Effects of blown sand and soil properties on the abrasion rate of compacted soil
Xiaofeng Zuo,
Chunlai Zhang,
Xiaoyu Zhang,
Xuesong Wang,
Wenping Li,
Jiaqi Zhao
Affiliations
Xiaofeng Zuo
State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
Chunlai Zhang
Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, PR China.; State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
Xiaoyu Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
Xuesong Wang
State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
Wenping Li
State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
Jiaqi Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
Abrasion caused by blown sand is an important process for compacted soils in grasslands. The abrasion rate is affected by a combination of the blown sand intensity and the properties of the underlying soil, but there is a paucity of relevant studies of the simultaneous effects of these factors, especially quantitative ones. Our wind tunnel simulation experiments showed that the abrasion rate of compacted soil increased rapidly with increasing transport rate of the abrasive particles and with increasing soil texture index (δ = (sand% + silt%)/[clay% + organic matter% + CaCO3%]), and decreased significantly with increasing soil compaction. Accordingly, we developed an abrasion rate prediction model that accounted for the transport rate of windblown particles (abraders) and the physicochemical properties of the compacted soil. The effects of abrader properties (grain size and basic density), abrader availability, and a limited upwind supply of the abraders on the abrasion rate of compacted soils were also addressed. We developed a comprehensive abrasion-rate equation that accounted for both particle size and the basic density of the abraders.
