Effects offreeze-thawingprocesses on soil water
transport in degradedagricultural areas
Libo Sun1, Xiaomin Chang1, Xinxiao
Yu11* Corresponding authors at: Key Laboratory
of State Forestry Administration on Soil and Water Conservation,
Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Email addresses: jggd33@163.com.,
Guodong Jia1*, Lihua Chen1, Yusong
Wang1, Ziqiang Liu1,2
1 Key Laboratory of State Forestry Administration on Soil and Water
Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
2 College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, 210037, China
Abstract :Seasonal freeze-thawing affects soil water migration and distribution,
especially in semi-arid degraded agricultural areas, with important
impacts on crop production, and wind erosion. We assessed the
distribution and migration of soil water in degraded agricultural areas
during freeze-thawing and the effect on plant growth and wind erosion.
Soil water content (SWC) and soil temperature (ST) dynamic
characteristics at a depth of 0-2 m in the semi-arid agro-pastoral
northern China are discussed, using data from November 2018 to May 2019.
Changes in water potential energy and pore pressure gradient caused soil
water migration to the upper layer, which led to a slight decrease in
SWC at each layer before ST dropped to the freezing point. The vertical
migration distance of soil water exceeded 70 cm, and the SWC above a
depth of 100 cm increased significantly during thawing; the water was
mainly obtained from the soil layer below a depth of 120 cm. The initial
SWC is the main factor affecting the freeze-thawing process. Our results
can partly explain the occurrence of wind erosion in spring and provide
a scientific basis for predicting soil water status and developing
irrigation and erosion control strategies.
Keywords: degraded agricultural area, freeze-thawing process,
soil water migration and distribution, soil water content (SWC), soil
temperature (ST)
Introduction
Freeze-thawing processes in soil significantly impact agro-ecological
conditions (Wang et al., 2019). They promote the migration of soil water
and alter water distribution and hydrothermal coupling (Ala et al.,
2016; Evett et al., 2012; Wei et al., 2018). Especially under the
influence of spring windy weather and tillage activities, freeze-thawing
processes can significantly change the soil structure and affect soil
particle migration, making surface soil more prone to wind erosion (Ban
et al., 2016). Changes in the soil water content (SWC; %) of the upper
layer can also affect irrigation strategy and crop growth during spring
sowing (Wei et al., 2019). Based on a previous study, water and soil
particle migration can also alter carbon and nitrogen cycling (CN cycle)
in the soil (D’Odorico et al., 2003), facilitating soil erosion and
affecting the microclimate.
During soil freezing, soil water freezes into ice crystals, forming a
freezing front below 0℃ (Hou et al., 2020) and causing soil water to
move from the unfrozen area to the freezing front (Nagare et al., 2012),
resulting in a significant increase in SWC in frozen soil, and this
process is also accompanied by the transfer of soil organic carbon. The
SWC distribution prior to soil freezing in early winter will affect the
soil water status in the following year (Luo et al., 2003), leading to
an increase in field carbon storage and a reduced need for irrigation
(Chen et al., 2013). In spring, increasing temperatures cause the upper
soil to thaw first, while the lower soil layers gradually thaw over
time. Hence, the increase in the SWC of the upper soil is more obvious
(Yang et al., 2008).
In areas with low precipitation, the increased SWC caused by
freeze-thawing represents an important water source for plants and
crops. Thus, evaluating freeze-thawing processes in different soils and
regions is critical for the management of degraded agricultural and
forested areas, facilitating the development of management strategies.
Several studies have investigated the mechanisms of SWC movement during
soil freeze-thawing processes under different conditions (Nagare et al.,
2011; Wang et al., 2019), focusing on the effects of different initial
SWC on the freeze-thawing process. Based on the results, SWC and soil
properties significantly influence freezing time and ground thermal
condition. At the same time, the phases of water and ice are in
equilibrium under temperature changes due to soil freezing, regardless
of the thickness of the ice phase; the level of the liquid water is
relatively stable (Low et al., 1968).
In agricultural freeze zones, the amount of water that migrates upward
during freeze-thawing is controlled by the initial SWC; the lower the
SWC, the more susceptible the soil is to freeze (Chen et al., 2013).
However, the migration characteristics of soil water under
freeze-thawing conditions in degraded agricultural areas are still
unclear, and the influences of soil water migration, temperature
changes, and related spatio-temporal conditions on wind erosion in
degraded agricultural areas need to be elucidated (Wang et al., 2019).
In China, seasonal freeze-thawing events mostly occur in arid and
semi-arid regions (Chen et al., 2013), with significant impacts on crop
and tree growth. In the 1970s, large areas of agroforestry shelterbelts
have been established in northern China, interlacing agro-pastoral
regions to prevent wind erosion on farmland (Liu et al., 2018). However,
large-scale farmland degradation under drought conditions has caused
serious wind erosion and air pollution in farmland (Sun et al., 2018;
Sun et al., 2019), significantly impacting the regional ecological
environment. These problems have made farmland degradation more serious.
Low precipitation and seasonal changes, as well as low SWC levels,
facilitate wind erosion and low crop yields (Sun et al., 2019). Previous
research has shown that the groundwater level in the area is declining
constantly (Nakayama et al., 2010; Sun et al., 2018), potentially
causing long-term dry conditions and severe wind erosion. However, there
is still a lack of understanding of the impacts of freeze-thawing on
soil water dynamics in this area. In this sense, this study aims to
improve our understanding of the characteristics of soil temperature
(ST; ℃) and water migration during freeze-thawing of degraded farmland,
thereby facilitating the establishment of improved management strategies
to prevent wind erosion.
Materials and methods
Study site
This study was conducted in Zhangbei County (40°01′-42°17′N,
114°05′-115°20′E), which is part of the semi-arid agricultural
freeze-thawing area in north China (Fig. 1a). Average annual rainfall is
320 mm, of which 65% occur from June to September (Fig. 2). Elevation
is about 1,750 m. The difference between day and night temperatures is
significant. Annual average temperature increased over time, with values
from 1.8-5.2°C (R2 = 0.53, p < 0.01).
Average annual wind speed is 6 m/s, and windy weather usually occurs in
spring, especially in April. average relative humidity was 57.1%.
Winter is cold and lasts up to 5 months (November to March), and the
average temperature can reach -16℃. Soil depth can be up to 450 cm, with
sandy soil being the main soil type. In the past 60 years, wind erosion
and constant drought have reduced crop production, lead to severe land
degradation. The species most frequently used in afforestation isPopulus simonii Carr (Fig. 1b), which was first planted in the
1960s to prevent wind erosion.
Freeze-thawing monitoring
Since the root systems of the main crops and plants are distributed
throughout the 0-200 cm soil layer (Liu et al., 2020), we investigated
the soil profile up to a depth of 200 cm. Environmental data were
collected using a standard automatic weather station located in an open
space a 20 m away from the study site. Precipitation (mm), temperature
(℃), and relative humidity (%) were measured at intervals of 15 mins.
We used a battery-powered HOBO U30 NRC data logger (ONSET Computer
Corporation, USA), which was charged daily using a photovoltaic power
source.
Freeze-thawing processes were measured next to the meteorological
observation sites. Briefly, the ST (℃) and SWC (%) were measured at
intervals of 15 min via 10 5TE probes (Decagon, USA) placed at 10 soil
depths (10, 30, 50, 70, 90, 110, 130, 150, 170, and 190 cm). For this,
we used a battery-powered EM50 data logger (Decagon, USA). Three
monitoring points were randomly set up in the observation site, and the
average data of each layer was calculated as the analysis data. The
state of the soil was based on the ST; when ST is sustained below 0℃,
the soil begins to freeze, otherwise, it starts to thaw. Measurements
were taken from November 1, 2018, to May 26, 2019.
Results
Stratification of initial soil characteristics
The initial SWC and ST profiles are shown in Figure 3. The lowest ST
occurred at the surface of the soil, with 1.58℃. The ST reached a
maximum value of 5.95℃ at a depth of 1 m and decreased significantly
when the soil depth exceeded 1 m. The ST changes were not obvious within
the range of 1-2 m, and ST was maintained around 3℃. At the beginning of
soil freezing, the ST at all depths was above 0℃, higher than air
temperature. The SWC also reached the maximum level at a depth of 1 m,
and at 90 cm, it was nearly nine times higher than at 110 cm. The SWC
values at 110, 130, 150, 170, and 190 cm were 2.02, 1.98, 3.38, 1.58,
and 2.12% respectively.
Freeze-thawing processes with depth
Surface soil (0-20 cm) started to freeze on November 10, 2018 (Table 1);
ST was about 10℃ at a depth of 180 cm. The upper soil frozen earlier
than the deeper soil layer (Fig. 4b); for every 20 cm increase in depth,
soil freezing was delayed for about 7 days (Table 1). The frozen soil
layer reached a depth of 100 cm after 42 days and of 200 cm after 67
days. However, because of the fluctuating air temperature, the freezing
depth was not constant. Air temperature was constantly below -10°C from
December 10, and there were two significant cooling events on December 1
and 19 (Fig. 4a). During freezing, ST fluctuated significantly between
-15 and 10℃ in the upper profile (0-60 cm). The lowest ST was -18.55°C
at the surface layer and -2.95°C at a depth of 200 cm.
Surface ST increased to levels above 0℃ and soil started to thaw on
March 16, 2019 (Fig. 5). Temperature fluctuations in this period were
monitored under near-freezing/thawing conditions. Soil at the depths of
100 and 200 cm began to thaw after 18 and 26 days, respectively. Full
thawing of the surface soil first occurred on April 25. Compared with
the surface soil, total thawing at 100 and 200 cm was delayed by 28 and
35 days, respectively (Table 1). Soils with a depth of 0-40 cm had
greater temperature fluctuations during thawing, and ST fluctuations
below 80 cm were not significantly affected by air temperature (Fig. 5).
After thawing, the ST at a depth of 100-200 cm was maintained at around
7℃. The average time from the beginning to full thawing was about 26
days, in which the upper soil (0-80 cm) thawed more rapidly, at an
average time of 21 days, while the 80-200-cm soil layer took about 30
days to thaw completely.
Based on our results, ST was positively correlated with air temperature,
except at a depth of 160-200 cm (Table 2). Compared with the upper soil,
the deeper soil layer (below 60 cm) was less affected by air temperature
(Fig. 5). Figure 6 shows the dynamic response of surface ST (0-60 cm) to
air temperature. Upper ST (0-60 cm) was strongly linearly correlated
with air temperature (y = ax + b); the regression equation explained
more than 68.8% of the change. Coefficient ‘a’ represents for thermal
efficiency between air and soil in the equation, which changed with
changes in soil properties. The larger ‘a’ indicates that the heat
transfer between ST and air temperature was more rapid; AT had a
significant relationship with STs in the upper layers (Fig. 6; P<0.05).
The closer to the surface, the more rapidly the ST responded to changes
in air temperature.
Figure 7 shows the spatial and temporal variations in SWC at different
soil depths. From December 1 to 7, 2018, soils at 0-20 cm froze rapidly
as the air temperature dropped from −2.1 to −22.6°C within a short
period of time. Prior to freezing, there were significant differences in
SWC in each layer (Fig. 7b), with SWC at 80-100 cm depth reaching a
maximum of 18.99%. Affected by cooler conditions on December 3 and 5
(Fig. 7a), the surface soil quickly froze, and the frozen layer extended
downward. From January 10 onward, the soil layer at a depth of 0-200 cm
was completely frozen. The SWC decrease ranged from 2 to 8% after the
freezing front. Because of the absence of significant precipitation, SWC
was less affected by precipitation. Since there was a stable phase from
freezing to thawing, such a phase lasted longer in the deeper soil
layers (Fig. 7b). The SWC increased slightly during thawing, indicating
the upward migration of soil water, and each layer followed the same
trend. From March 16 to April 5, 2019, ST fluctuated considerably (Fig.
7b), leading to a rapid increase in surface SWC. The SWC levels at 10,
30, 50, 70, and 90 cm increased by 85.7, 123, 51, 43.7, and 29.2%,
respectively, which only slightly affected the deeper layer. From April
5 onward, the air temperature gradually increased, leading to
significant changes in SWC (p < 0.05).
The development of the soil freezing and thawing front with depth
differed over time (Fig. 8), and each layer of soil froze more slowly
than it thawed. The freezing front reached a depth of 60 cm for 13 days
(November 12 to 15, 2018; Fig. 8a). However, it took much longer for the
thawing front to reach the same depth (March 23 to April 13, 2019; Fig.
8b). Unlike the frozen front, which propagated from the surface to the
deeper soil layers (Fig. 8a), the propagation of the thawing front was
interrupted at some depths (Fig. 8b), such as 70, 110, and 170 cm. The
duration of these melting fronts varied widely at depths of 110 to 170
cm (Fig. 8b), possibly due to air temperature variations.
SWC migration during the freeze–thawing process
The SWC within a depth of 0-100 cm changed significantly during
freeze-thawing; the level was highest at 90 cm (Fig. 9a). At a depth
below 100 cm, SWC decreased significantly. After freeze-thawing, the SWC
above 140 cm increased, which was most pronounced at a depth of 50 cm
(Fig. 9b). The SWC at a depth of 150 cm was reduced by 1.9 mm, while the
levels at 170 and 190 cm almost remained stable. This suggests that soil
water at a depth of 150 cm moved up to a depth of 110-130 cm. During the
entire freeze-thawing process, there was a significant difference
between the SWC levels at a depth of 90 cm and at the deeper soil
layers, indicating that vertical soil water transport was impeded.
Discussion
Freeze-thawing characteristics of soil
Freeze-thawing processes in soil involve complex chemical, physical, and
mechanical phenomena which mainly include energy, water transfer, and
salt accumulation (Qi et al., 2018). This may lead to reduced soil
compaction and changes in vegetation coverage, thus affecting various
hydrological processes (Yamazaki et al., 2006). Soil freeze-thawing
dynamics are related to differences in initial SWC (Ala et al., 2016;
Wang et al., 2019), which was confirmed in our study The winter
freeze-up stage began when the freezing process of the active layer was
finished and lasted for approximately 200 days. Based on the temperature
variations, this stage can be subdivided into the winter cooling stage
and the spring-warming stage. Prior to freezing, within the depth range
of 0-100 cm, SWC gradually increased with increasing depth, and freezing
was rapid (Fig. 7b). During the complete freezing stage, the liquid and
solid water of the entire soil layer remained relatively stable. Soil at
the depth of 80-100 cm maintained a relatively high SWC, which may be
due to the release of heat during the solidification of the soil water
at the stable freezing stage, so that the soil in this layer was not
completely frozen. Some studies have also pointed out that different
soil thermal conductivity values are mainly due to differences in SWC
levels (Yi et al., 2014); lower SWC levels may result in higher thermal
conductivity. Consequently, higher SWC will slow down the freeze-thawing
process (see also Wang et al., 2019). Figure 3 also shows that the ST at
a depth of 80-100 cm was higher than that in the deeper soil and
remained relatively high throughout the freeze-thawing process. The SWC
below a soil depth of 90 cm was significantly reduced, which can be
related to soil texture (Arredondo et al., 2018). The SWC of unfrozen
soil increases with increasing clay content (Stähli and Stadler, 1997),
soil particles gradually grow from the upper to the deeper layer in the
sedimentary cycle, and the deeper soil consists of coarser soil
particles, so that the SWC of upper soil could be higher in bottom
soils. Furthermore, the water-repellent layer blocks the vertical water
transport, leading to insignificant changes during freeze-thawing
(Wei et al., 2016). During
freezing, the freezing peak slowly extended downward; when it reached a
depth of 90 cm, the freezing process slowed down, which was related to
the lower SWC level at this depth. Since the temperature fluctuated
obviously at the initial stage of soil thawing, the soil surface
fluctuated, which made the thawing process faster than the freezing
process. Since the thermal conductivity of ice is about four times
higher than that of liquid water (Campbell, 1985), the freezing rate of
liquid soil water gradually decreased. When the soil began to thaw, the
ice in the frozen soil promoted heat transfer, which confirms that the
thawing rate of the soil is greater than the freezing rate.
The freeze-thawing cycle affects the redistribution of SWC
The dynamic distribution of SWC reflects the water and energy state of
the soil, which depends on water-soil interaction and physical soil
properties (Chen et al., 2013). During freezing, unfrozen water in the
soil moves to the frozen area, driven by the temperature difference,
which is manifested by soil water accumulation at the frozen layer
(water transport upward). At the same time, the increase in soil water
at the frozen layer reduces the soil freezing rate, which provides
sufficient time for the soil water to be transported upward. Our
research also proved that the freezing rate gradually decreased during
the freezing process (Fig. 7b).
When soil started to freeze, the ST gradient was the primary factor that
drove vertical soil water migration. Before the ST drops to the freezing
point, the water in the frozen soil may be redistributed to the freezing
front (Dirksen and Miller, 1966).
The phenomenon of a decreasing SWC was observed at various depths before
the temperature dropped to the freezing point (Fig. 7b), which was
consistent with previous observations (Dirksen and Miller, 1966) and
indicates that a water potential gradient is necessary for a certain
amount of soil water flow to the freezing front. The largest soil water
potential appeared at a depth of 100 cm, and soil water moved up rapidly
under the combined influence of temperature difference and water
potential, resulting in a significant increase in the SWC above 100 cm.
However, due to the temperature difference and the formation of ice, the
water potential of the soil is reduced (Nagare et al., 2012) and the
downward flow of water during the freezing process is impeded; for this
reason, the change in SWC at a depth of 100-200 cm was not obvious (Fig.
9b). In addition, the freeze-thawing cycle may also significantly impact
soil physical properties (Viklander, 1998), which will in turn affect
the soil water distribution. The unfrozen water retained in the soil
forms a large pore pressure gradient in the cold-warm junction area. Due
to this pore pressure, soil with large pores can transport water to the
area with small pores (Chen et al., 2013). This phenomenon can also
partially explain the redistribution of soil water from the depth of 100
cm to the upper layer.