water Characteristics (SWC) of the soil was derived using the pressure plate extractor equipment and SWC Curves (SWCC) plotted as gravimetric water content versus logarithm of matric suction. The Air Entry Values (A.E.V) obtained from experimental work ranged from 21 kPa to 59 kPa and compared favourably well with those estimated from predictive models with values of 23 kPa to 52 kPa. Specimens compacted with greater compactive effort (Modified proctor) and at optimum moisture content produced the largest air entry value of 59 kPa and reduced air voids. Changes observed in the shape of the SWCC were consistent with changes in pore size which occurred by varying compaction conditions. The shape of the soil-water characteristics curve was found to depend on the soil structure, compactive water content and compactive effort and not solely on the percentage of fine particles.

Distribution characteristics of dissolved organic carbon in annular wetland soil-water solutions through soil profiles in the Sanjiang Plain,Northeast China

Overwhelming evidence reveals that concentrations of dissolved organic carbon （DOC） have increased in streams which brings negative environmental impacts. DOC in stream flow is mainly originated from soil-water solutions of watershed. Wetlands prove to be the most sensitive areas as an important DOC reserve between terrestrial and fluvial biogeosystems. This reported study was focused on the distribution characteristics and the controlling factors of DOC in soil-water solutions of annular wetland, i.e., a dishing wetland and a forest wetland together, in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. The results indicate that DOC concentrations in soilwater solutions decreased and then increased with increasing soil depth in the annular wetland. In the upper soil layers of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm, DOC concentrations in soil-water solutions linearly increased from edge to center of the annular wetland （R^2 = 0.3122 and R^2 = 0.443）. The distribution variations were intimately linked to DOC production and utilization and DOC transport processes in annular wetland soil-water solutions. The concentrations of total organic carbon （TOC）, total carbon （TC） and Fe（II）, DOC mobility and continuous vertical and lateral flow affectext the distribution variations of DOC in soil-water solutions. The correlation coefficients between DOC concentrations and TOC, TC and Fe（II） were 0.974, 0.813 and 0.753 respectively. These distribution characteristics suggested a systematic response of the distribution variations of DOC in annular wetland soil-water solutions to the geometry of closed depressions on a scale of small catchments. However, the DOC in soil pore water of the annular wetland may be the potential source of DOC to stream flow on watershed scale. These observations also implied the fragmentation of wetland landscape could bring the spatial-temporal variations of DOC distribution and exports, which would bring negative environmental impacts in watersheds of the Sanjiang Plain.

Effect of temperature on soil-water characteristics and hysteresis of compacted Gaomiaozi bentonite

Laboratory tests under different constraint conditions were carried out to obtain the soil-water retention curves(SWRCs) of highly-compacted confined/unconfined Gaomiaozi(GMZ) bentonite at 20,40 and 80 ℃,respectively. The effect of temperature on the soil-water characteristics of the highly-compacted GMZ bentonite was analyzed. The results show that the water retention capacity of the highly-compacted GMZ bentonite decreases as the temperature increases under unconfined and confined conditions. At a certain temperature,the constraint conditions have little influence on the water retention capacity of the compacted bentonite at high suction,but the water retention capacity of the confined specimen is lower than that of the unconfined specimen at low suction. Under unconfined conditions,the hysteretic behaviour of the compacted bentonite decreases with increasing temperature. At high suction(>4 MPa) ,the hysteretic behaviour of the unconfined bentonite tends to increase with the decrease of the suction. In summary,the hysteretic behaviour of the compacted bentonite is not significant.

Predicting the entire soil-water characteristic curve using measurements within low suction range

The soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) is widely used in the design and evaluation in the practice of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering such as the slope stability under the influence of environmental factors. The SWCC has distinct features in the capillary and adsorption zones due to different physical mechanisms. Measurements of the SWCC are typically limited within the capillary zone(i.e., low suction range). It is cumbersome and time-consuming to measure the SWCC in the adsorption zone(i.e., high suction range). This study presents a simple method to predict the entire SWCC within both the capillary and adsorption zones, using measured data only from low suction range(e.g., from 0 to 500 kPa). Experimental studies were performed on a completely weathered granite residual soil to determine its entire SWCC from saturated to dry conditions. The resultant SWCC, along with the SWCC measurements of 14 soils reported in the literature, were used to validate the proposed method. The results indicate that the proposed method has good consistency with a wide array of measured data used in this study. The proposed method is easy to use as it only requires a simple parameter calibration for a commonly used SWCC model. It can be used to improve the reliability in the prediction of the SWCC over the entire suction range when measurements are limited within the low suction range.

Influences affecting the soil-water characteristic curve

The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) is the primary partially saturated soil information as its behavior and properties can be derived from it. Although there have been many studies of unsaturated soils and the SWCC, there is still no combined constitutive model that can simulate soil characteristics accurately. In cases when hydraulic hysteresis is dominant (e.g. under cyclic loading) it is particularly important to use the SWCC. In the past decades, several mathematical expressions have been proposed to model the curve. There are various influences on the SWCC as a source of information, so the curves obtained from conventional tests often cannot be directly applied; and the mathematical expressions from one scenario cannot be used to simulate another situation. The effects of void ratio, initial water content, stress state and high suction were studied in this work revealing that water content and stress state are more important than the other effects; but that the influences tend to decrease when suction increases. The van Genuchten model was modified to simulate better the changes in the degree of saturation at low values of suction. Predictions were compared with experimental results to determine the simulation capability of the model.

Soil-water characteristics and shear strength in constant water content triaxial tests on Yunnan red clay

The shear strength parameters for geotechnical designs are obtained mainly from consolidated drained （CD） or consolidated undrained （CU） triaxial tests. However, during construction, the excess pore-air pressure generally dissipates instantaneously while the excess pore-water pressure dissipates with time. This condition needs to be simulated in a constant water content （CW） triaxial test. The study on Yunnan red clay is carried out to investigate the soil-water characteristics and the shear strength characteristics under the constant water content condition. Osmotic technique is used to obtain the soil-water characteristic curve. A series of CW triaxial tests are conducted on statically compacted specimens. The experimental results show that the soil-water characteristic curve has a low air entry value of 7 kPa due to large pores in non-uniform pore size distribution, and a high residual value exceeding 10 MPa. In addition, the initial degree of saturation and net confining stress play an important role in affecting the shear characteristics under the constant water content condition. Finally, a new semi-empirical shear strength model in terms of degree of saturation is proposed and then applied to Yuunan red clay. Simulation result shows that the model is capable of capturing some key features of soils. The model can be used in whole engineering practice range, covering both unsaturmed and saturated soils.

Probit Analysis of Carbamate-Pesticide-Toxicity at Soil-Water Interface to N_2-Fixing Cyanobacterium Cylindrospermum sp.

Toxicity-data of two carbamate insecticides, carbaryl and carbofuran, and three fungicides, ziram, zineb and mancozeb with rice-field N2-fixing cyanobacterium Cylindrospermum sp., obtained by in vitro growth and at soil-water interface, were analyzed by the probit method. Growth enhancing concentration, no-observed effective concentration, minimum inhibitory concentration, the highest permissive concentration and lethal concentration100 （LCloo） were determined experimentally. The LC^o values of carbaryl, carbofuran, ziram, zineb and mancozeb in N2-fixing liquid medium were 56.2, 588.8, 0.07, 4.2 and 3.4 IJg/mL, respectively, whereas the corresponding LCloo values were 100.0, 1500.0, 0.17, 25.0 and 9.0 IJg/mL, respectively. The LC50 values of these pesticides in succession in N2-fixing agar medium were 44.7, 239.9, 0.07, 1.8 and 2.3 IJg/mL, respectively, whereas the corresponding LC100 values were 100.0, 600.0, 0.17, 10.0 and 7.0 IJg/mL, respectively. Similar results with nitrate supplemented liquid and agar media indicated that nitrate supplementation had toxicity reducing effect. The LCso and LC^oo values of toxicity in the N2-fixing liquid medium at soil-water interface were 91.2 and 200.0 IJg/mL for carbaryl, 2 317 and 6 000 pg/mL for carbofuran, 0.15 and 0.50 pg/mL for ziram, 16.4 and 50.0 pg/mL for zineb, and 7.2 and 25.0 pg/mL for mancozeb, respectively. Each LC^oo value at soil- water interface with a pesticide was significantly higher than its corresponding LCloo value at liquid/agar media. It can be concluded that, under the N2-fixing conditions, the cyanobacterium tolerated higher levels of each pesticide at soil-water interface.

Determining the soil-water retention curve using mercury intrusion porosimetry test in consideration of soil volume change

It is well-known that a close link exists between soil-water retention curve(SWRC)and pore size distribution(PSD).Theoretically,mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)test simulates a soil drying path and the test results can be used to deduce the SWRC(termed SWRCMIP).However,SWRCMIP does not include the effect of volume change,compared with the conventional SWRC that is directly determined by suction measurement or suction control techniques.For deformable soils,there is a significant difference between conventional SWRC and SWRCMIP.In this study,drying test was carried out on a reconstituted silty soil,and the volume change,suction,and PSD were measured on samples with different water contents.The change in the deduced SWRCMIP and its relationship with the conventional SWRC were analyzed.The results showed that the volume change of soil is the main reason accounting for the difference between conventional SWRC and SWRCMIP.Based on the test results,a transformation model was then proposed for conventional SWRC and SWRCMIP,for which the soil state with no volume change is taken as a reference.Comparison between the experimental and predicted SWRCs showed that the proposed model can well consider the influence of soil volume change on its water retention property.

Prediction of loess soil-water characteristic curve by mercury intrusion porosimetry

Mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)is a simple and fast way to obtain the pore distribution of soil and can be used to estimate the soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC).In previous studies,soil was assumed to be a perfect wettability material,and the contact angle(CA)of the soil-water interface was taken as zero in the SWCC prediction method.However,the CA has proved to be much greater than zero even for hydrophilic soils according to some soil wettability experiments,and it has a significant effect on predicting the SWCC.In this research,a method for predicting the SWCC by MIP,which takes the CA as a fitting coefficient,is proposed.The pore size distribution curves are measured by MIP,and the SWCCs of two loess soils are measured by pressure plate and filter paper tests.When the CA is taken as70°and 50°for the wetting and drying process,respectively,the SWCCs predicted by the pore size distribution curves agree well with the measured SWCCs.The predicted suction range of the proposed method is 0-105 k Pa.The consistency of the results suggests that utilizing the MIP test to predict the SWCC with a proper CA is effective for loess.

Soil-water characteristics of Gaomiaozi bentonite by vapour equilibrium technique

Soil-water characteristics of Gaomiaozi(GMZ)Ca-bentonite at high suctions(3–287MPa)are measured by vapour equilibrium technique.The soil-water retention curve(SWRC)of samples with the same initial compaction states is obtained in drying and wetting process.At high suctions,the hysteresis behaviour is not obvious in relationship between water content and suction,while the opposite holds between degree of saturation and suction.The suction variation can change its water retention behaviour and void ratio.Moreover,changes of void ratio can bring about changes in degree of saturation.Therefore,the total change in degree of saturation includes changes caused by suction and that by void ratio.In the space of degree of saturation and suction,the SWRC at constant void ratio shifts to the direction of higher suctions with decreasing void ratio.However,the relationship between water content and suction is less affected by changes of void ratio.The degree of saturation decreases approximately linearly with increasing void ratio at a constant suction.Moreover,the slope of the line decreases with increasing suction and they show an approximately linear relationship in semi-logarithmical scale.From this linear relationship,the variation of degree of saturation caused by the change in void ratio can be obtained.Correspondingly,SWRC at a constant void ratio can be determined from SWRC at different void ratios.

Effects of sample dimensions and shapes on measuring soil-water characteristic curves using pressure plate

It is well known that soilewater characteristic curve （SWCC） plays an important role in unsaturated soil mechanics, but the measurement of SWCC is inconvenient. In laboratory it requires days of testing time. For fine-grained clays, it may last for a couple of months using pressure plate tests. In this study, the effects of sample dimensions and shapes on the balance time of measuring SWCCs using pressure plate tests and the shape of SWCCs are investigated. It can be found that the sample dimensions and shapes have apparent influence on the balance time. The testing durations for circular samples with smaller diameters and annular samples with larger contact area are significantly shortened. However, there is little effect of sample dimensions and shapes on the shape of SWCCs. Its mechanism is explored and discussed in details through analysing the principle of pressure plate tests and microstructure of the sample. Based on the above findings, it is found that the circular samples with smaller dimensions can accelerate the testing duration of SWCC using the pressure plate.

Impacts of Soil-Water Conservation in Jialing River on Sedimentation of the Three Gorges Reservoir

The Jialing River is one of the main tributaries of the Yangtze River. The average annual runoff accounts for 16 % and the sediment load 26% of the total at Yichang therefore it＇s one of the main contributors of sediment to the Three Gorges Reservoir. Ever since 1989, our country has implemented ＂Yangtze River soil and water conservation＂ project, Till the end of 1996, altogether 25.8 % of erosion area in Jialing River has been improved after large scale conservation has taken effect. The analysis and comparison between records taken before and after the implementation of soil and water conservation on runoff and sediment yield indicated that the sediment load soil erosion in Jialing river basin has been taken under control to some extent. Amount of annual runoff in main conservations have generally dropped by exponential function. Obvious result has been achieved in Jialing River, efficiency of sand reduction is about 10%-25%. Therefore, sediment to Three Gorges Reservoir is decreased accordingly, and it will be beneficial to take advantage of reser- voir＇s synthetic benefit.

Influence of Dry Density on Soil-Water Retention Curve of Unsaturated Soils and Its Mechanism Based on Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry

The soil-water retention curve(SWRC)can be used to evaluate the ability of unsaturated soils to attract water at various water contents and suctions. In this study, drying SWRCs for a kind of sandy soil were obtained in the laboratory by using self-modified SWRC apparatus. In addition, the porosity and the pore size distribution of the samples were investigated by a mercury porosimetry test in order to analyze the effect of dry density. Results showed that the soil-water retention of the soil specimens was strongly dependent on the dry density. Under zero suction, soil specimens with a higher dry density exhibited lower initial volumetric water content. The higher the dry density of soil, the more slowly the volumetric water content decreased with the increase of suction. There was a general and consistent trend for a soil specimen to possess a larger air-entry value and residual suction, while smaller slope of SWRC when it had a higher density. This was probably attributed to the presence of smaller interconnected pores in the soil specimen with a higher dry density. The proportion of large diameter pores decreased in comparison to pores with small diameters in the soil tested. The measured total pore volume of the soil specimen, which had a larger dry density, was lower than that of the relatively loose specimens.

Factors Influencing the Soil-Water Characteristics of Unsaturated Tropical Silty Sand

Fine grain soils have a complex engineering behaviour which depends but not limited to moisture content, changes in external pressure and characteristics of the pore medium. Sand often contains a considerable percent of silt which is expected to alter its natural behaviour. This composite matrix is referred to as silty-sand. To understand the behaviour of this matrix under varying moisture conditions, some of the factors influencing the soil-water characteristics of unsaturated silty sands were investigated. Representative samples were collected from a river bank after its index properties were predetermined in the laboratory. The samples were compacted at different moisture conditions and compactive efforts. With the pressure plate extractor device, the Soil-Water Characteristic (SWC) was obtained and SWC Curves plotted. Compaction at greater compactive effort (modified proctor) and optimum moisture content produced the largest air entry value and reduced air voids. The air entry values of the soils obtained ranged from 21 kPa to 57 kPa. Also changes in the shape of the SWCC were consistent with changes in pore size which occur by varying compaction conditions. Result shows that soil structure, compaction water content, compactive effort and percentage of fine particles are factors affecting the Soil-Water Characteristics.

Short Term Leguminous Trees-Tillage Interactions and Their Effect on Soil-Water Content in a Semi-Arid Agroforestry Parkland

Agricultural activities that encourage slashing, burning and ploughing greatly affect the soil structure and soil organic matter on which soil water retention depends. In this study, we hypothesized that inclusion of rotational leguminous tree species improves soil water retention in a semi-arid conservation agriculture system. In a study done in Kibwezi, semi-arid eastern Kenya, results showed that the amount of water retained in the different soil strata from plots with different tree species and tillage practices was highly significant (P = 0.032). Plots with planting basins and Gliricidia sepium and Faidherbia albida tree species retained more water in both the upper and lower strata. Plots with G. sepium tree species under planting basins and zero tillage under F. albida had significantly higher soil organic carbon levels than plots that were managed under ridges and ploughing (P = 0.002). On the other hand, bulk density in plots with planting basins and zero tillage and ridges ranged between 1.35 g/cm3 and 1.53 g/cm3. Conventional tillage plots had bulk density values of 1.65 g/cm3 and 1.72 g/cm3 in the upper and lower strata respectively. The time-dependent nature of rotational leguminous tree species on soil organic matter and soil water retention in the semi-arid conservation agriculture system highlights the importance of considering these species for improving organic carbon and water retention for improved crop production.

Analysis of Water Stress Prediction Quality as Influenced by the Number and Placement of Temporal Soil-Water Monitoring Sites

In an agricultural field, monitoring the temporal changes in soil conditions can be as important as understanding spatial heterogeneity when it comes to determining the locally-optimized application rates of key agricultural inputs. For example, the monitoring of soil water content is needed to decide on the amount and timing of irrigation. On-the-go soil sensing technology provides a way to rapidly obtain high-resolution, multiple data layers to reveal soil spatial variability, at a relatively low cost. To take advantage of this information, it is important to define the locations, which represent diversified field conditions, in terms of their potential to store and release soil water. Choosing the proper locations and the number of soil monitoring sites is not straightforward. In this project, sensor-based maps of soil apparent electrical conductivity and field elevation were produced for seven agricultural fields in Nebraska, USA. In one of these fields, an eight-node wireless sensor network was used to establish real-time relationships between these maps and the Water Stress Potential (WSP) estimated using soil matric potential measurements. The results were used to model hypothetical WSP maps in the remaining fields. Different placement schemes for temporal soil monitoring sites were evaluated in terms of their ability to predict the hypothetical WSP maps with a different range and magnitude of spatial variability. When a large number of monitoring sites were used, it was shown that the probability for uncertain model predictions was relatively low regardless of the site selection strategy. However, a small number of monitoring sites may be used to reveal the underlying relationship only if these locations are chosen carefully.

Utilizing surfactants to control the sorption,desorption, and biodegradation of phenanthrene in soil-water system

An integrative technology including the surfactant enhanced sorption and subsequentdesorption and biodegradation of phenanthrene in the soil-water system was introduced and tested. For slightly contaminated agricultural soils, cationic-nonionic mixed surfactant- enhanced sorption of organic contaminants onto soils could reduce their transfer to plants, therefore safe-guarding agricultural production. After planting, residual surfactants combined with added nonionic surfactant could also promote thedesorption and biodegradation of residual phenanthrene, thus providing a cost-effective pollution remediation technology.0ur results showed that the cationic-nonionic mixed surfactantsdodecylpyridinium bromide （DDPB） and Triton X-100 （TX100） significantly enhanced soil retention of phenanthrene. The maximum sorption coefficient Kd＊ of phenanthrene for contaminated soils treated by mixed surfactants was about24.5 times that of soils without surfactant （Kd ） and higher than the combined effects of DDPB and TX100 individually, which was about 16.7 and 1.5 times Kd , respectively.0n the other hand, TX100 could effectively remove phenanthrene from contaminated soils treated by mixed surfactants, improving the bioavailability of organic pollutants. Thedesorption rates of phenanthrene from these treated soils were greater than 85% with TX100 concentration above2000 mg/L and approached 100% with increasing TX100 concentration. The biodegradation rates of phenanthrene in the presence of surfactants reached over 95% in30days. The mixed surfactants promoted the biodegradation of phenanthrene to some extent in 10-22days, and had no obvious impact on phenanthrene biodegradation at the end of the experiment. Results obtained from this study provide some insight for the production of safe agricultural products and a remediation scheme for soils slightly contaminated with organic pollutants.

Effect of initial gravimetric water content and cyclic wetting-drying on soil-water characteristic curves of disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone

The soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC)is often used to estimate unsaturated soil properties(e.g.strength,permeability,volume change,solute and thermal diffusivity).The SWCC of soil samples is significantly affected by cyclic wetting-drying.To examine how water content and cyclic wetting-drying affect the SWCC of disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone(DCM),SWCC tests were implemented using a pressure-plate apparatus.In addition,SWCC models for DCM considering the initial gravimetric water content and cyclic wetting-drying were developed.The test results showed that the volumetric water content(θ)of the DCM first decreased rapidly and then became stable as matric suction(s)increased.The initial water content affected the SWCC by altering the pore structure of the DCM.For a given number of wetting-drying cycles,the higher the initial water content,the higher the stabilizedθ.At a given s value,θdecreased as the number of wetting-drying cycles increased,which suggests that cyclic wetting-drying reduces the water-holding capacity of DCM.The Gardner model for DCM was constructed considering initial water content and cyclic wetting-drying,and was effective at describing and predicting the SWCC model for DCM.