en.Wedoany.com Reported - A new study by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has revealed the evolution mechanism of soil desiccation cracks under prolonged drought conditions and their impact on soil water storage and transport. The findings could help improve hydrological models used for water resource management.

Desiccation cracks form in soil when stress during water evaporation exceeds its tensile strength. These cracks increase the evaporative surface area, allowing water to escape from the soil into the atmosphere more quickly, further drying the cracked areas. Kristelle Dela Cruz, the first author of the study and a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at Illinois, noted that the stress generated by water evaporation is the direct cause of crack formation.

Maria Chu, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and co-author of the study, added that soil is typically described in terms of texture and structure. Texture refers to the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in the soil, while structure describes the arrangement of these components, such as the formation of aggregates. When soil cracks, its original structure changes, thereby affecting the overall physical properties of the soil.

To study crack evolution under controlled conditions, the team constructed an instrument for measuring soil water balance—a lysimeter. The lysimeter column was filled with 1 cubic foot of silty loess (a common soil in the Midwestern United States) and equipped with a temperature-controlled environmental chamber and a tile drainage system for water drainage, replicating field conditions.

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