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Title: Polyacrylamide molecular weight effects on soil infiltration and erosion

Author
item Iliasson, Amrax
item SHAINBERG, I - AGRIC RES ORG, ISRAEL
item LEVY, G L - AGRIC RES ORG, ISRAEL

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/27/2007
Publication Date: 8/15/2007
Citation: Mamedov, A.I., Shainberg, I., Levy, G.J. 2007. Polyacrylamide molecular weight effects on soil infiltration and erosion [abstract]. American Society of Agronomy-Crop Science Society of America-Soil Science of America International Annual Meeting Abstracts, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2007 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Seal formation at the surface of smectitic soils during rainstorms reduces soil infiltration rate (IR) and causes runoff and erosion. Surface application of dry anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) with high molecular weight (MW) has been found to be effective in stabilizing soil aggregates, and decreasing seal formation, runoff and erosion. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of surface application of granular PAM (20 kg ha-1) of two MW (2x105 and 1.2x107 Dalton) together with phosphogypsum (PG) (4 Mg ha-1) on the IR, runoff and erosion from five smectitic soils ranging in clay content between 8 and 65 percent, during simulated deionized water rainstorms. Spreading dry PAM (both MWs) mixed with PG was effective in increasing soil IR (3-5 times) and reducing erosion (2 - 4 times relative to the control). PAM with moderate MW was as effective as PAM with high MW in its effect on IR and runoff. Conversely, PAM with moderate MW was more effective in reducing soil loss than PAM with high MW. For instance, in the sandy clay, application of amendments resulted in comparable final IR values (15.2 and 15.9 mm h-1), while soil loss decreased from 838 g m-2 (in the control) to 371 and 569 g m-2 for the PAM with moderate and high MW, respectively. Our results were not consistent with former studies on the effects of PAM MW, probably due to differences in the methods of PAM application and soil types.