Water quality risks from soil structure degradation in Scotland

Are soils being managed in a way that degrades their structure and affects water quality? You will help answer this question in a fully funded PhD project between the University of Aberdeen and the University of Highlands and Islands.

This PhD project builds on the earlier survey in Scotland by broadening sampling beyond the agriculturally productive central belt and east coast, capturing greater diversity in soils, climate and farming practices. Rapid visual evaluation of soil structural degradation at the start of the project will identify study sites for further investigation.

This will include re-visiting some locations sampled in 2015/2016 to explore changes. Most of the project involves deeper investigations at selected sites to explore how soil structural degradation links to hydrochemistry and the resulting impact on water quality. The research will encompass field-based measurements of soil and water physical and chemical properties, and laboratory column studies where soil structural degradation can be manipulated and hydrochemical processes measured accurately.