The Effects of Desert Crust on the Character of Soil Water

Soil water is one of the most restrictive factors to the land productivity. This paper analysed the influence of several different desert crusts on the sandland water infiltration on Erdos Plateau. It reveals the soil crust can extremely decrease the infiltration rate. When the soil crust is taken off, the soil water content at 5cm layer beneath the surface increased markablly after 10 min by spraying the water, but with the soil crust at the same depth the soil water content began to increase after 15 min. using Simplified Disc Permeameter we determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity, the results show on the stationary sand dune with crusts the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity range is about 29.10~82.21 mm/h; one semi-stationary sand drift with thinner soil crust the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity range is about 143.54~-230.25 mm/h; when taken away the soil crust, the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity is several times higher, and the active sand drift without any crust has the highest saturated hydraulic conductivity.