Despite prevailing dry conditions, groundwater-fed lakes are found among the earth's tallest sand dunes in the Badain Jaran Desert, China. Indirect evidence suggests that some lakes are shrinking. However, relatively few studies have been carried out to assess the regional groundwater conditions and the fate of the lakes due to the remoteness and severity of the desert environment. Here we use ...

The analysis of soil water partitioning in seasonally dry climates necessarily requires careful consideration of the periodic climatic forcing at the intra-annual timescale in addition to daily scale variabilities. Here, we introduce three new extensions to a stochastic soil moisture model which yields seasonal evolution of soil moisture and relevant hydrological fluxes. These approximations al...

Soil bulk density is a physical property of soils that affects water storage, water and nutrient movement, and plant root activity in the soil profile. The ability to quantify soil bulk density using vibration-induced conductivity fluctuation was investigated with possible field applications in the future. The AC electrical conductance of soil was measured using a pair of blade-like electrodes ...

Degraded soils in Northwest China are mostly nonproductive due to imbalanced nutrient and inadequate water supply. The effects of manure application at three different rates (7.5, 15.0, and 22.5 t ha) combined with chemical fertilizers on soil water and Water-Use Efficiency in maize [compared with chemical fertilizers (control)], under semi-arid conditions in dark Loessial soil and over a perio...

Significant changes in the distribution of selenium (Se) oxidation states of fresh soil were noted with oven-drying (90°C) or with outdoor storage (>5 yr) in compromised plastic containers compared with small changes in Se oxidation state distribution in air-dried samples. Compromised outdoor storage resulted in a 25% increase in the selenate (Se6+) concentrations with a concomitant 18.4 and 5....

1327 Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 74:1327–1338 Published online 21 May 2010 doi:10.2136/sssaj2009.0360 Mention of trade names does not imply endorsement by the USDA. Received 21 Sept. 2009. *Corresponding author ([email protected]). © Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or b...

Although the global partitioning of evapotranspiration (ET) into transpiration, soil evaporation, and canopy evaporation is not well known, most current land surface schemes and the few available observations indicate that transpiration is the dominant component on the global scale, followed by soil evaporation and canopy evaporation. The Community Land Model version 3 (CLM3), however, does not...