OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS IN A CLAY SOIL AFTER PLOWING OR DIRECT DRILLING

The concentration of oxygen at three depths (15, 30 and 60 cm) has been measured in a direct‐drilled or ploughed clay soil of low hydraulic conductivity (Evesnam series) which was cropped with winter wheat in three consecutive growing seasons (1972/73 to 1974/75). The mean oxygen concentrations between January and March varied with the seasonal rainfall; in the relatively dry winter of 1972/73they were 20 per cent (v/v) at 15 cm and 12 per cent (v/v) at 60 cm, but in the wetter winters of 1973/74 and 1974/75 they were less than 11 and 6 per cent (v/v) at 15 and 60 cms respectively. Direct drilling resulted in higher oxygen concentrations at 15 cm than ploughing in both wetter winters, the mean concentration being 10.2 and 7.2 per cent (v/v) in direct‐drilled and ploughed plots respectively. Frequency distributions of values obtained at individual sampling points showed that when the mean oxygen concentration of the soil at 15 cm decreased to its annual minimum (in January‐March), a significantly higher proportion of the sampling points under direct drilling continued to show concentrations of oxygen greater than 10 per cent (v/v). The results are interpreted as indicating that the higher oxygen concentrations found in this soil after direct drilling are due to the development of a system of continuous large pores and channels which would otherwise be destroyed by annual ploughing. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved