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Experimental examination of solute transport by surface runoff from low-angle slopes
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Experimental examination of solute transport by surface runoff from low-angle slopes

R.S. Walton, R.E. Volker, K.L. Bristow and K.R.J. Smettem
Journal of Hydrology, Vol.233(1-4), pp.19-36
2000
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Abstract

The removal of chemicals in solution, by overland flow from agricultural land has the potential to be a significant source of chemical loss from zero-till and surface mulched farming systems. The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of solute loss by surface runoff from agricultural systems. Previous experiments have enhanced the understanding of the exchange process, but the initial soil conditions together with the tracer application method in these experiments have meant that in some cases the results have limited applicability to field situations. In this study, two different sets of experiments were carried out to determine the magnitude of solute loss by surface runoff. These experiments entailed the surface application of bromide to (1) field scale plots 18 m long by 2 m wide and (2) repacked soil cores 236 mm in diameter; followed by the application of simulated rainfall in both cases. The most substantial finding of the field experiments was that the quantities of solute in surface runoff varied greatly with soil type and structure (0.07-14.9% of the applied bromide). Also, on some soils, large quantities of tracer were measured in the surface runoff even after several hours of infiltration. The experiments on soil cores showed that soil structure plays an important role in the quantity of chemical that may be transported in the surface runoff. These field results showed that, in certain systems, solute movement by overland flow is an important transport mechanism, which should be considered when budgeting for chemical loss.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#2 Zero Hunger
#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

Metrics

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.45 Soil Science
3.45.879 Soil Erosion
Web Of Science research areas
Engineering, Civil
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Water Resources
ESI research areas
Engineering
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