Author details

point for a soil that was not in rainy weather conditions. Such values constitute a powerful argument to estimate the extraordinary erosive capacity of the soil water storage and retention factor in the study and the increase of the soil susceptibility to the mass removals the pending factor is added to this, mountain relief, gravity, geomorphology, lack of protection of the soil of the natural or wooded vegetation cover and poor pasture management due to

In other words, the difference between the water retained to saturation and field capacity is the water that intervenes mainly in the phenomena of mass removals. Another implication is that: 3667.8 tons of water migrate from horizon A, toward C constituted by pyroclastics; there increases the speed of infiltration and in contact of moisture with the buried soil or horizon Bb the water hangs (drain hanging) thanks to the slope of the slope and the horizon becomes a

The dispersion coefficients of 12.38% on average for the sampled horizons qualify the soil as stable. The variables DPM (weighted average diameter) with average value (5.22) as well as the state of aggregation (95.92%) allow one to assess the soil as very stable or in its defect state of very high aggregation (>90%). Conversely, the stability index < 1.0 warns of the presence of large aggregates that determine and indicate instability with aggregates greater than 5 mm, as confirmed by the DPM (5.22), and susceptibility to soil mass removals. Stability indexes greater than 1 would be ideal and would indicate predominance of intermediate aggregates well distributed in the soil. The usable humidity (12.8%) however for the soil is an average value of available water or useful water or vegetable water

On the other hand, the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) determined in the laboratory with values of 145.51 and 138.9 mm/h allows to identify the speed with which the water permeates the soil; therefore, it is a measure of the permeability as an intrinsic character of the soil. Such values indicate a very fast hydraulic conductivity and/or

overgrazing.

104 Soil Moisture

plane of sliding.

supply.

permeability.

William Chavarriaga Montoya

Address all correspondence to: william.chavarriaga@caldas.edu.co

Department of Rural and Natural Resources, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Caldas University, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
