BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 February 2015 Unsaturated water flux at mid and lower slope positions within an inclined landscape of the Dark Brown soil zone in southern Alberta
J. J. Miller, D. S. Chanasyk
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Miller, J. J. and Chanasyk, A. S. 2015. Unsaturated water flux at mid and lower slope positions within an inclined landscape of the Dark Brown soil zone in southern Alberta. Can. J. Soil Sci. 95: 27–36. Little research has quantified vertical-unsaturated water flux below the root zone for mid and lower slope positions within inclined, low-relief, and longer-slope landscapes of the Dark Brown soil zone of the Canadian prairies. We measured soil moisture (0.23–1.22 m) in the field at mid and lower slope positions in southern Alberta from May to October in 1985 and 1986. Undisturbed soil cores were taken from soil horizons and saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil moisture retention were determined in the laboratory. Vertical-unsaturated water flux below the root zone was calculated between 1.07 and 1.22 m depths below ground surface using the hydraulic gradient method. Water fluxes for the 2 yr ranged from <10-11 to 10-10 m s-1 at the mid slope position, and from <10-11 m s-1 to 10-9 m s-1 at the lower slope position, and were consistent with some other studies. Cumulative water flux was dominantly downward (-2.2 to -3.4 mm) at the mid slope position and this flow direction was consistent with this Orthic Dark Brown Chernozemic soil that was located in a “recharge area”. Cumulative water flux was dominantly upward at the lower slope position in 1985 (1.4 mm) and dominantly downward but of very low magnitude in 1986 (-0.1 mm), and this flow direction was consistent with this saline Gleyed Regosol and “saline seep”. Cumulative water fluxes as a percentage of annual precipitation were 0.8 to 1.8% at the mid slope position and 0.3 to 0.5% at the lower slope position.

J. J. Miller and D. S. Chanasyk "Unsaturated water flux at mid and lower slope positions within an inclined landscape of the Dark Brown soil zone in southern Alberta," Canadian Journal of Soil Science 95(1), 27-36, (1 February 2015). https://doi.org/10.1139/CJSS-2014-500
Received: 11 June 2014; Accepted: 1 December 2014; Published: 1 February 2015
JOURNAL ARTICLE
10 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Dark Brown Chernozem
discharge
emplacement sur la pente
Flux vertical d'eau insaturée
inclined landscape
pédogenèse
recharge
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top