Guilhem Bourrié, a member of the Académie d'Agriculture de France, is a pedologist and geochemist.

• Foreword xiAndré MariottiIntroduction xvGuilhem BourriéChapter 1. Physico-chemistry of the Soil–Water System 1Guilhem Bourrié1.1. The “abnormal” properties of water 11.1.1. The thermodynamic properties of pure water 31.1.2. The stability field of water according to the pH and pe 31.2. Properties of the water molecule 61.2.1. Geometry of the isolated water molecule 61.2.2. Water molecular orbitals 71.2.3. The first greenhouse gas: water 91.3. Pure liquid water 101.3.1. Dispersion forces 101.3.2. Hydrogen bonds 111.3.3. Associations of water molecules 111.3.4. The contribution of the density functional theory 121.3.5. A new vision for liquid water 121.4. Solutions properties 131.4.1. Goldschmidt’s ionic potential 131.4.2. The pseudoconcept of base cation 151.4.3 Jolivet’s model of partial charges 161.4.4. Application of the partial charge model to cations forms in water 211.4.5. The hydrophobic interaction and the biological role of water 231.4.6. The osmotic potential 231.4.7. The Gibbs–Duhem equation 241.4.8. The activity of dissolved salts 251.4.9. Activity coefficients 261.5. Calculation of activity coefficients 281.5.1. The Debye–Hückel theories 281.5.2. Pitzer’s model 301.5.3. The specific interactions theory 311.5.4. Practical implementation of models of calculation of activity coefficients 311.5.5. Application examples of activity calculations 331.5.6. Another approach: the lattice model 391.6. The matric potential 411.7. Osmotic potential and matric potential 441.8. Interaction with solid surfaces 441.9. Soil and microenvironment heterogeneity 461.10. Appendix: conditions for water stability 461.10.1. Water stability in acidic medium 461.10.2. Acidobasic neutrality 461.10.3. Water stability according to redox conditions 471.10.4. Water redox neutrality 481.11. Bibliography 49Chapter 2. Soil Wettability 53Philippe Beltrame2.1. Introduction 532.2. Substrate wettability 542.2.1. Contact angle 542.2.2. Surface tension 552.2.3. Laplace pressure 562.2.4. Young–Dupré equation 572.2.5. Spreading parameter 582.3. Diffuse interface 592.3.1. Disjoining pressure 592.3.2. Pseudopartial wetting 612.4. Wetting dynamics 652.4.1. Paradox of the triple line 652.4.2. Contact angle hysteresis 662.4.3. Front instability 662.5. Capillarity 682.5.1. Capillary length 682.5.2. Capillary height and Jurin’s law 702.5.3. Capillary pressure 732.5.4. Darcy–Richards’ equation 752.6. Soil wettability: beyond capillarity 762.6.1. Hydrophobic soils 762.6.2. Wettability of a porous medium 792.6.3. Preferential flow genesis in micropores 802.7. Conclusion 812.8. Bibliography 82Chapter 3. Water Uptake by Plants 85Claude Doussan, Loïc Pagès3.1. Introduction 853.1.1. A system with two main actors subjected to climate 853.1.2. Water flow from the soil up to the root collar of the plant is subjected to physical laws 863.1.3. Analysis of processes and their synthesis using simulation models 863.2. The cohesion-tension theory 863.3. Soil roles 873.3.1. Water storage and retention in soil 873.3.2. Water transport in the soil: notions of water potential and hydraulic conductivity 903.3.3. Water transfer from the soil to the root 923.4. Roles of roots 943.4.1. Development of an exchange and transport surface and the notion of root architecture 943.4.2. Root types 943.4.3. Developmental processes 953.4.4. Variation of root properties along the root 963.4.5. Other structures carried by roots 973.4.6. Strategies for root system development of various species 973.5. Soil/roots interactions 983.5.1. Soil modulates root development in various ways 983.5.2. Roots alter the surrounding soil: the rhizosphere 993.6. Soil/roots systems biophysical models 1003.6.1. Description of water transport mechanisms in soil 1003.6.2. Representation of root architecture dynamics 1033.6.3. Transfer and hydraulic architecture representation in the root system: coupling with transfers in soil 1043.6.4. Modulation of root hydraulic conductivity over time and processes related to aquaporins and embolism 1093.6.5. Coupling of water transfer to and within the root system with transfers in soil 1113.7. Conclusion 1153.8. Appendix: demonstration of Equation [3.4] 1153.9. Bibliography 116Chapter 4. Preferential Flows 121Yves Coquet, Ary Bruand4.1. Water and solute transport 1224.1.1. Water transport 1224.1.2. Solute transport 1254.2. Notion of “preferential flow” 1284.3. Experimental study 1294.3.1. Soil columns 1294.3.2. Lysimeters 1304.3.3. In situ tracing 1314.3.4. Drained plots 1324.4. Originating mechanisms 1334.4.1. Role of macropores 1354.4.2. Role of textural discontinuities 1354.5. Models 1384.5.1. The “mobile water/immobile water” (MIM) model 1394.5.2. Dual permeability models 1404.6. Bibliography 141Chapter 5. Floods 145Marcel Masson5.1. When society programs disasters 1455.2. From empiricism to modeling 1475.2.1. The arduous evolution of flood forecasting 1485.3. The naturalist alternative 1505.3.1. The implicit rejection of rationality 1535.4. The alluvial environment, a place for confrontations 1545.4.1. The agricultural pressure 1545.4.2. The pressure of urbanization 1565.4.3. Protect and/or prevent? 1575.4.4. Contradictions between the sovereign role of the State and logics of decentralization 1615.5. Moving from a defensive–curative to a preventive–innovative approach 1625.5.1. Alternative to urbanization in flood-prone areas 1625.5.2. Creating synergy between issues: flood prevention and agrarian economy 1635.6. Toward qualitative space management? 1645.7. Bibliography 165List of Authors 167Index 169