The effect of various cations on the waterstability of soil aggregates

Authors

• Mikko Sillanpää Department of Soil Science, Agricultural Research Centre, Helsinki

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.71527

Abstract

The effects of various cations on the aggregation of four clay soils were studied. To avoid errors and variation and to obtain clear differences between the treatments only certain limited size fractions of aggregates were used. The samples were wetted slowly by capillarity with the treatment solutions, allowed to stand in a submerged condition, air-dried, rewetted and analyzed by the wet sieving method. The results bring out rather distinct differences among the effects of various cations. The water stability of aggregates was a function of the concentration of the treatment solutions.