FIELD ESTIMATION OF MACROPORE FUNCTIONING AND SURFACE HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY IN A FEN PEAT
✍ Scribed by ANDREW J. BAIRD
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 189 KB
- Volume
- 11
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6087
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✦ Synopsis
A limitation of existing models of water and solute movement in fen peats is that they fail to represent processes in the unsaturated zone. This limitation is largely due to a lack of data on the hydraulic properties of unsaturated peat, in particular the relationship between hydraulic conductivity K and pressure head (c). A tension in®ltrometer was used to measure Kc of a fen peat in Somerset, England. It was found that macropores could be important in water and solute movement in this soil type. It was also found that (i) variability of K in this peat was less than that reported for other peats and mineral soils, and (ii) the K data were better described by a log-normal distribution than a normal distribution in accord with ®ndings from other peat and mineral soils. Recommendations on improving the understanding of water and solute movement in the unsaturated zone of this soil type are made.