Peatmoss Effect on the Physical and Hydraulic Characteristics of Compacted Soils

MEASUREMENTS of the water retention characteristics, saturated hydraulic conducivity and the penetration resistance were made on three soil types having varying organic matter contents and different amount of compaction effort. Compaction changes the ability of the soils to hold moisture, increases penetration resistance and decreases the available water capacity and saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soils. On the other hand, organic matter generally increases the ability of the soils to hold moisture, expands the available water capacity, increases the saturated conductivity and decreases the penetraiton resistance of compacted soils.