Shrinkage and drainage in aggregates of volcanic soils: a new approach combining mercury porosimetry and vacuum drying kinetics

• Published in: European journal of soil science Vol. 53; no. 4; pp. 563 - 574
• Main Authors: Poulenard, J., Bartoli, F., Burtin, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01-12-2002; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Physical properties; Physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology of agricultural and forest soils; Soil science; Soils; Structure, texture, density, mechanical behavior. Heat and gas exchanges; Surficial geology; South America; Ecuador; America; High altitude; Vacuum drying; Hydromorphic soil; Andisols; Soil structure; Shrinkage; Experimental study; Permanent grassland; Soil management; Mercury porosimetry; Volcanic soils; Soil science; Kinetics; Porosity; Cropping
• ISSN: 1351-0754; 1365-2389
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2389.2002.00459.x

Summary
The topsoils of Andisols in the wet high altitude grasslands (páramos) of Ecuador have shrunk after recent changes from permanent grassland to agriculture. The question arises as to whether all Andisols in the region behave in the same way. We have therefore studied the shrinkage on drying of topsoils from four representative types of Andisol in the páramos using a combination of drying kinetics and mercury porosimetry. We aimed to identify and quantify the pore volumes that participate in either drainage or shrinkage or both. The key concept of hierarchical dual porosity of soils used to interpret the shrinkage curves was partly validated, but we also identified more complex relations between drainage, shrinkage and structure. We found that the older was the soil, the more weathered it was, and, consequently, the greater its aggregation and porosity. In turn, the total volumetric shrinkage was controlled by the initial void ratio of the wet soil samples. Our results also show that the solid–pore interfaces of the volcanic soil aggregates were less accessible after shrinkage than before.