Influence of peatmoss and polymer on moisture characteristic curve of soils with different gypsum and clay contents

Abstract

To determine the hydraulic properties of several soils with varying clay and gypsum contents and treatments with peat moss and polymer, a laboratory experiment was done. Gypsum ratios varied from 410 g kg-1 to 46 g kg-1, while clay ratios ranged from 0 to 435 g kg-1. Two soils were employed, one having 410 g kg-1 of gypsum and the other containing 435 g kg-1 of clay. Peat moss and a polymer were used to treat the five soils. Three soaking and drying cycles were performed on soil that had been treated with conditioners by packing it into plastic columns that were 5 cm in diameter and 25 cm high with a bulk density of 1.3 mcg m3. The experiment's goal was to improve the ability of gypsiferous soils to retain water. The moisture characteristic curves were computed using the connection between the volumetric moisture content () and the matric tension, which ranged between 0.1 and 1500 kPa. The results revealed that the values of for the study's soil and treatment methods decreased as matric tension increased, and the discrepancies were more pronounced at low tensions. With rising gypsum and falling clay, the values of decreased. As gypsum was raised from 46 to 410 g kg-1, the values of the available water reduced from 0.276 cm3 cm-3 to 0.191 cm3 cm-3. The addition of peat moss (1%), polymer 1 (2%), and a combination of the two clearly increased the amount of water that was accessible while also changing the amounts of clay and gypsum in all treatments.