Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Salinization

Salinization 

Procedure:
Measure4g of salt
Mix salt with 100mL of water
Measure out 20ml of the solution 
Pour over paper towel 
Put in unclosed ziplock bag 
Place under grow light

Observations:
Looks like seeds 
Overtime the seeds get darker
The seeds get lager

Data: 
4g/100ml= 4% concentration of salt

Conclusions:
The seeds with a lesser concentration of salt got larger and puffed up more. Due to the size difference in seeds with smaller concentration vs. lager concentration it was concluded that the salt was a hindrance of growth, and the higher the concentration the header it is for crops to grow.

To remediate the soil one might use gypsum, lime, or calcium nitrate.
Cations can also be exchanged to remediate the soil.

Soil porocity

Soil porocity

Procedure:
A 250ml beaker was filled with 200ml of soil.
100ml graduated cylinder was filled with 100ml of water.
The water was then poured onto soil until completely saturated.
Observations were made.
The water left over was measured.

Observations and Data:
The soil  looked saturated 
Soil is wet
37ml of water left over after saturation
The measurement of water left over was subtracted from 100 to find the pore space.
100-37=63
63ml of pore space 
The pore space was divided by the amount of soil that was started with to find the percent soil porocity. 
63/200=31.5%porocity

Burlese Funnel

The following pictures are of the burlese funnel over the course of 5 days.




Salinization

 
The following photos are of the various salinization seeds.
 








Soil Collection

The soil was collected from Marlies's backyard. the sample was about a foot from a 5 foot tall wooden fence and about two feet away from a row of lilac bushes. All of the grass above and surrounding the soil sample was green and at similar heights. In the sample right as it was being dug out of the ground, there were many roots and a peach pit near it and leaves around it. There were many large chunks of soil all clumped together as well as smaller particles mixed into the sample.

The photos below show the soil sample, the hole it was dug from and the area surrounding the hole.



Soil Moisture

Soil Moisture

Data:
2.36g - aluminum tray
32.0g - tray w/soil
29.64g - soil
26.10 - mass after 24 hrs. in drying oven
23.74 - mass of soil after 24hrs. in drying oven
5.9g of water lost
20%water in soil 

Procedure:
 An aluminum tray was made.
The mass of the tray was recorded.
Soil was added to the tray.
The mass of the tray plus the soil was recorded.
The mass of the tray was subtracted from the mass recorded to find the soil mass.
The sample was put in the drying oven for24 hrs.
The mass was then recorded and observations were made.
The mass of the dry soil was subtracted from the mass from the original soil to find the amount of water lost.


Observations:
Before placing soil in the drying oven the soil looked moist and clumpy
After 24hrs in drying oven soil loos dry, clumpy, brittle

Results:
percent water in sample calculated:
((5.9g)\(29.64g))*100= 20%water

Water lost calculation:
29.64g(initial mass) - 23.74g(final mass) = 5.9g of water lost

Compared to the soil texture test our soil sample was very moist. In the moisture test we found a large mass of water in the soil, which directly correlated with the results of the soil texture test. The texture test showed that our soil was sticky with mostly clay and a silty loam. The high amount of moisture in our soil made our soil made our sample clay- like. This compared to the other tests done which also indicated our soil was moist. 
Soil Dry Percolation Rate: soil

     To perform this lab, I placed a small piece of filter paper in the neck of a 16 oz water bottle that has been cut off to act as a funnel. I filled the funneled section with soil samples to 1 cm of the top. I set the funnel section into the remaining bottom part of the water bottle. I then poured water onto the surface of the soil and started the timer when the water hit the sample and stopped the timer when there was a measurable amount of water that had fallen through the soil and filter paper.

     9.7 seconds went by before there was a measurable amount of water in the bottle. The total amount of water that fell through in 9.7 seconds was 35.2 mL. To calculate the rate of the percolation I measured in cubic centimeters of water per surface area of sample for second. The equation is 35.2 mL / 9.7 seconds. The surface area of the bottle was 28.27 cm^2. I found the percolation rate to be 3.63 cm^3 per second / the surface area of 28.27 cm^2.the sand took 18 seconds for a measurable amount of water to reach the bottom. The total amount of water that fell through in this period of time was 22.5 ML. The surface area was 28.27 cm^2. The percolation rate was found to be 1.25 cm^3 per second/ the surface area of 28.27 cm^2.

The following photos are of the bottle and funnel after the water was poured through the soil and the water that ran through the soil.