Physical properties and spatial distribution of the plowpan in different arable soils

• Published in: Eurasian soil science Vol. 44; no. 12; pp. 1364 - 1372
• Main Author: Medvedev, V. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01.12.2011; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural technology; Agriculture; Crops; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Farming systems; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Physical properties; Porosity; Precision farming; Residual soils; Soil formation; Soil mechanics; Soil Physics; Soil profiles; Soil sciences; Soil texture; Spatial distribution; Tillage; Virgin Soil; EURASIAN Soil Science; Ordinary Chernozem; Soddy Podzolic Soil; Arable Soil
• ISSN: 1064-2293; 1556-195X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1064229311120088

The morphology, water-physical properties, and spatial distribution of plowpans were studied. The presence of a plowpan in the root layer is most reliably detected from the macro- and micromorphometric indices and a reliable decrease in the interaggregate porosity and in the range of active moisture. As a rule, the plowpan does not have a continuous character; its appearance in the soil profile depends on the soil texture and wetting and is usually confined to the lower and wetter mesorelief elements. Loamy and clay loamy soils are more liable to form a plowpan. The current farming system favors the propagation of overcompaction deep into the soil profile. The areas with a plowpan within plowed fields vary in a wide range. The main reasons for the unfavorable physical properties of the subplow layer in a plowland are the natural extenuation of the soil-forming processes in this layer, which is manifested in a poorer aggregation, and the residual soil deformation under the long-term pressure of heavy machines. It is suggested that the plowpan can be destroyed via deep chiseling with the use of precision agriculture technologies.