The Formation Mechanism of Soil Interflow in Loess Hill Gully
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsWork written in an interesting way, but I have a few observations and comments to make before publishing the work.
1. Lines 50-51: "So, the key question is how to apply soil interflow." - The sentence is incomprehensible, what did the authors mean?
2. Lines 79-80 - How the results are expected to enhance the quality of land formation?
3. Lines 109-110: Something is wrong with the font and sentence construction.
4. The caption of figure 4 is unworthy of what is shown in the diagram.
5. The figure 7 caption is confusing.
6. Line 214 - Figure 8 ??? - there is no figure 8 in the work.
Author Response
- Lines 50-51: "So, the key question is how to apply soil interflow." - The sentence is incomprehensible, what did the authors mean?
Response: We mean the key question is how to regulation and utilization soil interflow. （Page2,paragraph 1,and line 6）
- Lines 79-80 - How the results are expected to enhance the quality of land formation?
Response: We mean how the results are expected to enhance the quality of land consolidation engineering. （Page2, paragraph 2, and line 4）
- Lines 109-110: Something is wrong with the font and sentence construction.
Response: We have revised this sentence in revised manuscript. （Page3, paragraph 2, and line 5-8）
- The caption of figure 4 is unworthy of what is shown in the diagram.
Response: We are very sorry for our carelessness. We got the Order of Figure 3 and figure 4 backwards. （Page5-6, Figue3and 4）
- The figure 7 caption is confusing.
Response: We have modified the figure 7 caption in revised manuscript. （Page8, Figue7）
- Line 214 - Figure 8 ??? - there is no figure 8 in the work.
Response: We are very sorry for our carelessness. We have modified it in revised manuscript. （Page8, paragraph 1, and line 2）
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear authors!
You have prepared an interesting and informative manuscript regarding the redistribution of water flows in the soils of the Loess Plateau with a gully landscape network. From my point of view, it is quite suitable for Water J. and I recommend it for publication. I hope you will correct some minor comments in the manuscript yourself.
1. As a soil scientist, I strongly recommend that you include in “Materials and Methods” the names of soil types, in accordance with WRB (https://www.isric.org/sites/default/files/WRB_fourth_edition_2022-12-18.pdf).
2. Next, the phrase “The layering structure of the soil was obvious, with the upper layer (0–60 cm) and lower layer (below 60 cm) having bulk densities of 1.20–1.36 and 1.53–1.61 g/cm3 respectively, and permeability coefficients of 0.40–0.48 163 and 0.04–0.08 mm/min, respectively" on lines 161-164 is not correct, from my point of view. Bulk density in any mineral soil, (including absolutely homogeneous soil) will increase with depth up to 1.6 g/cm3 or more due to the lithological weight from the top.
3. In figure 5, the legend seems to have disappeared (it’s not clear what gradations of water content you used). I'm sure you can easily correct these comments.
For future research, I recommend that you detail the theory of infiltration by including the problem of instability of the front of water movement in the soil. In particular, layered soils will exhibit a finger effect and preferential water transport. Also, drying out of the loess surface will cause a powerful surface runoff of sudden precipitation and its redistribution in a depression due to the hydrophobicity of the sun-dried soil.
Jule 02 2024
Best wishes, Your Reviewer
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageSuitable and understandable, English; minor typos and grammatical errors can be corrected by the MDPI technical editor in the final version of the manuscript.
Author Response
You have prepared an interesting and informative manuscript regarding the redistribution of water flows in the soils of the Loess Plateau with a gully landscape network. From my point of view, it is quite suitable for Water J. and I recommend it for publication. I hope you will correct some minor comments in the manuscript yourself.
- As a soil scientist, I strongly recommend that you include in “Materials and Methods” the names of soil types, in accordance with WRB (https://www.isric.org/sites/default/files/WRB_fourth_edition_2022-12-18.pdf).
Response: Considering your suggestion, we have added this section in revised manuscript.
- Next, the phrase “The layering structure of the soil was obvious, with the upper layer (0–60 cm) and lower layer (below 60 cm) having bulk densities of 1.20–1.36 and 1.53–1.61 g/cm3 respectively, and permeability coefficients of 0.40–0.48 163 and 0.04–0.08 mm/min, respectively" on lines 161-164 is not correct, from my point of view. Bulk density in any mineral soil, (including absolutely homogeneous soil) will increase with depth up to 1.6 g/cm3 or more due to the lithological weight from the top.
Response: Considering your suggestion, we have deleted this section in revised manuscript.
- In figure 5, the legend seems to have disappeared (it’s not clear what gradations of water content you used). I'm sure you can easily correct these comments.
Response: We have added the legend in figure 5 of revised manuscript.
For future research, I recommend that you detail the theory of infiltration by including the problem of instability of the front of water movement in the soil. In particular, layered soils will exhibit a finger effect and preferential water transport. Also, drying out of the loess surface will cause a powerful surface runoff of sudden precipitation and its redistribution in a depression due to the hydrophobicity of the sun-dried soil.
Response: Thank you for your valuable advice, which is of great significance to my future research.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
