Penetration and Distribution of Tritiated Water in Soils of a Lysimeter

Abstract

A lysimeter experiment was carried out to determine the penetration and distribution of a water pulse applied on the soil surface as a tritium labelled simulated precipitation (30-60 mm). Three plots of soil (each 10 m2, 1.5 m deep) were used, one filled with gravel, the others with fine sand. In gravel the pulse penetrated ca. 50 cm in the first week, in the fine sand plots less than 15 cm. In gravel the tritium maximum penetrated the lysimeter in 150 days, in fine sand much later. The results were compared with theoretically calculated values.