Chapter 9 : Utilizing mineralogical and chemical information in PTFs.

Abstract

Soil structure is known to reflect mineralogical composition of clay fraction and soil chemical composition. Because soil hydraulic properties are likely to depend on soil structure, chemical and mineralogical composition have long been expected to be important predictors of soil ability to retain and transmit water (Rawls et al., 1991). Nevertheless, the quantitative, pedotransfer-type information about the effect of clay mineralogy and chemistry of soil solution on soil hydraulic properties remains relatively scarce. This chapter summarizes available data and ideas that may show future research directions in this field