Water storage, surface, and structural properties of sandy forest humus horizons

In this paper, we tried to find interrelations between water retention properties, surface characteristics, and structural features of sandy soils rich in organic matter. Raw humic, epihumic, and endohumic horizons of four acidic sandy forest soils were selected for this study. Specific areas and water adsorption energies were estimated from water vapor adsorption isotherms, micropore (nanometer range) parameters from desorption isotherms, mesopore (micrometer range) parameters from mercury intrusion porosimetry, and macropore (millimeter range) parameters from water retention curves measured using combined suction plate and pressure chamber methods. In the studied soils, pore volumes in all pore ranges were proportional to soil organic matter content. Thin column wicking technique was used to determine migration velocity vs. time dependence in the samples beds for a range of liquids of various surface tensions. From these dependencies the surface free energy and its components were estimated that were used for calculation of water contact angles and forces of interparticle interaction via a water meniscus. The dominant interactions in the studied soils were dispersive Lifshitz-Van der Waals forces. In the two upper horizons polar acid-base interactions were absent, however in the deepest horizons, high input of polar interactions occurred, due practically to electron-donor component of the surface free energy. The electron-acceptor contribution was low. The wettability of the soils was low in upper horizons as indicated by high water contact angles.