Rainfall pattern effects on crusting, infiltration and erodibility in some South African soils with various texture and mineralogy

Abstract

Rainfall characteristics affect crust formation, infiltration rate and erosion depending on intrinsic soil properties such as texture and mineralogy. The current study investigated the effects of rainfall pattern on crust strength, steady state infiltration rate (SSIR) and erosion in soils with various texture and minerals. Soil samples from the top 0.2 m layer were exposed to 60 mm.h-1 simulated rainfall. The rainfall was applied either as an 8-min single rainstorm (SR) or 4 x 2-min intermittent rainstorms (IR) separated by a 48 h drying period. Rainfall pattern significantly (p < 0.05) affected crust strength, SSIR and erosion. The IR resulted in higher crust strength and SSIR than SR. The effect of rainfall pattern on SSIR was mostly influenced by the primary minerals, namely, quartz. Therefore, the predicted shift from long duration to short duration rainstorms due to climate change is likely to enhance crust formation and soil loss in semi-arid areas such as the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.