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Hydrophobicity of Soil

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Agrophysics

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Localized dry spot; Soil water repellency

Definition

Hydrophobic – meaning “water fearing” in Greek.

Hydrophobic soils – repel water, generally resulting in water beaded on the surface.

Hydrophobicity – sometimes refers to a soil–water contact angle >0°. These soils absorb less water and more slowly than hydrophilic soils.

Introduction

Hydrophobicity impedes the rate and extent of wetting in many soils. It is caused primarily by organic compounds that either coat soil particles or accumulate as particulate organic matter not associated with soil minerals. Sandy textured soils are more prone to hydrophobicity because their smaller surface area is coated more extensively than soils containing appreciable amounts of clay and silt. The most important effect of hydrophobicity is changes to soil water dynamics. Hydrophobicity causes negative effects through reduced infiltration and water retention, leading to enhanced run-off across the soil surface, preferential flow pathways in...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, DD2 5DA, Dundee, UK

    Paul D. Hallett

  2. Institute of Soil Science, Leibniz University of Hannover, Herrenhaeuser Str. 2, D-30419, Hannover, Germany

    Jörg Bachmann

  3. Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Doświadczalna 4, P.O. Box 201, 20-290, Lublin, Poland

    Henryk Czachor

  4. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Emilia Urbanek

  5. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, PR China

    Bin Zhang

Authors
  1. Paul D. Hallett
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  2. Jörg Bachmann
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  3. Henryk Czachor
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  4. Emilia Urbanek
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  5. Bin Zhang
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Correspondence to Paul D. Hallett .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lublin, Poland

    Jan Gliński , Józef Horabik  & Jerzy Lipiec ,  & 

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Hallett, P.D., Bachmann, J., Czachor, H., Urbanek, E., Zhang, B. (2011). Hydrophobicity of Soil. In: Gliński, J., Horabik, J., Lipiec, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Agrophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_195

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