Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in limestone dolines: Influence of vegetation and rock fragments

Geoderma ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 145 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 288-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Yan Li ◽  
Sergio Contreras ◽  
Albert Solé-Benet
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity

scholarly journals Characterization of stony soils' hydraulic conductivity using laboratory and numerical experiments

SOIL ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eléonore Beckers ◽  
Mathieu Pichault ◽  
Wanwisa Pansak ◽  
Aurore Degré ◽  
Sarah Garré
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Determining soil hydraulic properties is of major concern in various fields of study. Although stony soils are widespread across the globe, most studies deal with gravel-free soils, so that the literature describing the impact of stones on the hydraulic conductivity of a soil is still rather scarce. Most frequently, models characterizing the saturated hydraulic conductivity of stony soils assume that the only effect of rock fragments is to reduce the volume available for water flow, and therefore they predict a decrease in hydraulic conductivity with an increasing stoniness. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of rock fragments on the saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. This was done by means of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations involving different amounts and types of coarse fragments. We compared our results with values predicted by the aforementioned predictive models. Our study suggests that it might be ill-founded to consider that stones only reduce the volume available for water flow. We pointed out several factors of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of stony soils that are not considered by these models. On the one hand, the shape and the size of inclusions may substantially affect the hydraulic conductivity. On the other hand, laboratory experiments show that an increasing stone content can counteract and even overcome the effect of a reduced volume in some cases: we observed an increase in saturated hydraulic conductivity with volume of inclusions. These differences are mainly important near to saturation. However, comparison of results from predictive models and our experiments in unsaturated conditions shows that models and data agree on a decrease in hydraulic conductivity with stone content, even though the experimental conditions did not allow testing for stone contents higher than 20 %.

scholarly journals Characterization of stony soils' hydraulic conductivity using laboratory and numerical experiments

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1103-1133
Author(s):  
M. Pichault ◽  
E. Beckers ◽  
A. Degré ◽  
S. Garré
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Hydraulic Behaviour ◽  
Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Determining soil hydraulic properties is of major concern in various fields of study. Though stony soils are widespread across the globe, most studies deal with gravel-free soils so that the literature describing the impact of stones on soil's hydraulic conductivity is still rather scarce. Most frequently, models characterizing the saturated hydraulic conductivity of stony soils assume that the only effect of rock fragments is to reduce the volume available for water flow and therefore they predict a decrease in hydraulic conductivity with an increasing stoniness. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of rock fragments on the saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. This was done by means of laboratory and numerical experiments involving different amounts and types of coarse fragments. We compared our results with values predicted by the aforementioned models. Our study suggests that considering that stones only reduce the volume available for water flow might be ill-founded. We pointed out several drivers of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of stony soils, not considered by these models. On the one hand, the shape and the size of inclusions may substantially affect the hydraulic conductivity. On the other hand, the presence of rock fragments can counteract and even overcome the effect of a reduced volume in some cases. We attribute this to the creation of voids at the fine earth-stone interface. Nevertheless, these differences are mainly important near to saturation. However, we come up with a more nuanced view regarding the validity of the models under unsaturated conditions. Indeed, under unsaturated conditions, the models seem to represent the hydraulic behaviour of stones reasonably well.

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