Soil Moisture Response to Cropping and Tillage on Western Iowa Loess Soils
ABSTRACT PROPERTIES of premined and postmined soil profiles were measured on three surface mined areas in eastern Oklahoma. Two types of spoil were represented in the reclaimed profiles, clay spoil and shale spoil. Properties determined were: bulk density, moisture retention (at saturation, 0.1 bar and 15 bar suction), texture, percent coarse fragments, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The hydrologic consequences of the changes in soil properties and the adequacy of the root zone provided by reclaimed profiles are addressed