Circulation of Water in Soil under a Temperature Gradient

Abstract

SEVERAL workers (for example Gurr et al.¹, Hutcheon²) have suggested that, when a temperature gradient is applied to a uniform closed soil column, a circulatory system is set up, and that any eventual steady moisture distribution is actually a dynamic balance of opposing fluxes, predominantly vapour from hot to cold, and predominantly liquid from cold to hot. In this communication we show that, at equilibrium, a static system cannot exist, and confirm experimentally the existence of a circulatory system.