Influence of Soil Gels on Soil Stability
摘要
It is considered that processes of wind and water erosion of soils often include three successive stages: separation, transportation, and deposition of particles. This approach ignores the influence of organomineral soil gels on soil erosion, which cover and link the elementary soil articles. The aim of this work was to test the presence of a link between the soil gels and the soil stability. The following methods were used in the work: determining the water stabilty of the soil, scanning electron microscopy and determination of the strength of air-dry soil aggregates using vibrational sieving. It is established that the interaction between the air flow with a velocity of 2 m/s and various drying soils of natural humidity leads to evaporation of water and a simultaneous decrease in water stability by ~1.5 times compared to drying in standing air. To study the soil elements that provide the water stability and can be removed from the aggregates by air, the air samples were bubbled through water after the air affected the soil. According to SEM study, suspensions contain fragments of soil gels and organic supramolecular formations (SMFs). It was also found that the SMFs are blown from both the moist and air-dry soils. The introduction of polyvinyl alcohol to soil strengthens the gels and increases the mechanical strength of the soil aggregates. The effectiveness of a polymer on moist soils is higher in comparison with air-dry soils.