Conservation tillage reduces the physical movement of soil to the minimum required for crop establishment and production. When consistently practiced as a soil and crop management system, it greatly reduces soil erosion and is recognized for the potential to improve soil quality and water conservation and plant available water. Adoption of conservation tillage increased dramatically with the ad...

A six-channel system was used to determine how differences of Henry’s law constant and vertical water velocity affect the diffusive loss of contaminants from a sandy soil. Two channels (10 cm wide x 110 cm long x 65 cm deep) were each fed with methyl tert-butyl ether, dichloromethane, or trichloroethylene in groundwater. After steady state was attained, vertical concentration gradients were mea...

Earth’s environment provides conditions conducive for life: an oxygenated atmosphere; water resources; and soil as a medium for plant growth. Environmental processes occurring on the planet govern the movement of air, energy, matter, and water. Through the study of Environmental Sciences, students will learn the science and experience the beauty of the outdoor environment. This degree program a...

Antibiotic-resistant fecal bacteria were used to monitor the degree of movement and subsequent ground water contamination by septictank effluent discharged into a drainfield under saturated conditions. Two pits of different depths were constructed to simulate drainfield beds, and ground water samples were removed uring 32-day sampling intervals from sampling wells installed at set distances fro...

Inverse solution techniques currently used for estimating unsaturated soil hydraulic functions from laboratory outflow experiments use cumulative outflow only in combination with initial and final soil water pressure head values. Additional soil water information is needed to improve the estimation procedure and to minimize uniqueness problems. It was the objective of this study to experimental...

Although roots in dry soil layers are commonly rehydrated by internal hydraulic redistribution during the nocturnal period, patterns of tissue rehydration are poorly understood. Rates of nocturnal rehydration were examined in roots of different orders in Vaccinium corymbosum L. 'Bluecrop' (Northern highbush blueberry) grown in a split-pot system with one set of roots in relatively moist soil an...

Many hydrological studies of forested ecosystems focus on the study of the forest canopy and have partitioned gross precipitation into throughfall and stemflow. However, the presence of forest litter can alter the quantities of water available for soil infiltration and runoff. Little information exists regarding the value of storage and drainage parameters for litter layers. Vegetation paramete...

SUMMARY Simazine loss from soil to surface runoff water produce both a decrease in the effectiveness of the soil chemical treatment and a water quality hazard in receiving waters. Simazine has been found in 30% of wells sampled in Fresno and Tulare counties, California and some contamination has been attributed to simazine use in citrus orchards. Contamination of receiving water from herbicides...