THE CHANGE CHARACTERISTIC OF MOISTURE CONTENT OF LOESS STRATUM IN THE XI'AN AREA

On the basis of the field investigation,the actual deter mination data of moisture content and particulate component of the loess stratum in the Xi'an area,the moisture content of loess has been studied. It is known preliminarily that the moisture content of the loess has the charact eristic of undulate change and has the trend of increasing fluctuation from top to bottom in the same loess section.The apex is in the paleosoil and the trough lies in the loess stratum.The moisture content from top to bottom in the loess s tratum with CaCO_3 nodule varies from big to little then to big,and the pea k of it is on the top of the CaCO_3 nodule,which has the effects of separating water.On the contrary the change pattern of the moisture content from top to bot tom in the paleosol stratum is on the increase and then on the decrease,and the highest value of it lies in the middle or lower section,where the content of cl ay particles is at its maximum.The soil character is an important factor to de cide the magnitude of the moisture content and the change between the moisture c ontent and the content of clay particles shows a positive relativity.