Water movement and stability of profiles in drained, clayey and swelling soils: at saturation, the structural stability determines the profile porosity

In clayey, swelling and more or less sodic soils, cultivation and seasonal climatic cycles induce variations in soil moisture which in turn cause variations in the soil structure. In particular, when the soil profile is saturated, some soils become impermeable because the soil porosity value does not remain sufficiently high throughout the drainage period to be effective for water movement. In the marshland soils of the French Atlantic coast, this ability is linked with the soil stability. We showed that soil profile stability and porosity are linked. First, we produced a classification of soil profiles ordered according to their degree of stability. Then, after describing the main features of the soil profile structure at saturation period, we proposed the concept of ‘porosity profile’. This classification and concept were tested on farm fields by measuring two parameters: the water table in winter and the rooting depth of winter wheat. The values assumed by these parameters are indicators of field hydraulic and agronomic behaviour and more precisely of the depth of the soil layers where macroporosity allows water circulation and root colonisation. These results enabled us to validate the concept of ‘porosity profile’. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.