HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Amezketa, E. Articles by Le Bissonnais, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Amezketa, E. Articles by Le Bissonnais, Y. Agricola Articles by Amezketa, E. Articles by Le Bissonnais, Y.

Testing a New Procedure for Measuring Water-Stable Aggregation

Dep. of Land, Air and Water Resources, Univ. of California, Davis, CA 95616

Y. Le Bissonnais

Service d'Etude des Sols et de la Carte Pédologique de France, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Centre d'Orléans, 45160 Ardon, France

*Corresponding author (mjsinger{at}ucdavis.edu).

ABSTRACT

Aggregate stability is an important but difficult soil property to quantify and interpret. Numerous methods have been used to determine aggregate stability with varying success. This complicates the comparison among aggregate stability data. It is also difficult to obtain a consistent correlation between aggregate stability and other important soil properties such as soil erodibility or crusting potential. The objective of this study was to compare the standard Kemper and Rosenau method for measuring water-stable aggregates (WSA) with a new technique, and correlate the erosive and crusting behavior of 10 new California soils to the aggregate stabilities determined by both methods. The new method consists of determining the particle-size distribution of aggregates remaining on a 0.25-mm-diam. sieve after fast wetting, slow wetting, and stirring after prewetting. In the new technique, aggregates are sieved in alcohol instead of water. Both stability tests are simple and give reproducible estimates of aggregate stability. Coefficients of variation were <5% for both methods. However, only the stability parameters like mean weight diameter (MWD) for fast wetting and stirring after prewetting, obtained with the new method, correlate well with the erosive and crusting behavior of the test soils. For example, MWD after fast wetting was significantly correlated (r = –0.85) with splash erosion mass, but there was no significant correlation between WSA, obtained with the standard method, and splash erosion mass. In addition, the new method provides information about the stability for various conditions occurring at the soil surface as well as about the mechanisms causing stability loss.

This research is supported by the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Technologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Spanish Agency.

Received for publication April 6, 1995.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O. A. Daraghmeh, J. R. Jensen, and C. T. Petersen Near-Saturated Hydraulic Properties in the Surface Layer of a Sandy Loam Soil under Conventional and Reduced Tillage Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., October 30, 2008; 72(6): 1728 - 1737. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Kjaergaard, L. W. de Jonge, P. Moldrup, and P. Schjonning Water-Dispersible Colloids: Effects of Measurement Method, Clay Content, Initial Soil Matric Potential, and Wetting Rate Vadose Zone J., May 1, 2004; 3(2): 403 - 412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. J. Levy and A. I. Mamedov High-Energy-Moisture-Characteristic Aggregate Stability as a Predictor for Seal Formation Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., September 1, 2002; 66(5): 1603 - 1609. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Chenu, Y. Le Bissonnais, and D. Arrouays Organic Matter Influence on Clay Wettability and Soil Aggregate Stability Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., July 1, 2000; 64(4): 1479 - 1486. [Abstract] [Full Text]