Abstract
Hydraulic properties of sandy soil from the Mu Us sandy land of Shaanxi Province were analyzed by using SEM technology. Soil porosity, the water characteristic curve, and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of aeolian sandy soil with added soft rock were analyzed, and fractal characteristics were established. Soil hydraulic properties revealed the effect of soft rock application on soil structure and hydraulic properties. Mass ratios of soft rock to aeolian sand were 1:5, 1:2, and 1:1. Results showed that the addition of soft rock can significantly increase the bulk density of sandy soil and reduce the total porosity and macroporosity. The mass fraction of water-stable aggregates greater than 0.25mm increases significantly, increasing the fractal dimension of soil pores; reducing the soil saturated water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity. SEM technology and pore fractal theory were used to predict the soil salinity curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the improved saline soil.
Highlights
The various branches of earth science, including hydrogeology, soil science, environmental science, and geotechnical engineering, need to measure and estimate soil hydraulic properties[1]
The area is in a medium-temperate arid climate zone with the altitude ranges from 1000m to 1600m. 9 test plots were randomly placed on the Mu Us Sandy Land, a 15m×12m sandy land was set as a control plot; The soft rock was first crushed until diameter less than 4, and dumped in the test plot according to the quality of the aeolian sandy soil at 1:1, 1:2, 1:5
The soil bulk density of the control group was 1.30 g cm-3, which was significantly lower than the soil bulk density after soft rock application
Summary
The various branches of earth science, including hydrogeology, soil science, environmental science, and geotechnical engineering, need to measure and estimate soil hydraulic properties (water characteristic curves, hydraulic conductivity, etc.)[1]. The methods for determining the soil hydraulic properties include direct measurement and indirect estimation. The soil hydraulic properties have large spatial variability, Direct measurements take a lot of time and require more complex testing skills, and the measured parameters often have problems such as low precision [2]. The use of fractal geometry methods to estimate soil hydraulic properties has been widely used in indirect methods. TYLER et al.[4] applied fractal dimensions for the first time to estimate the soil water characteristic curve.
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