Water Hits and Sticks: Findings Challenge a Century of Assumptions About Soil Hydrology
From Science Daily ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2010) — Researchers have discovered that some of the most fundamental assumptions about how water moves through soil in a seasonally dry climate such as the Pacific Northwest are incorrect -- and that a century of research based on those assumptions will have to be reconsidered. A new study by scientists from Oregon State University and the Environmental Protection Agency showed -- much to the surprise of the researchers -- that soil clings tenaciously to the first precipitation after a dry summer, and holds it so tightly that it almost never mixes with other water. The finding is so significant, researchers said, that they aren't even sure yet what it may mean. But it could affect our understanding of how pollutants move through soils, how nutrients get transported from soils to streams, how streams function and even how vegetation might respond to climate change . The research was just published online in Nature Geoscience , a profes...