Vertisols and Technologies for their Management (Developments in Soil Science)

Cover image Developments in Soil Science Vertisols and Technologies for their Management Chapter 9 Soil erosion and soil conservation for vertisols.
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Vertisols and Technologies for their Management, Volume 24 (Developments in Soil Science)

Ecoregions Working Group Ecoclimatic regions of Canada. World soil resource Report No. Holland, Landforms of British Columbia — a physiographic outline.


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Vertisol crack extent associated with gilgai and soil moisture in the Texas Gulf Coast Prairie. Cossette, Vertisolic soils field tour in east of Canada Quebec portion Contrib. Estimation of soil erosion and deposition by a landscape analysis technique on clay soils in southeastern Saskatchewan.

Classification and management-related properties of Vertisols

Mermut A R, St. Micromorphology of some Chernozemic soils with grumic properties in Saskatchewan, Canada. The nature of smectites in some finetextured lacustrine parent materials in southern Saskatchewan. Micromorphological and mineralogical components of surface sealing in loess soils from different geographic regions. Mermut, Pedogenesis Vertisols and technologies for their management.

Mermut, Cold Vertisols and their management Vertisols and technologies for their management. Pettapiece, Physiographic subdivisions of Alberta. After germination, furrow irrigation provides further moisture. This technology is based directly on the properties of the montmorillonitic clay. Grossman et al developed a relationship to estimate the bulk density of Table 1. Figure 3 illustrates this relationship for two situations: Both situations reach water contents below which shrinkage is near zero; the soil with the lower COLE reaches the equilibrium bulk density at a higher water content. At this bulk density, there is no further shrinkage.

The equilibrium bulk density may be used to characterise the soils. Surface cracking Shrinking of the drying soil mass induces cracks which have a polygonal appearance. The cracks in Vertisols have been grouped into three sets Grossman et al, The cracks are wide, about mm, and become progressively deeper as the soil dries out. These form at high water tensions, perhaps close to the wilting point. The first two sets of cracks exhibit properties that are important in land use and management.

Vertisols with a granular surface soil mulch the first set tend to have lower bulk densities, perhaps due to a slightly higher organic matter content and to the space between the granules. Soils with angular surface structure the second set are easier to till and roots can permeate the spaces and move deeper. In addition, the filled crack spaces are probably the most likely areas for roots to establish during the next season because water flows easily through these areas Grossman et al, Cracks have several indirect effects on crop performance.

Because the rhizosphere is dehydrated last, the cracks normally form away from the stubble of the previous crop which sits at the centre of the polygon. In this case, dislodging of the plant is not a problem, but when the rhizosphere also dries out, soil shrinkage could strangle or shred crop roots.

Cracks also retard surface wetting from any off-season rains. At the beginning of the rainy season, much of the water is not available to the plants since the water is rapidly evacuated by the void system. During the initial rain showers, the subsoil below the zone of the cracks is moistened.


  • Vertisols and Technologies for their Management.
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    • Successive rains moisten the top few centimetres of the soil, causing it to swell and seal the surface. Subsequent rains cause ponding, making tillage difficult and initiating erosion. Moisture control Moisture conservation during the dry season and removal of excess water during the wet season are crucial management practices for Vertisols, which differentiate them from most other soils. As a rule, Vertisols are clayey, and due to the montmorillonitic mineralogy, have a high water-holding capacity Figure 4 , resulting in a very low hydraulic conductivity and a low infiltration rates.

    The high amount of available water illustrated in Figure 4 is deceptive, since not all the water is available to the plant.

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    The water retention difference calculated from water retained at 0. Due to shrinkage and cracking, the water is not readily available to the roots even though there is moisture in the peas. Conserving the soil moisture while inducing more uniform soil wetting and maintaining a suitable surface filth requires deep tillage prior to the onset of the rains.

    Mulching with organic residues and addition of non-Vertisol soils will aid this process considerably. Raised broadbeds have similar advantages. If the precipitation is characterised by high-intensity, short-duration storms, a network of contoured ditches would help channel run-off and keep much of the surface water from causing erosion.

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    Depth functions of available moisture. At the end of the rainy season, the challenge is to reduce evapotranspiration losses and conserve soil moisture, so that a succeeding crop can be grown from the stored moisture. Mulching, in combination with deep filth, reduces evaporative losses and surface soil temperatures. Matching crops to these soil conditions is also a partial solution, but socio-economic considerations do not always make this feasible.

    Moisture management on single plots of land is difficult and in some cases impossible. A technically designed drainage and irrigation system for the whole catchment is beneficial and can increase moisture control. Soil loss The onset of the rains causes tremendous soil loss through erosion, but subsequent rains are less destructive. The propensity to erode is another feature of Vertisols and is related to the high charge and low ZPNC minerals in the colloid fraction.

    Conclusions The Vertisol definition stresses cracking, pedoturbation, and movement within the soil mass slickensides. It should be noted, however, that from the management viewpoint, other characteristics appear to be more important: It is imperative that these characteristics be taken into account, if not in soil classification, then at least for technical assessments to evaluate the potential of these soils and determine management practices. In the development stages of Soil Taxonomy, a distinction was made at the great group level between "grumic" Vertisols that develop a loose, porous, surface mulch of discrete, very hard aggregates, and "mazic" Vertisols that, on the contrary, develop a platy or massive surface crust with uncoated silt or sand grains which persist after drying.

    Subsequently, this differentiation was abandoned because it seemed to be influenced more by management and to vary from year to year. In humid areas, however, the crusting phenomenon seems to be frequent and is of importance for the soil water regime: The relationships between crusting in Vertisols and other soil-forming factors point to an intergrading toward Planosols Dudal, In fact, where these soils are not ploughed, a thin albic horizon overlying heavy clay may be found. While Vertisols make up a relatively homogeneous order in a taxonomic sense, it should be stressed that they show diverse characteristics that are important to their wetting, drying, and suitability for plant growth.

    The precipitation effectiveness on Vertisols is strongly influenced by water entry, water retention and water removal when it occurs in excess of uptake capacity. This third factor is of particular importance in subhumid and humid zones for tillage operations and soil aeration during the growing period.

    Management practices have been designed to overcome the physical problems of Vertisols. Since subsurface drainage is not feasible because permeability is slow, special attention has been given to surface drainage. The technology is conditioned by a certain soil depth and quantity of stored available water that covers the moisture requirements of the dry-season crop.