Note: Program subject to change without notice

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
210-7

Soil Cover and Its Relationships with the Enrichment Rate in the Sediment Produced by Interrill Soil Erosion.

Eduardo Rienzi, Agr Sci North Building, University of Kentucky, University of Kentucky, Department of Plant and soils, Lexington, KY 40511

Interrill erosion is characterized for it depend of drop energy and should analyze them by describing the splash and wash processes. This kind of water erosion depend on soil surface conditions and for this reason, by increasing the soil cover the soil loss can be reduced. The reduction efficiency is different in both, splash and wash due to its could be modified by soil texture and aggregates stability. Soils samples from Typical Argiudolls with Clayey loam and Silty loam soil texture and a Calciorthid with sandy soil texture were used, with a contrasted soil structural stability to determine the relationships with the soil cover degree. Two soil cover degree (30 and 60%) were used, including the same soil situations without cover used like a control; these soils were exposed under rain simulations in specials trays in laboratory. It was found that the evolution of both, splash and wash processes were modified for the action of soil cover, by decreasing total soil losses but only when the highest percent of soil cover (60%) was used. Despite the fact that the energy involved in splash and wash is different, soil cover effect was similar in both cases; this was attributed to the interaction among soil texture, soil cover and structure stability. The key of sediment production were soil cover and structure stability, because it was observed a highest enrichment rate in particles lower than 0,025 mm which only was controlled with highest soil cover (60%) and the highest aggregate stability.