[Characteristics of the preferential flow and its response to irrigation amount in oasis cropland]

Preferential flow is a physical process describing how water and solutes move aiong cer- tain pathways through soil profile. Studying the cropland preferential flow patterns and its influential factors could quantify the deep percolation, improve water and fertilizer use efficiency and reduce the risk of agrochemicals contaminating shallow groundwater in oasis cropland. The dye tracer exper- ments were carried out in field oasis cropland, using a brilliant blue FCF solution. The results showed that between ridge and furrow, the number of stained paths densities differed significantly at the 7.3-16.7 cm depth of the soil profiles, while the maximum dye depth had no significant differ- ence. The main influence factors of the maximum stained depth were the irrigation amount and the ant burrows. The maximum stained depth was (43.1 ± 5.9) cm with the mean irrigation amount of 120 mm, however, the maximum stained depth was (68.3 ± 7.6) cm with the irrigation amount of 55 mm under the influence of the ant burrows. Root played an important role in preferential flow, but only the fine roots (Φ ≤ 2 mm) were significantly related to the preferential flow in oasis cropland, while the coarse roots were not. In oasis cropland, the characteristics of the preferential flow were influenced by the irrigation amount, the furrow and ridge planting, the ant burrows and the roots, and the ant burrows were an uncertain factor which affected the maximum infiltration depth of the preferential flow.