Investigations of soil cracking and preferential flow in a weighing lysimeter filled with cracking clay soil

An improved understanding of deep drainage processes in irrigated cracking soils is needed for sustainable irrigation management. To investigate the effect of crack dynamics and macropore flow on drainage in cracking soils, a series of irrigation experiments was carried out in a weighing lysimeter. Subsurface soil cracks of the initially very dry soil were investigated with a videoscope and changes in the surface expression of cracks in response to irrigation events were monitored by time-lapse photography. A bromide tracer was applied to one irrigation event. Variations in the combined soil and moisture mass and the volume of drainage out of the soil column was logged and the drainage EC and bromide content were determined. No drainage occurred out of the soil column during the first 3 out of 6 irrigation events, even though substantial surface runoff into the cracks occurred and, at least initially, soil cracks provided an uninterrupted flow path through the profile. The breakthrough of the bromide tracer, as well as an initially low EC of the drainage water indicate that preferential flow accounted for a substantial part of the first of the two drainage events, even though the soil cracks were sealed on the surface at the onset of the irrigation causing the drainage. The results show that lateral infiltration of macropore flow into the soil matrix can be substantial and should not be neglected while simulating macropore flow and deep drainage in cracking soils. The results also indicate that soil cracks can remain pathways for preferential flow even after they are closed at the soil surface. The type of water application appears to have an impact on the location of crack formation, with flood irrigation favouring reappearance of cracks at previous crack locations and simulated rainfall resulting in shifting crack locations.