Wetting of soils

Onions form seed stalks after any dormant period. Improperly stored sets or cultivars not suited to the day length in your area may go to seed before forming bulbs. Ructu-ating temperatures or drying and wetting of soil may cause seed stalk formation. Harvest and use bulbs as soon as possible. 

Weed Growth Minimized Growth of weeds is reduced due to partial wetting of soil. 

Wetting of soil and soiled surface The soiled surface is brought in contact with the detergent solution in water Reducing interfacial tension between soil/water and soiled surface/water interfaces Assist in adsorption and penetration of detergent into vulnerable parts... 

Pate, W. N., 1925. The influences of the amount and nature of the replaceable bases upon the heat of wetting of soils and soil colloids. Soil Sci. 20 329-375. 

Metal Detection (MD) MD measures instrument responses to deposits of ferrous and nonferrous metals up to 10 to 20 ft deep. Detection of high-density deposits in shallow depths. Good inexpensive preliminary survey tool. Background conductivities greater than 40 millimhos/meter impairs results. Wet clay soils impair resluts. 

Clay. This material is found at the surface of the earth and often is the major component of soils. The material is plastic when wetted, but becomes hard and brittle when dried and heated. It is composed mainly of hydrous aluminum silicates as well as other minerals. 

Weigh 20 g (wet weight) of soil into a 500-mL jar and add 50 mL of acetone-0.1 N HCl (5 1, v/v). Shake the sample for 10 min with a laboratory shaker, and then allow the sample to stand overnight at room temperature. Shake the sample for an additional 10 min and then Alter the supernatant through a Buchner funnel and Whatman No. 1 Alter paper. 

The relative wettability of soil by oil and water determines the relative affinity of soil to oil and water, which in turn determines the level of retention of oil or water in the soil. A soil is hydrophilic (i.e., it has water affinity) if water has more affinity to the soil than the oil, although soil may also to a certain degree be somewhat wetted by oil. A soil is called hydrophobic if oil has more affinity to the soil than water. 

Normally, clay in soil is not present as individual particles but is clustered to aggregates that consist wholly of clay or of a mixture of clay and other mineral and/or organic soil material. Mass transport of soil material along cracks and pores, common in cracking soils in regions with alternating wet and dry periods, does not necessarily enrich the subsoil horizons with clay. 

Han F.X., Banin A., Triplett G.B. Redistribution of heavy metals in arid-zone soils under a wetting-drying soil moisture regime. Soil Sci 2001a 166 18-28. 

Molecular hydrogen is an important intermediate in the degradation of organic matter by microorganisms in anoxic habitats such as freshwater and marine sediments, wet land soils, and the gastrointestinal tract of animals. In these particular conditions H2 is produced during fermentation of carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins by anaerobic bacteria and,... 

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