Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science, Vol. 59, No.

1, pp 87-93 (2011)

Laboratory Simulation Studies on Splash Erosion and Crusting in Relation to Surface Roughness and Raindrop Size
S.S. Kukal and Mampi Sarkar
Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab
A study was carried out in coarse loamy (Typic Haplustept) and fine loamy (Typic Haplustept) to evaluate the effect of different soil surface conditions on splash erosion and crusting under simulated rainfall conditions with rainstorms of D50 as 3.5 and 4.5 mm. The treatments included (i) tilled soil, (ii) compacted soil, (iii) aggregates of different size viz. 0.5-1, 1-2 and 2-4 mm, and (iv) an untilled and normally packed soil column included as control treatment. The average splash erosion was 59% lower with D50 of 3.5 mm and 30.5% lower with D50 of 4.5 mm in tilled soil surface than in the untilled soil. The raindrop size spectra of 4.5 mm could easily break down even the stronger aggregates of silt loam, resulting in higher splash erosion (343.5 g m-2) than that of 3.5 mm drop size (114.2 g m-2). The severity of the crust measured in terms of mean basic infiltration rate of two soils did not differ significantly under drop size spectrum of 3.5 mm but the difference was significant under raindrop spectrum of 4.5 mm. Surface compaction increased (40.5%) average splash loss under drop size spectrum of 4.5 mm. Increasing the size of aggregates decreased splash loss and crusting. Key words: Aggregation, compaction, crusting, splash erosion, tillage

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Surface crust, a thin layer of high bulk density, having finer pores and lower hydraulic conductivity than the underlying soil (Assouline 2004) is the result of splash erosion and clogging of surface pores by splashed finer soil particles (Lado et al. 2004). This leads to reduced infiltration rate of soil, decreased soil water storage (Le Bissonnais et al. 1998), and increased runoff (Assouline and Ben-Hur 2006). In addition, the crust impedes seedling emergence (Mukhopadhayay et al. 1997) due to higher force required by the seedlings to break through the crust. The extent of splash erosion, as in other forms of soil erosion, is a function of raindrop impact energy (erosivity) and the stability of aggregates against the raindrop impact energy (erodibility). Soil crusting being a surface process, its formation and strength are a function of soil surface conditions particularly the surface roughness (Qinjuan et al. 2008). The susceptibility of soils to crusting and/or splash erosion depends on aggregate stability (Miller and Baharuddin 1986). Fine particles, especially silt and clay fractions, are important materials for soil crust development (Bradford and Huang 1992). It has been thus
*Corresponding author (Email: sskukal@rediffmail.com)

recognised that different soils have distinctive degree of natural crusting, depending upon their inherent physical and chemical properties like soil texture, aggregate stability, size of aggregates, compaction, organic matter content of the soil etc. However, the studies pertaining to splash erosion and crust formation with respect to soil texture and aggregation have been carried out in isolation and not in combination with each other. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of different soil surface conditions on splash erosion and crusting in sandy loam and silt loam soils under simulated rain conditions. Materials and Methods A laboratory experiment was carried out at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana to study the effect of different surface conditions on splash erosion and soil crusting under simulated rain conditions. The bulk soil samples (sandy loam and silt loam) were collected from the Research Farm of PAU for this purpose. Two non-saline soils - sandy loam (Typic Haplustept; coarse loamy; sand=72.4% and silt=10.1%) and silt loam (Typic Haplustept; fine loamy; sand 40.3% and silt 46.3%) were selected for the study.

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Design and Calibration of Raindrop Simulator The multiple raindrop simulator (Kukal et al. 2007) consisted of a 5-l water reservoir fitted with a Marriott arrangement for maintaining a constant water head, and a drop-former assembly (Fig. 1). The drop-former assembly consisted of glass pipe bent as a square frame with 21 openings for fixing detachable nozzles. These nozzles were pre-calibrated for producing a spectrum of different sized raindrops (14.5 mm). The rainstorms of two median drop sizes were used for the studies (D50 of 3.5 and 4.5 mm). The drop-former assembly was kept at a height of 3.6 m from the ground level and held with an iron stand fixed to the wall. The drops falling from this height could achieve around 75-95% of their terminal

velocity (Bryan 1974) depending upon their size. The area of the drop former assembly matched the area of the soil column placed below the simulator to ensure that the drops did not fall outside the soil column. The flow of water in the drop-former was controlled by a valve to regulate the frequency of the fall of drops. Distilled water at room temperature was used to produce the raindrops in the simulator. Preparation of Soil Columns The bulk samples from the surface (0-15 cm) of sandy loam and silt loam fields were collected from 6 places each. These were mixed to produce the composite samples separately for sandy loam and silt loam. The soil was air-dried, ground to pass

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Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of multiple raindrop simulator

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through a 2-mm sieve and packed in 15 cm high cylindrical PVC (polyvinyl chloride) columns of 20 cm diameter with perforated bottoms. The soil was packed to a bulk density of 1.55 Mg m-3 for the sandy loam and 1.35 Mg m-3 for the silt loam, the typical values for these soils under actual field conditions. The soil columns were progressively filled with pre-estimated weight of the soil in small increments. At each filling, the soil in the columns was stroked 40 times with a pointed wooden log so as to pack it uniformly at the desired bulk density. The soil columns were then water saturated overnight through capillarity in a tray containing 5 cm water. The saturated soil columns were then allowed to drain for 24 h to achieve the field capacity. Treatments The treatments consisted of (i) tilled soil conditions - the upper 5 cm soil layer was disturbed with a spatula, (ii) surface compaction - the pots were filled with soil till 10 cm depth at normal bulk density (1.55 Mg m-3 for sandy loam and 1.35 Mg m-3 for silt loam) but the upper 5 cm soil layer was packed with a higher bulk density (1.75 Mg m-3 for sandy loam and 1.55 Mg m-3 for silt loam), and (iii) aggregate size the soil (sieved through 2-mm sieve) was packed till a depth of 13 cm in the pots with a normal bulk density. The remaining 2 cm of the pot was then filled with natural aggregates of three different sizes viz., 0.5-1, 1-2 and 2-4 mm, were packed over normal soil. Apart from this (iv) an untilled and normally packed (1.55 and 1.35 Mg m-3 bulk density) soil column was included as control treatment. The higher bulk density of surface 5 cm layer was achieved by separately packing the soil in a container with similar diameter, which was then transferred to the soil column. All the soil columns were saturated

and drained to field capacity after imposing the treatments except treatment (i) in which it was done prior to imposing the treatments. Measurement of Splash Erosion and Infiltration Rate The soil columns were subjected to simulated raindrops for 15 min at field capacity moisture content. The splashed soil was collected on a preweighed Whatman No. 1 filter paper spread all around up to 1-m distance from the soil column. After the simulated rain run of 15-min, the filter paper sheet was dried in an oven at 50 C for 24 h and weighed. The difference in the two weights was expressed as soil loss by splash in g m-2. A concentric collar of 5cm height and similar diameter was fixed at the upper end of the pot with an adhesive so as to make the joints leak-proof. A 4-cm constant water head was maintained over the soil surface with a Marriott arrangement fitted to a water reservoir, to record infiltration rate as an index of severity of crusting in the soils treated with simulated rainfall. The infiltration was recorded as fall in the water level in the reservoir at time intervals of 5 min until the steady state infiltration rate was achieved. This was repeated four times for each treatment. The data were statistically analyzed in factorial randomized block design using 4 replicates of each treatment and significance of various treatments compared using the method of analysis of variance (ANOVA) as described by Snedecor (1961). Results and Discussion Tillage The average splash was significantly lower by 59% with 3.5 mm and 30.5% with 4.5 mm drop size spectrum in tilled than in untilled soil (Table 1). Till-

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Table 1. Effect of tillage and compaction on splash erosion (g m-2) in different textured soils under different drop size spectra Treatments Sandy loam Untilled Tilled Mean Untilled Tilled Mean CD (P=0.05) Soil Tillage Soil x Tillage 677 275 476 705 453 579 3.5 mm 36 36 51 Tillage Silt loam 159 68.5 114 382 304 343 4.5 mm 23 23 33 Mean Raindrop size, 3.5 mm 418 172 731 Raindrop size, 4.5 mm 544 378 Sandy loam 677 784 154 705 1018 CD (P=0.05) Soil Compaction Soil x Comp Compaction Silt loam 159.7 149.2 Mean 418 467

382.8 511.4 3.5 mm 120 NS NS

544 764 4.5 mm 30 30 43

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age controls splash erosion by creating rough surface where the clods become conspicuous compared to untilled soil which is relatively smooth at the surface. Cogo et al. (1984) showed that soil loss by water erosion decreases with increasing surface roughness. More rain energy is used for overcoming the force of friction and little energy is available for disruption of soil aggregates on a rough surface. The soil loss by splash erosion was higher in sandy loam than in silt loam soil under both the drop size spectra. The sandy loam soils have weaker aggregates and hence lower structural stability. The aggregates are broken down easily and quickly resulting in more splash erosion in these soils (Hoogmoed 1987). The raindrop size spectrum of 4.5 mm could easily break down even the stronger aggregates of silt loam, resulting in higher splash erosion (343.5 g m-2) than 3.5 mm drop size (114.2 g m -2) spectrum. Al-Durrah and Bradford (1982) showed that the splash erosion is a function of raindrop size. Tillage decreased splash erosion by 59% in sandy loam and 57% in silt loam under drop size spectrum of 3.5 mm. However, under the drop size spectrum of 4.5 mm, tillage could decrease splash erosion by 35.5% in sandy loam and by 21% in silt loam. Since sandy loam soils are more prone to splash erosion, tillage was more effective in decreasing soil loss by splash in sandy loam than in silt loam. The disintegration and dispersion of aggregates into finer particles and subsequent compaction by raindrop impact leads to the formation of a crust layer at the surface, which decreases infiltration rate of soil. The depth of a soil crust needs only to be a fraction of a millimeter to reduce the infiltration rate by 1800 times (Mclntyre 1958). Thus, the measurement of infiltration rate of crusted soils may be an effective approach to quantify the severity of soil crusting. The mean basic infiltration rate between two soils did not differ significantly under drop size spectrum of 3.5 mm. However, under 4.5 mm, the sandy loam soil had higher basic infiltration rate (18 mm h-1) compared to silt loam (12 mm h-1). Tillage resulted in higher basic infiltration rate (50%) of sandy loam, whereas the silt loam was not affected. The initial infiltration rate of sandy loam was higher in untilled and non-crusted soil than in crusted soil and it remained sufficiently higher till the achievement of basic infiltration rate. The initial infiltration rate (for first 5 minutes) of tilled soils was 98.1 and 101.3% higher under 3.5 and 4.5 mm drop size spectra, respectively, than that of the untilled crusted soils. The differences however, were not conspicuous during the later part. The initial infiltration rate of non-

crusted sandy loam soil was higher (222 mm h-1) than that of silt loam (120 mm h-1). In silt loam, the initial infiltration rate in different treatments did not vary much till the achievement of basic infiltration rate. It could be due to the formation of crust at the soil surface due to the falling raindrops at a later stage. Compaction Surface compaction increased (40.5%) average splash loss under drop size spectrum of 4.5 mm whereas it did not significantly affect the same under 3.5 mm drop size spectrum (Table 1).The loosely packed soil may act as a cushion for absorbing the raindrop energy and hence reduce soil splash. The compacted surface soil might have bumped back the rain droplets with greater force along with detached soil particles, thereby resulting in higher splash loss. Boiffin et al. (1988) observed that compacted soils, beyond a certain threshold value of soil bulk density are more prone to water erosion due to reduced water infiltrability. Compaction increased splash erosion by 44% in sandy loam and 33.5% in silt loam. Since the sandy loam soils are liable to greater compaction than silt loam, the splash loss due to compaction was higher in sandy loam than in silt loam. Compaction decreased basic infiltration rate under both the raindrop size spectra. Compacted soils which are characterized by high bulk density are more prone to crust formation (Hill 1990) and thus result in reduced basic infiltration rate. No specific trend was observed in periodic infiltration rates of soils in different treatments. Aggregate Size The average splash erosion decreased by 50% with increase in aggregate size from 0.5-1 mm to 1-2 mm under 3.5 mm drop size spectra (Table 2). With further increase in aggregate size from 1-2 mm to 24 mm, the splash erosion decreased by 20.5%. The corresponding decrease in soil loss under drop size spectra of 4.5 mm were 9.4 and 23.1%, respectively. The amount of rain energy used for disrupting the bigger soil aggregates is higher (Kukal et al. 2007) and lower energy is available for causing splash erosion. Interestingly, the increase in splash erosion with 4.5 mm drops over 3.5 mm drops was just 21% in smaller aggregates (0.5-1.0 mm) compared to 113120% in bigger aggregates (1-4 mm) (Fig. 2). Under higher raindrop energy of 4.5 mm drops, even the bigger aggregates were broken down easily, resulting in higher splash erosion than under 3.5 mm drops. In

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Table 2. Effect of aggregate size on splash erosion (g m-2) in different textured soils under different drop size spectra Aggregate size 0.5-1 mm 1-2 mm 2-4 mm Mean Sandy loam Silt loam Mean

Raindrop size, 3.5 mm 891 196 543 395 145 270 333 96 214 540 146 Raindrop size, 4.5 mm 0.5-1 mm 800 512 656 1-2 mm 713 476 594 2-4 mm 479 435 457 Mean 664 474 CD (P=0.05) Drop size, 3.5 mm Drop size, 4.5 mm Soil 50 43 Aggregate size 61 52 Soil x Aggregate size 86 74

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sandy loam, the decrease in splash erosion by increase in aggregate size from 0.5-1 mm to 1-2 mm was 55.6% compared to 26.2% in silt loam under 3.5 mm raindrop size spectra. Silt loam experienced 63 to 78% lower soil loss than sandy loam soil with 3.5 mm drops and 9-36% with 4.5 mm drops. The aggregates of sandy loam being weaker than those of silt loam were disrupted more easily resulting in higher splash losses. Increase in size of aggregates from 0.5-1 mm to 1-2 mm did not affect the basic infiltration rate in both the soils under both the drop sizes (Fig. 3).

However, with further increase in aggregate size to 2-4 mm, it increased by 38% under drop size spectrum of 3.5 mm and 50% under 4.5 mm drops. This could be due to the formation of weaker crust with larger aggregates than with smaller aggregates. Freebairn et al. (1991) observed that the crust formation resulted in sharp decrease in infiltration rate with smaller aggregates than with larger aggregates. The mean basic infiltration rate in two soils did not vary under 3.5 mm drops but under 4.5 mm drops, the difference was significant. The higher infiltration rate in sandy loam than in silt loam could be due to dominance of macropores in sandy loam. The basic infiltration rate of sandy loam increased significantly with increase in aggregate size from 0.5-1 to 2-4 mm. The periodic infiltration rate was not affected by aggregate size under 3.5 mm drop size spectrum (Fig. 3a). Under drop spectrum of 4.5 mm, the initial infiltration rate was substantially higher in non-crusted soil than in crusted soil (Fig. 3b). Thus, there was no effect of aggregate size on the severity of the crust formed. This could be due to the lower stability of aggregates in general which resulted in similar crusting under both drop size spectra. The infiltration rate during first five minutes was highest in soil with aggregates 2-4 mm, followed by 0.5-1 mm and minimum in 1-2 mm. The crusted soils with smaller aggregates had higher infiltration for much of the time, compared to the bigger aggregates. In silt loam, no specific trend in periodic infiltration rates of different

Splash loss (g m-2 )

Fig. 2. Average splash loss in different sized aggregates under differential rain energy

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250

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Infiltration rate (mm h-1)

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Infiltration rate (mm h-1)

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Fig. 3. Effect of aggregate size on periodic infiltration in sandy loam under raindrop size (a) 3.5 mm and (b) 4.5 mm

treatments could be observed under 3.5 mm drop size spectrum. However, the periodic infiltration rate in crusted soils with smallest aggregates (0.5-1 mm) remained minimum throughout till the basic infiltration rate was achieved, under both the drop size spectra. The bigger aggregates (1-2 and 2-4 mm) recorded higher infiltration rate throughout till the achievement of basic infiltration rate.

Conclusions The surface roughness in terms of tillage, aggregate size and compaction affected the splash erosion and crusting measured in terms of infiltration rate of the soil. Tillage decreased splash erosion by 57-58% more so in sandy loam than in silt loam. The surface compaction increased splash erosion and crusting in both the soils. The bigger aggregates de-

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creased splash erosion and crusting to a greater extent than the smaller ones. The splash erosion and crusting were more severe under the drop size spectrum of 4.5 mm than under 3.5 mm. References
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Hill, R.L. (1990) Long-term conventional and no-till effects on selected soil physical properties. Soil Science Society of America Journal 54, 161-166. Hoogmoed, W.B. (1987) Some aspects of crust formation on soils in semi-arid regions. In Proceedings of the Alfisols in Semi Arid Tropics. ICRISAT. pp. 127. Kukal, S.S., Manmeet-Kaur, Bawa, S.S. and Gupta, N. (2007) Water-drop stability of PVA-treated natural soil aggregates from different land uses. Catena 70, 475-479. Lado, M., Paz, A. and Ben-Hur, M. (2004) Organic matter and aggregate size interactions in infiltration, seal formation and soil loss. Soil Science Society of America Journal 68, 935-942. Le Bissonnais, Y., Benkhadra, H., Chaplot, V., Fox, D., King, D. and Daroussin, J. (1998) Crusting, runoff and sheet erosion on silty loam soils at various scales and up scaling from m2 to small catchments. Soil and Tillage Research 46, 69-80. Mclntyre, D.S. (1958) Permeability measurements of soil crusts formed by raindrop impact. Soil Science 85, 185-189. Miller, W.P. and Baharuddin, M.K. (1986) Relationship of soil dispersibility to infiltration and erosion of south eastern soils. Soil Science 142, 235-240. Mukhopadhayay, R., Gajri, P.R., Singh, R. and Khera, K.L. (1997) Erosion and crust management in coarse-textured soils with an acrylic-based soil conditioner. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation 11, 367374. Qinjuan, C., Qiangguo, C.A.I. and Wenjun, M.A. (2008) Comparative study of rain splash erosion of representative soils in China. Chinese Geographical Science 18, 155-161. Snedecor, G.W. (1961) Statistical Methods. Allied Pacific Pvt. Ltd., Bombay.

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Received July 2009; Accepted December 2010