Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Shrinkage Behavior of Aquands Along a Longitudinal Climatic Gradient in Southern Chile

Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Ñadi soils (Aquands) are derived from volcanic ashes and have a limited effective depth that restricts the movement of water throughout their profiles. Drainage systems are therefore essential for the productive use of these soils, though these may induce soil shrinkage/subsidence. The aim of this work was to evaluate the shrinkage potential and curves of Aquands along a longitudinal climatic gradient in southern Chile (from 38° to 42° S).

Methods

Undisturbed and disturbed soil samples of five soil series under pasture were collected in metallic cylinders and plastic bags, respectively, from two soil depths (0–20 and 20–40 cm). A peat soil was also used as a reference of a soil with a high shrinkage capacity that has not historically suffered water stress. Shrinkage curves were measured and their phases were determined. Soil shrinkage parameters, bulk density, air capacity, soil organic carbon (SOC), and extractable aluminum (Ala) were also determined.

Results

From north to south, as the SOC increased, the shrinkage potential of the soils increased as well. Shrinkage curves showed clear structural and wide proportional shrinkage, with an absence of zero shrinkage. The hydraulic stress caused by drainage affected the pore shrinkage capacity and could lead to high subsidence and, in turn, a decrease in soil depth.

Conclusions

Aquands showed a very high shrinkage capacity (COLE < 0.09), which was positively related to their OC content and negatively related to the initial bulk density of the soil. After drying events (− 500 hPa), Aquands reached a volume decrease of up to 25%, reflecting a low resilience capacity that, in turn, affects the soil physical properties, i.e., structure, subsidence, and soil depth. The observed increase in shrinkage processes in the Ñadi soil transect may be due to the accumulated OC content created by the extremely waterlogged conditions associated with the edaphoclimatic conditions under which these soils were developed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bartoli F, Begin G, Burtin E, Schouller E (2007) Shrinkage of initially very wet soil blocks, cores and clods from a range of European andosol horizons. Eur J Soil Sci 58:378–392

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgartl T, Köck B (2004) Modeling volume change and mechanical properties with hydraulic models. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:57–65

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim J (2014) Ortstein and Placic Horizons. In: Bockheim J (ed) Soil geography of the USA: a diagnostic-horizon approach. Springer, Chem, pp 189–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Boivin P, Garnier P, Tessier D (2004) Relationship between clay content, clay type, and shrinkage properties of soil samples. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:1145–1153

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boivin P, Shaffer B, Sturny W (2009) Quantifying the relationship between soil organic carbon and soil physical properties using shrinkage modelling. Eur J Soil Sci 60:265–275

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bravo A, Zúñiga F, Valle S, Thiers O, Dec D, Clunes J, Dörner J (2021) Propiedades físicas de los agregados de suelos en bosques y praderas con régimen ácuico. Agro Sur 49(1):29–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrasco M, Dec D, Valle S, Zúñiga F, Dörner J (2017) Historial de uso de un suelo Ñadi: consecuencias sobre la capacidad efectiva de almacenamiento de agua/aire y la continuidad del medio poroso. Agro Sur 45(1):39–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Casanova M, Salazar O, Seguel O, Luzio W (2013) The soils of Chile. In: Hartemink A (ed) World Soils Book Series. Springer, Madison

  • CIREN (2002) Descripciones de Suelos. Materiales y Símbolos. Estudio Agrologico X Región. Centro de información de recursos naturales (CIREN).

  • CIREN (2003) Descripciones de Suelos. Materiales y Símbolos. Estudio Agrologico X Región. Centro de información de recursos naturales (CIREN), Publicación 123, Santiago

  • Clunes J, Pinochet D (2021) Leucine retention by the clay-sized mineral fraction. An indicator of C storage. Agro Sur 48:37–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Clunes J, Dörner J, Pinochet D (2021) How does the functionality of the pore system affects inorganic nitrogen storage in volcanic ash soils? Soil Tillage Res 205:104802

    Google Scholar 

  • Dec D, Dörner J, Balocchi O (2011) Temporal and spatial variability of structure dependent properties of a volcanic ash soil under pasture in southern Chile. Chilean J Agric Res 71:293–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Dec D, Zúñiga F, Thiers O, Paulino L, Valle SR, Villagra V, Tadich I, Horn R, Dörner J (2017) Water and temperature dynamics of Aquands under different uses in southern Chile. J Soil Plant Nutr 17(1):141–154

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dec D, Bravo S, Horn R, Uteau D, Peth S, Zuniga F, Clunes J, Granda S, Martínez Ó, Balocchi Ó, Alonso M (2021) Analyzing the impact of grazing and short-term irrigation management on soil mechanical strength of a volcanic ash soil under different types of pastures. Soil Tillage Res 213:105130

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Dec D, Peng X, Horn R (2009) Change of shrinkage behavior of and Andisol in southern chile: effects of land use and wetting/drying cycles. Soil Tillage Res 106:45–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Dec D, Peng X, Horn R (2010) Effect of land use change on the dynamic behavior of structural properties of an andisol in southern Chile under saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conditions. Geoderma 159:189–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Dec D, Zúñiga F, Sandoval P, Horn R (2011) Effect of land use change on andosol’s pore functions and their functional resilience after mechanical and hydraulic stresses. Soil Tillage Res 115–116:71–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Huertas J, Cuevas JG, Leiva C, Paulino L, Arumí JL (2015) Water content dynamics in a volcanic ash soil slope in southern Chile. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 178(4):693–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Dec D, Thiers O, Paulino L, Zúñiga F, Valle SR, Horn R (2016) Spatial and temporal variability of physical properties of Aquands under different land uses in southern Chile. Soil Use Manag 32:411–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Horn R, Dec D, Wendroth O, Fleige H, Zúñiga F (2017) Land-use-dependent change in the soil mechanical strength and resilience of a shallow volcanic ash soil in southern chile. Soil Sci Soc Am J 81:1064–1073

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörner J, Horn R, Uteau D, Rostek J, Zúñiga F, Peth S, Dec D, Fleige H (2020) Studying the soil pore physical resistance and resilience of a shallow volcanic ash soil subjected to pure cyclic loading. Soil Tillage Res 204:104709

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellies A (1995) Efecto del manejo sobre las propiedades físicas de suelos trumaos y rojo arcillosos. Bosque 16(2):101–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellies A (2001) Cambio de las propiedades físicas del suelo con el drenaje. Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo Boletín N° 17:66–72

  • Evans S, Burke I, Lauenroth W (2011) Controls on soil organic carbon and nitrogen in Inner Mongolia, China: a cross-continental comparison of temperate grasslands. Global Biogeochem Cycles 25(3)

  • Fang H, Zhang Z, Li D, Liu K, Zhang K, Zhang W (2019) Temporal dynamics of paddy soil structure as affected by different fertilization strategies investigated with soil shrinkage curve. Soil Tillage Res 187:102–109

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natios) (2015) Climate change and food security: risks and responses. https://www.fao.org/3/i5188e/I5188E.pdf

  • Forsythe W (1974) Manual de laboratorio de física de suelos. Turrialba, Costa Rica. Instituto Interamericano de Ciencias Agrícolas de la Organización de los Estados Americanos. p 212

  • Gao L, Peng X, Biswas A (2019) Temporal instability of soil moisture at a hillslope scale under subtropical hydroclimatic conditions. CATENA 187:104362

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebhardt S, Fleige H, Horn R (2010) Shrinkage processes of a drained riparian peatland with subsidence morphology. J Soil Sediments 10:484–493

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gerding V, Thiers O, Schlatter J, Sanzana J (2014) Suelos Ñadi para una producción forestal sostenible: principales problemas, causas y propuestas de solución. Revista Bosque Nativo 53:36–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman R, Brasher B, Franzmeier D, Walker J (1968) Linear extensibility as calculate from natural clod bulk density measurements. Soil Sci Soc Am J 32:570–573

    Google Scholar 

  • Haller P, Dec D, Zuniga F, Thiers O, Ivelic-Saez J, Dörner J (2015) Efecto del estrés hidráulico y mecánico sobre la resistencia y resiliencia funcional del sistema poroso de un Ñadi (Aquands) bajo distintos usos de suelo. Agro Sur 43(2):41–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartge K, Horn R (2009) Essential soil physics. an introduction to soil processes, functions structure and mechanics

  • Hillel D (1998) Environmental soil physics. Academic press, London, p 771

  • Horn R, Peth S (2002) Mechanics of unsaturated soil of agricultural applications. Universidad de Kiel, Alemania, p 82

  • Horn R, Peng X, Fleige H, Dörner J (2014) Pore rigidity in structured soils—only a theoretical boundary condition for hydraulic properties? Soil Sci Plant Nutr 60(1):3–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Kechavarzi C, Dawson Q, Leeds-Harrison P (2010) Physical properties of low-lying agricultural peat soils in England. Geoderma 154:196–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Kottek M, Grieser J, Beck C, Rudolf B, Rubel F (2006) World Map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorol 15(3):259–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Luzio W (2010) Suelos de Chile. Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarry D (1988) Quantification of the effects of zero and mechanical tillage on a Vertisol by using shrinkage curve indices. Aust J Soil Res 26(3):537–542

    Google Scholar 

  • Mcgarry D, Malafant K (1987) The analysis of volume change in unconfined units of soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 51:290–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz AA, González-Reyes A, Lara A, Sauchyn D, Christie D, Puchi P, Urrutia-Jalabert R, Toledo-Guerrero I, Aguilera-Betti I, Mundo I, Sheppard PR (2016) Streamflow variability in the Chilean temperate-Mediterranean climate transition (35 S–42 S) during the last 400 years inferred from tree-ring records. Clim Dyn 47(12):4051–4066

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng X, Horn R (2005) Modeling soil shrinkage curve across a wide range of soil types. Soil Sci Soc Am J 69:584–592

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peng X, Horn R (2007) Pore shrinkage dependency of inorganic and organic soils on wetting and drying cycles. Soil Sci Soc Am J 71:1095–1104

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peng X, Horn R (2013) Identifying six types of soil shrinkage curves from a large set of experimental data. Soil Sci Soc Am J 77:372–381

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rahayu A, Utami S, Prijono S (2015) The Changes of soil physical and chemical properties of Andisols as affected by drying rewetting processes. J Degraded Min Lands Manag 3(1):439–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasa K, Horn R (2009) Shrinkage properties of differently managed clay soils in Finland. Soil Use Manag 25:175–182

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2020) R: a language and environment for statistical computing; r foundation for statistical computing: Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/

  • Reynolds WD, Bowman BT, Drury CF, Tan CS, Lu X (2002) Indicators of good soil physical quality: density and storage parameters. Geoderma 110:131–146

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • RStudio Team (2020) RStudio: integrated development environment for R. RStudio; PBC: Boston, MA, USA. http://www.rstudio.com/

  • Ruehlmann J, Körschens M (2009) Calculating the effect of soil organic matter concentration on soil bulk density. Soil Sci Soc Am J 73(3):876–885

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sadzawka N, Carrasco M, Grez R, Mora M, Flores H, Neaman A (2006) Métodos de análisis recomendados para los suelos de Chile. Revisión 2006. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecurarias. Serie Actas INIA N° 34, Santiago Chile

  • Sandoval M, Dörner J, Seguel O, Cuevas J, Rivera D (2012) Métodos de análisis físicos de suelos. Universidad de Concepción. Publicaciones Departamento de Suelos y Recursos Naturales, Chillan, Chile 5:80

  • Skaggs RW, Breve MA, Gilliam JW (1994) Hydrologic and water quality impacts of agricultural drainage. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 24(1):1–32

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (2014) Keys to soil taxonomy, 12th edn. USDA-NRCS, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi T, Dahlgren RA (2016) Nature, properties and function of aluminum–humus complexes in volcanic soils. Geoderma 263:110–121

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Valle SR, Carrasco J (2018) Soil quality indicator selection in Chilean volcanic soils formed under temperate and humid conditions. CATENA 162:386–395

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Valle S, Dörner J, Zúñiga F, Dec D (2018) Seasonal dynamics of the physical quality of volcanic ash soils under different land uses in southern Chile. Soil Tillage Res 182:25–34

    Google Scholar 

  • van Genuchten (1980) A closed-from equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44:892–898

    Google Scholar 

  • Zúñiga F, Dec D, Valle S, Thiers O, Paulino L, Martínez O, Seguel O, Casanova M, Pino M, Horn R, Dörner J (2019a) The waterlogged volcanic ash soil southern Chile. a review of the “Ñadi” soils. CATENA 173:99–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Zúñiga F, Horn R, Rostek J, Peth S, Uteau D, Dörner J (2019b) Anisotropy of intensity-capacity parameters on Aquands with contrasting swelling-shrinkage cycles. Soil Tillage Res 193:101–113

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the field and laboratory work conducted by Mónica Díaz.

Funding

This study was funded by the Instituto de Ingeniería Agraria y Suelos and Centro de Investigación en Suelos Volcánicos of the Universidad Austral de Chile.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ingeniería Agraria y Suelos, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Alimentarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Víctor Vera Peters, Susana R. Valle, Dorota Dec, John Clunes & José Dörner

  2. Magíster en Ciencias del Suelo, Escuela de Graduados, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Alimentarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Víctor Vera Peters & Susana R. Valle

  3. Centro de Investigación en Suelos Volcánicos, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Felipe Zúñiga, Susana R. Valle, Dorota Dec, John Clunes & José Dörner

  4. Instituto de Bosques y Sociedad, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Felipe Zúñiga

Authors
  1. Víctor Vera Peters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Felipe Zúñiga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susana R. Valle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dorota Dec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John Clunes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. José Dörner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Dörner.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Peters, V.V., Zúñiga, F., Valle, S.R. et al. Shrinkage Behavior of Aquands Along a Longitudinal Climatic Gradient in Southern Chile. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 23, 638–650 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-01071-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-01071-9

Keywords

search

Navigation