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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #368073
Research Project: Design and Implementation of Monitoring and Modeling Methods to Evaluate Microbial Quality of Surface Water Sources Used for Irrigation

Location: Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory

Title: Impact of marble powder amendment on hydraulic properties of a sandy soil

Author
item FARHADI-MACHEKPOSHTI, MABOOD - Universidad De Alicante
item VALDES-ABELLAN, JAVIER - Universidad De Alicante
item PLA, CONCEOCION - Universidad De Alicante
item BENAVENTE, DAVID - Universidad De Alicante
item Pachepsky, Yakov

Submitted to: International Agrophysics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/22/2020
Publication Date: 4/27/2020
Citation: Farhadi-Machekposhti, M., Valdes-Abellan, J., Pla, C., Benavente, D., Pachepsky, Y.A. 2020. Impact of marble powder amendment on hydraulic properties of a sandy soil. International Agrophysics. 34(2):223-232. https://doi.org/10.31545/intagr/118245.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31545/intagr/118245

Interpretive Summary: Sandy soils do not hold water and fertilizer well, and are difficult to manage for optimal crop growth. The ability of such soils to support plant growth can be improved by adding amendments containing fine particles of clay and silt size. Efficiency of such amendments depends on physical and chemical properties of the added fine particles. We researched changes on the ability of sandy soil to store and retain water after addition of the marble powder as a cost-effective amendment in several Mediterranean regions. In our experimental conditions, the amendment substantially improved the ability of soil to store and retain water. This work will be useful for land reclamation designers and managers in that it shows the potential for a beneficial agricultural utilization of the regionally important industrial waste.

Technical Abstract: Marble powder is one of carbonate rock amendment that is used to improve soil reaction. We hypothesized that the powdered marble addition can cause favorable changes in hydraulic properties of sandy soils. Six levels of marble powder addition to an aridisol soil (0%; M0; 5%; M5; 10%; M10; 15%; M15; 20%; M20 and 25%, M25; by bulk volume) were analyzed in triplicate. Saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, and soil water retention curves, SWRC, were obtained. Pore space properties were investigated using SWRC, mercury intrusion porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy, SEM. The Ks significantly decreased (between 83 and 97% for M5 and M25 respectively) and parameters a and n of the van Genuchten model significantly decreased in marble-amended soils. Both field capacity and permanent wilting point increased with the addition of marble powder. Plant-available water, PAW, increased significantly until 10% of marble powder application; higher percentages of application did not provide additional significant changes in the PAW. Pore space distribution from SWRC parameters showed an increase in the pore space range and a decrease in the average pore size; pore space distribution from the SEM also showed the presence of a new family of dominant pore sizes which was not detected by the first approach. It was concluded that the addition of marble powder can improve the ability of soil to store water providing an advantage for water irrigation management in water scarce environments. Further research will have to address the impact of marble powder amendment under field semi-arid conditions.