Chapter III.

Soil water
``The story of water, in a very real sense, is the story of humankind.``

Important of Soil water

• Water is a necessary for the weathering of soil.

• Soil water is the medium from which all plant nutrients are assimilated by plants.

• Soil water, sometimes referred to as the soil solution, contains dissolved organic and

inorganic substances and transports dissolved nutrients,

• such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium, to the plant roots for absorption.
 Cont…
 In nutrient management, a proper balance between soil water and

soil air is critical since both water and air are required by most

processes that release nutrients into the soil.

 In addition to sustaining all life on Earth, soil water provides a pool

of dissolved nutrients that are readily available for plant uptake.

 Therefore, it is important to maintain proper levels of soil moisture.

 There are three basic approaches to water management on agricultural land

(1) conservation of natural precipitation in subhumid and arid regions,

(2) removal of water from wetlands, and
(3) addition of water to supplement the amount of natural precipitation
(irrigation).
1) WATER CONSERVATION
 Water conservation is important in areas in which large water deficits occur in
soils within arid and subhumid climates.
 Techniques for water conservation are designed to increase the amount of water
that enters the soil and to make efficient use of this water.
 (2) Drainage System in Agroforestry

Artificial removal of excess surface and sub surface water

Accumulation due to heavy rainfall, flood, over irrigation, seepage

from adjacent canal

Reduce availability of oxygen, accumulate carbodioxide and other

gases
 Drainage …

Effects of waterlogging

Reduce soil aeration

Uptake of nutrients affected, loss of plant nutrient

Restriction of root growth, yield reduced

Salt accumulation,

Soil temperature is lowered, soil structure destroyed

 (3) addition of water to supplement the amount of natural precipitation (irrigation).

• Most irrigation water is surface water resulting from rain and

melting snow.
• Many rivers in the world have their headwaters in mountains and
flow through arid and semiarid regions where the water is
diverted for irrigation.
Irrigation
 Classification of soil water
• Rainfall is the ultimate source of all kind of water.
• Based on its sources of availability, it can be classified as surface water
and subsurface water.
Surface Water
• It includes (including rainfall and dew) water available from river, tank,
pond, lake etc.
Sub Surface Water
• It includes subsurface water contribution, underground water, well water,
etc.
Factors affecting the amount and use of available soil moisture

• Soil structure • Temperature

• Bulk density • Relative humidity
• Soil organic matter content • Precipitation
• Soil texture
• Soil porosity READING
• Compactness or looseness of ASSIGNMENT
soil Please read these
terms in relation to
soil moisture
availability
 Soil water in the water cycle

• The soil water in earth's crust, constitutes in precipitation water is

directed and partitioned in various ways.
• Accordingly, the nature of this Zone will determine the extent of
storage, runoff, downward percolation to the ground water and the
degree of upward return to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.
• Storage within the soil water zone is important for plant growth,
percolation is important for groundwater replenishment and the
downward transport of dissolved and suspended materials in the soil,
whilst runoff produces useful surface water.
Water Cycle
 Movement of soil water
• The retention and movement of water in soils, its uptake and translocation in plants and its loss to the

atmosphere are all energy-related phenomena.

• There are three important forces affecting the energy level of soil water.

• First, the matric force, arising due to adsorption of water to solids and capillary force, reduces the

energy state of water.

• Second, the attraction of ions and other solutes in water, results in osmotic forces, tending to reduce

the energy level of water in the soil solution.

• Third, the force of gravity, tends to pull the water downward.

• The difference in energy level of water at different points in soils (say dry and wet zones) will determine

the direction and rate of water movement in soils. Water always moves from higher energy level to lower

one.
 Cont`d
• Water in a wet soil is not held very tightly by the soil matrix and water

molecules will have considerable free movement.

• In a drier soil, water is held very tightly and water molecules will have little

freedom for movement.

• If wet and dry soil samples are brought in contact with each other, the water will

move from wet soil (higher energy state) to the drier soil (lower energy state).

• The same energy concept holds true for movement of water between different

parts of the plants.

 Cont…
Soil Water Potential

Description
– Measure of the energy status of the soil water is important because it

reflects how hard plants must work to extract water

– A units of measure are normally bars or atmospheres

– Soil water potentials are negative pressures (tension or suction)

– Water flows from a higher (less negative) potential to a lower (more

negative) potential
 Soil Water Potential
Components

 t = g +  m +  o
– t = total soil water potential

– g = gravitational potential (force of gravity pulling on the water)

– m = matric potential (force placed on the water by the soil matrix – soil water “tension”)

– o = osmotic potential (due to the difference in salt concentration across a semi-permeable

membrane, such as a plant root)

– Matric potential, m, normally has the greatest effect on release of water from soil to plants
 Soil Water Release Curve

• Curve of matric potential (tension)

vs. water content

• Less water  more tension

• At a given tension, finer-textured

soils retain more water (larger

number of small pores)

 Cont…

Available Water
• Definition
– Water held in the soil between field capacity and permanent
wilting point
– “Available” for plant use
• Available Water Capacity (AWC)
– AWC = fc - wp
– Units: depth of available water per unit depth of soil,
“unitless” (in/in, or mm/mm)
 Cont…
• Field Capacity (FC or  )
fc
– Soil water content where gravity drainage becomes negligible
– Soil is not saturated but still a very wet condition
– Traditionally defined as the water content corresponding to a soil water
potential of -1/10 to -1/3 bar
• Permanent Wilting Point (WP or  )
wp
– Soil water content beyond which plants cannot recover from water stress
(dead)
– Still some water in the soil but not enough to be of use to plants
– Traditionally defined as the water content corresponding to -15 bars of
SWP
 Measurement of soil water
• Soil Wetness – The wetness of soil is expressed two ways i.e mass wetness and volume

wetness

• Mass wetness – This is mass of water relative to the mass of dry solids, often referred to as

the gravimetric water content.

• w = M w / Ms

• It may vary from 25-60 % at saturation for a mineral soil and may exceed 100 % for peat and

muck soils.

• Volume wetness – Often referred to as volumetric water content, is computed as a

percentage of total volume of soil rather than volume of solids.

• Vw / V t
 Cont…

• Its value at saturation may be 40-50% for sandy soil, 50% for

medium textured soil and about 60 % for clayey soil.

• It is more convenient to express water content on volume basis, as it

is adaptable to computation of fluxes and water added to soil by

irrigation and rain and lost due to evapotranspiration and drainage.

• Also, it represents depth of water per unit depth of soil.

 Degree of saturation (s)
• Degree of saturation (s) :- This index expresses volume of water present in

soil relative to the volume of pores s = V w / Vf

• Its value is zero in dry soil and unity (or 100%) in a completely saturated soil.

• Air- filled porosity :- This is a measure of relative air content of soil. It is

criterion of soil aeration. fa = V a / Vt

 Sample Problems:

1. A moist sample weighing 1000 g and having a volume of 640 cm 3

lost 200 g of water on oven drying at 105 0C. Assuming particle density
for a mineral soil, calculate bulk density, porosity, mass wetness,
volume wetness, degree of saturation and air-filled porosity

Solution:

• Bulk density ρb = = = 1.25 g/cm3

• Porosity = = = 0.528 = 52.8 %

(Since Vs = = = 301.9 cm3)

 Cont…
• Void ratio (e) e = = = = 1.12
• Mass wetness w = = = 0.25 = 25 %

• Volume wetness Vw / Vt = = 0.3125 = 31.25 %

• Degree of saturation (s) s = = = 0.592 = 59.2 %

• Air-filled porosity (fa) fa = = = 0.216 = 21.6 %

 Chapter IV. Soil air and temperature

4.1 The process and characterization of soil aeration

• Soil aeration is one of the important determinants of soil productivity.

• Plant roots absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide in the process of respiration.

• In most of the terrestrial plants excepting rice, the internal transfer of oxygen from

the parts above the ground to those below the ground surface can not take place to

meet the oxygen requirements of roots.

• Therefore, soil must be sufficiently aerated to maintain oxygen supply in the root

zone and escape of carbon dioxide out.

 Cont…

 The microorganisms also respire and may compete with plant roots under
restricted aeration.
 Soil aeration is dependent largely upon the volume fraction of air-filled
porosity.
 Impeded aeration may result from poor drainage and water logging, or
from mechanical compaction of the soil.
 Anaerobic conditions in the soil induce a series of chemical and biochemical
reduction reactions like denitrification, manganese, iron and sulphate
reduction.
 Some of the products of anaerobic processes are toxic to plant roots.
 Soil aeration influences many soil biological processes

a) Poor aeration slows down the decay of organic matter, affecting mineralization

rates of essential nutrients for plant growth.

b) Oxygen deficiency curtails(reduces) the absorption of both water and nutrients by

plants. This is because low levels of oxygen constrain root respiration, a process that
C H O (s) + 6 O (g) → 6 CO (g) + 6 H O (l) +
6 12 6 2 2 2
Simplified heat
reaction:
ΔG = -2880 kJ per mole of C 6H12O6
provides energy for nutrient and water absorption.

c) Poorly aerated soils having anaerobic decomposition produce organic acids, methane,

ethylene and hydrogen sulphide, which are toxic to higher plants.

 Composition of soil air
• In a well-aerated soil, the composition of soil air is close to that of external open
atmosphere
Gases Soil air (%) Atmospheric air (%)

Nitrogen 79.20 79.00

Oxygen 20.60 20.97

Carbon dioxide 0.50(variable) 0.033

Other gases traces

CO2 content vary from 10-10000 times to that of atmospheric air
 4.2 Redox Potential
Definition
o When diffusion of oxygen is restricted, such as small pores filled with
water and the interior of aggregates where oxygen consumption is more
rapid than oxygen diffusion is said to reduction.
o In areas were there is better access to soil air and pockets of easily
decomposed organics, and intense decomposition can deplete available
oxygen and produce a number of redox-active organic compounds is
oxidation.
o This important group of reactions involve the transfer of electrons from
donor to acceptor.
 nt…
Co
• Redox potential, also known as oxidation-reduction potential or ORP, is a

way of representing the tendency of a chemical substance to lose

electrons to an electrode or to acquire electrons from an electrode.

• Carbon reduction or gain in electrons is often called photosynthesis by the

uninitiated and the reverse oxidation reaction is called respiration.

• Processes which reduce oxygen levels and decrease redox potentials

consumption of oxygen
 Cont…

 It is the formation of carbon containing compounds from CO 2 and H2O by

illuminated green cells, H 2O and O2 are being the by-products.

 It is an oxidation-reduction process in which H2O is oxidized and CO2 is

reduced to carbohydrate level, the liberated O2 is from H2O.

chlorophyll

Equation: 6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

(respiration) Light (photosynthesis)

 Factors affecting soil aeration
1) Properties of the soil

 They are texture, structure, moisture content and the amount of organic matter

present.

 Granular soils contain less than one half as much carbon dioxide as powdery soils.

 Loams contain more carbon dioxide than sands, the amount of carbon dioxide

increasing with depth.

 For a large air capacity, such as a coarse texture or granular structure and which is

maintained relatively free of water, usually favors a lower carbon dioxide and a

higher oxygen content of the soil air.

C o n t…
• The pores of a moist soil are filled with both water and air.

• The relative amounts of the air and water present will depend largely
upon the size of the pores.
• The large pores are termed non-capillary pores.

• These are the ones which will not hold water tightly by capillarity.

• They are normally filled with air and are responsible for the air
capacity and ready percolation of water through the soil.
• The small pores are known as capillary pores and these are
responsible for the water holding capacity(WHC) of the soil.
 2) Growing plants

• The presence of growing plants tends to reduce the O 2 content of

the soil air and increase the amount of CO2 .

• Respiration of plant increase the amount of CO 2 and decrease

the amount of O2 .

• Plants require large amounts of O2 from the soil air and CO2 is
given off by the roots during plant growth and
• It needs adequate aeration to permit the replacement of
accumulated quantities of CO2 around the plant roots.
 Thermal properties of soils
• Soil temperature is simply the measurement of the warmth in the soil.

• Thermal properties dictate the storage and movement of heat in soils and as
such influence the temperature and heat flux in soils as a function of time and
depth.
• The ability to monitor soil heat capacity is an important tool in managing the
soil temperature regime to affect seed germination and crop growth.
• Soil also stores heat, acting as a energy sink during the day and a heat source
at the soil surface at night.
• In annual terms, the soil stores energy during the warm season and releases it to
the air during the colder portions of the year.
 Factors affecting soil temperature
• radiation from sun
• slope of land
• water content of soil
• vegetative cover
• albedo of subsurface soil
 Processes affected by soil temperature

 Soil temperature affects the physical, chemical and biological processes

occurring in the soils.
 In cold soils, chemical and biological rates are slow.
 Biological decomposition can come to a standstill/stops thereby limiting
the availability of nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, Sulphur and calcium.
 The process of nitrification occurs most readily at temperatures of 27-32 0C
and is negligible at about 100C.
 Cont…

 Also, absorption and transportation of water and

nutrient ions are affected by low temperature to higher
plants.
 Plants vary widely in their temperature requirement for
good growth.
 There is also variability in the optimum temperature for
different plant processes.
 Cont…
• For exam. corn germination requires a soil temperature of at least 7-
10 0 C and optimum root growth occurs at about 25 0C.
• Potato tubers develop best when the soil temperature is 16-21 0 C.

• Wheat grows best at about 24 0 C.

• Optimum growth of apples and peaches is obtained when the soil

temperature is about 18 0 C.
• A comparable figure for citrus is 25 0 C.
 Soil Temperature management

• Mulches of organic residues or other materials moderate soil temperatures.

• In hot and cold weathers, these keep surface soils cool and warm, respectively.

• The conservation tillage practices, leaving residues on soil surface, buffer the

extremes in soil temperature.

• The plastic mulches are also used for certain high value crops, allowing more

increase in soil temperature during springtime in temperate regions to facilitate

early germination and crop establishment.

• By doing so, farmers fetch higher profits taking their produce early to the market.
 Cont…

• Covering the ground with transparent plastic sheet can raise the
temperature of upper few centimeters of soil to 50 0 C.
• High temperature can reduce markedly wilt-causing fungal
diseases of vegetables and fruits and adversely affect weed seeds
and insects.
• This process called ‘soil solarization’ is used to control pests
and diseases in some high-value crops.
Availability of air (oxygen); Aeration in relation to
soil and root ability (crop management)
 Chapter V. Soil Colloids; their Nature and practical
significance

• colloids: organic and inorganic matter with very small particle

size and a correspondingly large surface area per unit of mass
• The clay fraction of the soil contains particles less than 0.002
mm in size. Particles less than 0.001 mm size possess colloidal
properties and are known as soil colloids.
• Therefore, all clay minerals are not strictly colloidal.
• The organic colloids include highly decomposed organic matter
generally called humus.
 Cont…
They are the most active portion of the soil and largely determine the
physical and chemical properties of a soil.

They are essential because the charged ions on their surfaces attract soil

nutrients when dissolved in soil water as positively charged ions

Humus: more or less stable fraction of the soil O.M. remaining after the

major portions of added plant and animal residues have decomposed

 General properties
1. Size :-
 Inorganic/mineral and organic/humus colloids are extremely small in size
(< 0.001 mm in diameter).
 These particles can be seen only with an electron microscope.

2. Surface area -
 all soil colloids have a larger external surface area per unit mass due to their small size.

 The external surface area of 1 g of colloidal clay is 1000 times that of 1 g of coarse
sand.
 The total surface area of soil colloids ranges from 10 m2 /g for clays with only external
surfaces to more than 800 m2 /g for clays with extensive internal surfaces.
 Cont…
3. Surface charge/(cations/anions)
 Both external and internal surfaces of soil colloids carry negative
and/or positive charges.
 Most of the organic and inorganic soil colloids carry a negative charge.

 When an electric current is passed through a suspension of soil

colloidal particles they migrate to anode, the positive electrode
indicating that they carry a negative charge.
 The magnitude of the charge is known as zeta potential.
 Con`d
• exchangeable ions:
– cations: Al3+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, H+, Na+
– anions: Cl-, NO3-, SO42-

• crystal structure: the orderly arrangement of atoms in

a crystalline material

• amorphous: noncrystalline
 4. Adsorption of cations
 As soil colloids possess negative charge they attract and attach the ions
of positive charge on the colloidal surfaces.

(a) Arid region soils = "basic" cations Ca+2, Mg+2, K+, Na+

(b) Humid region soils = "acidic" cations as well Ca+2, Mg+2, H+

and Al+3

(c) Strength of adsorption Al+3> Ca+2 = Mg+2 > K+ = NH4+ >

Na+
Charges of Soil Colloids
 5. Adsorption of water:
• A large number of water molecules are associated with
soil colloidal particles.
• Some water molecules are attracted to the adsorbed
cations and the cation is said to be in hydrated state.
 Types of soil colloids

• There are four major types of colloids present in soil.

1. Layer silicate clays

2. Iron and aluminum oxide clays (sesquioxide clays)
3. Allophane and associated amorphous clays
4. Humus Layer silicate clays
 1.Layer silicate clays

• Also known as phyllosilicates because of their leaf-like or

plate like structure (Phyllon means leaf).
• These are made up of two kinds of horizontal sheets.
• One dominated by silicon and other by aluminum and/or
magnesium.
 2.Iron and aluminum oxide clays (sesquioxide clays)
o A sesquioxide is an oxide containing three atoms of oxygen with

two atoms of another element.

o Under extensive leaching by rainfall and prolonged intensive

weathering of minerals in humid warm climates,

o most of the silica and alumina in primary minerals are dissolved and

slowly leached away.

• The remaining materials which have lower solubility are called

 Cont…
 Sesquioxides are mixtures of aluminum hydroxide, Al (OH)3,

and iron oxide (Fe2O3), or iron hydroxide, Fe(OH)3.

 These clays can grade from amorphous to crystalline.

Examples of iron and aluminum oxides common in soils
are gibbsite (Al2O3.3H2O) and geothite (Fe2O3.H2O).
 These clays do not swell, not sticky and have high
phosphorus adsorption capacity.
 3. Allophane and other amorphous minerals
These silicate clays are mixtures of silica and alumina.
They are amorphous in nature.
These clays occur where large amount of weathered products existed.
These clays are common in soils forming from volcanic ash (e.g.,
Allophane).
These clays have high anion exchange capacity or even high cation
exchange capacity.
Almost all of their charge is from accessible hydroxyl ions (OH-), which
can attract a positive ion or lose the H+ attached.
 4. Humus (Organic Colloid)
• It is a temporary intermediate product (continue to decompose) left
after considerable decomposition of plant and animal remains.
• Humus is amorphous, dark brown to black, nearly insoluble in
water, but mostly soluble in dilute alkali (NaOH or KOH)
solutions.
• The humus colloids are not crystalline. They are composed
basically of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen rather than of silicon,
aluminum, iron, oxygen, and hydroxyl groups.
 Cont…

• The organic colloidal particles vary in size, but they may be as

small as the silicate clay particles.

• The negative charges of humus are associated with partially

dissociated (-OH), carboxyl (-COOH), and phenolic groups;

• these groups in turn are associated with central units of varying

size and complexity.

 Genesis of layered silicate clays
 The silicate clays are developed from the weathering of a wide variety of

minerals by the two distinct process

1. Alteration:- A slight physical and chemical alteration of certain primary

minerals.
 Changes in particle size. Alteration of muscovite mica to fine grained

mica is the good example.

 As weathering occurs muscovite mineral is broken down in size to the

colloidal range, part of the potassium is lost and some silicon is added
from weathering solutions.
 Cont…
 Net result is the less rigid crystal structure and an electronegative charge.

 The fine mica colloid has a 2:1 structure, only have been altered in this process

2.Recrystallization
• Decomposition of primary minerals with subsequent recrystallization of certain of
their products in to the silicate clays Complete breakdown of clay structures and re-
crystallization of clay minerals from product of this breakdown.

• It is the result of much more intense weathering than that required for alteration.

• Formation of Kaolinite (1;1) from solutions containing soluble aluminum and

silicon that came from the breakdown of the primary minerals having 2;1 type
structure
 Structure of Soil Colloids

1)Silicate clays
Tetrahedral
• 4-sided
• 1 Si, 4 O = SiO4- octahedral
• 8-sided
• trioctahedral: 6O with 3 Mg2+
• dioctahedral: 6O with 2 Al3+
 Cont…

O2-

Si

OH-
Al
 Cont`d

• The basic building block for the silica-

dominated sheet is the silica tetrahedron,
• a unit composed of one silicon atom
surrounded by four oxygen atoms
• Sharing of O or OH groups = sheets and unit layers

(a) tetrahedral sheet