Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T18:36:50.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The moisture equivalent of heavy soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. F. Joseph  and
F. J. Martin
A. F. Joseph
Affiliation:
Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories, Khartoum.
F. J. Martin
Affiliation:
Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories, Khartoum.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

(1) The moisture equivalent of a normal soil diminishes as the weight of soil taken for the determination increases.

(2) Some soils are particularly impermeable to water in thick layers: in these cases the moisture equivalent increases with the weight of soil taken and may become very large owing to waterlogging. A soil may, however, have a very high moisture equivalent without showing waterlogging.

(3) Dilute solutions of flocculating salts such as calcium sulphate, or ammonium nitrate or sulphate, reduce the moisture equivalent, and sodium carbonate increases it.

(4) The effect of sodium carbonate is complicated: with gradually increasing concentration, the moisture equivalent first diminishes and then increases to a maximum, after which there is further diminution.

(5) The soil samples which easily showed waterlogging in the Briggs-McLane apparatus had a higher concentration of hydroxyl-ions (pH) than those which did not.

(6) Whilst the colloidal content of a clay seems related to its moisture equivalent, no such connection appears to exist for substances such as kaolin or aluminium hydroxide.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 1923 , pp. 49 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1923

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

(1)Harding, S. T. (1918). Relation of the Moisture Equivalent of Soils to the Moisture Properties under Field Conditions of Irrigation. Soil Science, 8, 305–312.Google Scholar
(2)Israelson, O. W. (1918). Studies on Capacities of Soils for Irrigation Water. Journ. Agric. Res. 13, 1–36.Google Scholar
(3)Away, F. J. and Russel, J. C. (1916). Use of the Moisture Equivalent for the Indirect Determination of the Hygroscopic Coefficient. Journ. Agric. Res. 6, 833–845.Google Scholar
(4)Smith, A. (1917). Relation of the Mechanical Analysis to the Moisture Equivalent of Soils. Soil Science, 4, 471–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(5)Middleton, H. E. (1920). The Moisture Equivalent in Relation to the Mechanical Analysis of Soils. Soil Science, 9, 159–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(6)Joseph, A. F. and Martin, F. J. (1921). The Determination of Clay in Heavy Soils. Journ. Agric. Sci. 11, 293–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(7)Thomas, Moyer D. Aqueous Vapour Pressure of Soils. Soil Science, 11, 409–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(8)Briggs, L. J. and McLane, J. M. (1907). The Moisture Equivalent of Soils. Bureau of Soils Bulletin No. 45, p. 15.Google Scholar
(9)Sharp, L. T. and Waynick, D. D. (1917). Moisture Equivalent Determinations of Salt-Treated Soils. Soil Science, 4, 464–469CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(10)Harris, F. S. (1920). Soil Alkali, pp. 42–58, and bibliography. J. Wiley & Sons.Google ScholarPubMed
(11)Joseph, A. F.Report of the Sudan Government Chemist for 1921, p. 27. Khartoum, 1922.Google Scholar
(12)Comber, H. M. (1922). The Characterisation of Clay. Journ. Soc. Chemical Industry, p. 77 t.Google Scholar
(13)Moore, C. J., Fry, W. H., and Middleton, H. E. (1921). Methods for Determining the Amount of Colloidal Material in Soils. Journ. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, p. 529.Google Scholar
(14)Mellor, J. W., Green, S. A., and Baugh, T. (1906–1907). Studies on Clay Slips. Trans. Engl Ceramic Society, 6, 161–170.Google Scholar