The capacity of soil particles for spontaneous formation of macroaggregates after a wetting-drying cycle

The capacity of soil particles for spontaneous formation of aggregates >0.25 mm was studied in a laboratory experiment. The particles from soil aggregates (3-1 mm) (initially aggregated particles, APs) and initially free particles (FPs) of <0.25 mm in size were isolated from the soddy-podzolic and chernozemic soils under fallow and from the arable soddy-podzolic soil. The aggregates of 3-1 mm were ground and passed through a 0.25-mm sieve. Then, the aggregates and free particles were poured with water and dried, and the content of the formed aggregates and their water stability were determined; in the samples from the arable soddy-podzolic soil, the organic carbon content was also determined in the newly formed aggregates. The FPs from the untilled soils formed almost no aggregates. At the same time, the APs from these soils manifested the ability for the spontaneous formation of aggregates, including water-stable aggregates. In the arable soddy-podzolic soil, on the contrary, both FPs and APs demonstrated the capacity for spontaneous self-organization into aggregates. The water stability of the self-organized aggregates from the arable soil was similar regardless of their source (APs or FPs). It was supposed that the ability of the FPs from the arable soil to form macroaggregates reflects the mechanical degradation of the aggregates in the soil: tillage results in the degradation of the aggregates, and the particles capable of spontaneously aggregation temporarily fall in the fraction of <0.25 mm. The water-stable aggregates produced from the APs or FPs of the arable soil contained more organic carbon (1.89%) in comparison with the water-stable aggregates separated from the initial 3- to 1-mm aggregates of this soil (1.31%).