A field study of unstable preferential flow during soil water redistribution

Reversal of the matric potential gradient during redistribution of soil water following infiltration has been hypothesized as a cause of preferential flow by inducing a fluid instability at the leading edge of the wetting front. In this paper, we present results of 17 field experiments carried out to quantify the effects of redistribution on preferential flow in nonstructured soils. The experiments were performed in three field soils (Superstition sand, Delhi sand, and Hanford sandy loam) under saturating and nonsaturating water application rates. Water flow patterns were monitored at various times during redistribution with photography using anionic dyes and by intensive core sampling of bromide added during infiltration. The soil surface was either tilled or undisturbed, exposed or covered with a plastic membrane, and the top 20-cm fine layer was either left in place or removed in various treatments. The infiltration water containing tracers was applied continuously and uniformly to the surface of a 2 x 1.2 m(2) field plot using a moving spray system. After the soil received 8 to 20 cm of water, a trench was dug adjacent to the plot and vertical soil profiles were exposed at different times and positions to visualize the redistribution process. Some profiles were intensively sampled by soil coring along the trench face and analyzed for water content and bromide concentration to quantify the redistribution of water in the wetted zones. The observed two- and three-dimensional distribution of the water tracers clearly indicated the development of unstable flow during redistribution in two of the three soil types studied but not in the coarsest-textured Superstition sand. Symptoms of instability included irregularly shaped fingers that tended to become narrower toward their tips, isolated patches, and highly concentrated areas of the tracers indicating signs of converging and intermittent flow. The measured tortuosity of the wetting front was near 1.0 at the end of infiltration, indicating a stable front, but increased significantly during redistribution until finally declining due to the effects of capillary diffusion. Mean finger thicknesses were comparable (about 13 cm) in the two soils where instabilities were observed and were found to be consistent with predictions using an equation developed from stability theory.