NOTE: This program is no longer active.
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Geophysical Studies of Agricultural Sites in the Lower Valley of El Paso
Team: Dr. Diane Doser & Marc Lucero
Crop yields in agricultural fields of El Paso’s Lower Valley strongly depend on the ability of soils to retain moisture but prevent the accumulation of salts. Changes in the moisture and salinity of soils throughout the irrigation season can be mapped using geophysical techniques, especially through measuring changes in ground conductivity. This project involves using ground conductivity and resistivity meters to measure electrical changes in the soil at two sites: an alfalfa field near the Mission del Valle branch of El Paso Community College (EPCC) near Ysleta and a pecan orchard southeast of Fabens. We will relate the changes in these geophysical properties to grain size changes (obtained through analysis of soil cores and other geophysical techniques), variations in soil types (as mapped by soil surveys and through analysis of aerial photographs) and changes in crop growth/yield. This information will increase our understanding of why certain soils are better for crops and help farmers to improve crop yield through modification of irrigation schedules, application of soil additives and other techniques.
The student would prepare a teaching module on how soils form, how soil layering affects the growth of plants and how geophysics can be used to determine the variations in soils and their behavior. The module would be presented either in a Physical Geology laboratory (GEOL 1103) or in a Geology for Engineers/Engineering Geology (GEOL 3321/CE 3335) laboratory at UTEP. I teach GEOL 3321/CE 3335 each spring semester and at least 2 labs in the course are devoted to soils since understanding their formation and behavior is essential to civil engineering practice. Although I am not currently the instructor of record for Physical Geology labs, several of my graduate students often are assigned to teach these labs and I would coordinate with them to determine if we could also teach the module in one of their sections. I feel the tie between soils and crop growth would be especially relevant for students in introductory classes so they can immediately see why geology is important to their daily existence. In the engineering class the emphasis would be on how the geophysical tools we used to study soil variation for agricultural purposes could also be used for engineering studies of soil behavior.
