SSSAJ Grow Your Career with SSSA
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 29:641-645 (1965)
© 1965 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gerard, C. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Gerard, C. J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Gerard, C. J.

The Influence of Soil Moisture, Soil Texture, Drying Conditions, and Exchangeable Cations on Soil Strength1

C. J. Gerard2

ABSTRACT

Empirical relationships expressing soil strength for different combinations of silt-clay and sand mixtures as functions of soil moisture, drying conditions, and exchangeable Na+ content of the silt-clay fraction were determined. Soil strength data indicate that moisture content, drying conditions, texture, and kind and level of exchangeable cations of the soil and interactions of these factors play significant roles on soil strength and the soil strength-moisture relationships. Strength of briquets increases (i) with decreasing soil moisture, reaching a maximum when moisture content was reduced to 2 to 3 monomolecular layers of water; (ii) with increasing silt and clay and exchangeable Na+ content; and (iii) by slow drying. The cohesive actions of water molecules during slow drying, similar to the dispersing action of Na+, increase close-packing of soil particles and, therefore, soil strength. Fast drying produces briquets of lower strength due to disruptive action of rapidly escaping water molecules on the arrangement of soil particles.

NOTES

1 Contribution of the Texas Agr. Exp. Sta., Rio Grande Valley Research and Extension Center. Presented before Div. S-1 and S-6, Soil Science Society of America, Nov. 16, 1964, Kansas City, Mo.

2 Associate Soil Physicist, Rio Grande Valley Research and Extension Center, Weslaco, Tex.

Received for publication March 22, 1965. Accepted for publication May 24, 1965.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Agronomy Journal Crop Science
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Vadose Zone Journal
Journal of Plant Registrations Journal of
Environmental Quality		 The Plant Genome
Copyright © 1965 by the Soil Science Society of America.