Temporal changes in wet aggregate stability

Lehrsch, G.A. and Jolley, P.M. (1992) Temporal changes in wet aggregate stability. Transactions of the ASAE. 35(2):493-498.

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Abstract

Aggregate stability, a property that influences a soil's
erodibility and hydraulic characteristics, has been shown in
previous investigations (e.g., Bullock et al., 1988) to vary
over time for some northwestern U.S. soils. The objectives of
this study were to evaluate three procedures for measuring
aggregate stability and quantify variation in aggregate
stability over time (that is, within a growing season) for
selected soils across the United States. In 1988 and 1989,
soils from 11 states were sampled monthly from April to July
and in September. The stability of 1- to 4-mm aggregates
from each sample was measured by 1) wetting air-dry (A-D)
aggregates in a vaporizer followed by wet-sieving; 2)
immersing A-D aggregates immediately prior to wet sieving;
and 3) vapor-wetting field-moist aggregates followed by wet
sieving. The sieving of vapor-wetted field-moist aggregates
best revealed temporal variation. In general, the aggregate
stability of northern soils varied more over time than did the
aggregate stability of southern soils, probably due to
differences in freezing and thawing. Biological activity likely
accounted in part for temporal changes in the stability of
soils from the upper Midwest. Trends in stability change
over time in soils from one region of the United States to
another were seldom similar.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0773
Subjects:	Soil Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:53
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2016 22:45
Item ID:	578
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/578