Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization

Abstract Clay minerals dominate the soil colloidal fraction and its specific surface area. Differences among clay mineral types significantly influence their effects on soil hydrological and mechanical behavior. Presently, the soil clay content is used to parameterize soil hydraulic and mechanical p...

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Main Authors: P. Lehmann, B. Leshchinsky, S. Gupta, B. B. Mirus, S. Bickel, N. Lu, D. Or
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-10-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095311
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author P. Lehmann
B. Leshchinsky
S. Gupta
B. B. Mirus
S. Bickel
N. Lu
D. Or
author_facet P. Lehmann
B. Leshchinsky
S. Gupta
B. B. Mirus
S. Bickel
N. Lu
D. Or
author_sort P. Lehmann
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Clay minerals dominate the soil colloidal fraction and its specific surface area. Differences among clay mineral types significantly influence their effects on soil hydrological and mechanical behavior. Presently, the soil clay content is used to parameterize soil hydraulic and mechanical properties (SHMP) for land surface models while disregarding the type of clay mineral. This undifferentiated use of clay leads to inconsistent parameterization, particularly between tropical and temperate soils, as shown herein. We capitalize on recent global maps of clay minerals that exhibit strong climatic and spatial segregation of active and inactive clays to consider spatially resolved clay mineral types in SHMP estimation. Clay mineral‐informed pedotransfer functions and machine learning algorithms trained with datasets including different clay types and soil structure formation processes improve SHMP representation regionally with broad implications for hydrological and geomechanical Earth surface processes.
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institution DOAJ
issn 0094-8276
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publishDate 2021-10-01
publisher Wiley
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-66adf106160c40e89e3ba5727cfbbfe72025-08-20T03:22:14ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072021-10-014820n/an/a10.1029/2021GL095311Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil ParameterizationP. Lehmann0B. Leshchinsky1S. Gupta2B. B. Mirus3S. Bickel4N. Lu5D. Or6Soil and Terrestrial Environmental Physics ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandCollege of Forestry Oregon State University Corvallis OR USASoil and Terrestrial Environmental Physics ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandU.S. Geological Survey Landslides Hazards Program Denver CO USASoil and Terrestrial Environmental Physics ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandColorado School of Mines Golden CO USASoil and Terrestrial Environmental Physics ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandAbstract Clay minerals dominate the soil colloidal fraction and its specific surface area. Differences among clay mineral types significantly influence their effects on soil hydrological and mechanical behavior. Presently, the soil clay content is used to parameterize soil hydraulic and mechanical properties (SHMP) for land surface models while disregarding the type of clay mineral. This undifferentiated use of clay leads to inconsistent parameterization, particularly between tropical and temperate soils, as shown herein. We capitalize on recent global maps of clay minerals that exhibit strong climatic and spatial segregation of active and inactive clays to consider spatially resolved clay mineral types in SHMP estimation. Clay mineral‐informed pedotransfer functions and machine learning algorithms trained with datasets including different clay types and soil structure formation processes improve SHMP representation regionally with broad implications for hydrological and geomechanical Earth surface processes.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095311clay mineralSoil hydraulic propertiespedotransfer functionsfriction angleclay fraction
spellingShingle P. Lehmann
B. Leshchinsky
S. Gupta
B. B. Mirus
S. Bickel
N. Lu
D. Or
Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization
Geophysical Research Letters
clay mineral
Soil hydraulic properties
pedotransfer functions
friction angle
clay fraction
title Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization
title_full Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization
title_fullStr Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization
title_full_unstemmed Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization
title_short Clays Are Not Created Equal: How Clay Mineral Type Affects Soil Parameterization
title_sort clays are not created equal how clay mineral type affects soil parameterization
topic clay mineral
Soil hydraulic properties
pedotransfer functions
friction angle
clay fraction
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095311
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AT bbmirus claysarenotcreatedequalhowclaymineraltypeaffectssoilparameterization
AT sbickel claysarenotcreatedequalhowclaymineraltypeaffectssoilparameterization
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