The genesis of pedogenetic structures in urban soils and their reflections on hydraulic conductivity

Abstract

Human actions interfere in the processes of soil formation in urban environments mainly by the introduction of anthropic materials, changing their morphological, physical, chemical and/or mineralogical characteristics. The soil structure is one of the morphological characteristics most affected by anthropic activities, and its destruction or degradation can significantly affect the hydrological cycle. The objective of this work is to demonstrate the performance of pedogenetic processes related to the development of structure and its influence on hydraulic conductivity in urban soils. For that, it was the description and collection of soils in the field and a series of analyses have been carried out, more specifically micromorphology; scanning of soil structures by Multi-stripe Laser Triangulation (MLT); determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity; apparently density; soil density; granulometry; weighted average diameter; aggregate stability index; total porosity; clay dispersed in water; degree of flocculation; pHH2O and pHKCl; exchangeable cations (Na +, K +, Ca + 2, Mg + 2); potential acidity and organic carbon; identification of microplastics; Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The soils were classified according to the WRB, the micromorphological and MLT data were interpreted using image treatment software and the physical and chemical data will be treated by descriptive and factorial statistical analysis. The hydraulic conductivity will be related to the structural features present in the soil and the other data generated. It is expected to find variability in structural arrangements and degrees of development, as well as hydraulic conductivity values in the surface layer, due to the heterogeneity of anthropic materials. (AU)