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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #89642
Title: EROSION AND SOIL CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Author
item Norton, Lloyd
item SHAINBERG, ISSAC - VOLCANI CENTER, ISRAEL
item CIHACEK, LARRY - N. DAKOTA UNIVERSITY
item Edwards Jr, James - Jim

Submitted to: Soil Quality and Soil Erosion
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/21/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Soil erosion by water is a serious national and international problem. When rainwater falls on a soil surface it either is absorbed or runs off. The chemical properties of the soil cause it to have particular physical properties that allow it to take up water in different amounts. In this paper we reviewed what is known about how soil chemical properties affect runoff production and soil erosion. Soil chemical properties, in particularly, those that prevent clays from dispersing, reduce the amount of runoff and erosion. Chemicals added to soil that prevent this dispersion from occurring and improve soil stability can reduce soil erosion and improve soil quality and water absorption. The impact of this understanding of the processes is that low cost erosion control methods and management practices can be developed using chemicals to reduce the serious problems of the nation's lands.

Technical Abstract: Soil erosion by water involves complex interactions between rainwater and soil, as influenced by soil properties and soil. Depending on the constituents making up the soil and their relative proportions, soils may behave differently to rainfall and have different amounts of runoff and erosion. In addition to soil properties, soil conditions as determined by antecedent moisture content, time at this moisture content (aging) and rate of pre-wetting determine amount of runoff and erosion. In this paper we summarize how soil chemical properties affect production of runoff and erosion processes, and how these properties may interact with time leading to a soil condition which further affects the interaction of soil and rainfall. Inherent chemical properties such as clay mineralogy and charge are not easily altered and are important in determining soil physical properties such as aggregation, density, water holding capacity, porosity, etc. However, the effect of chemical properties which are easily altered (e.g. soil solution and exchange phases, pH, Eh and organic matter content) are discussed. Many problem soils have adverse physical conditions due to their inherent chemical properties. Other properties of the soil are easily modified and can be changed by amending soil. Chemical constituents may change physical condition and soil erodibility by affecting processes important to erosion, including dispersion and flocculation, cohesion, hard-setting, self mulching, slaking, swelling and surface sealing. Understanding how chemical properties combined with soil condition affect erosion processes will lead to strategies to amend soil chemistry to affect soil quality and control erosion.