Mechanisms and processes of crust formation on artificial aggregates

Crust formation process initiates from aggregate disinategration occurred through the combined effects of inherent soil properties and external actions. Rainfall plays a major role in determining the moisture conditions of the soil surface and in triggering aggregate disintegration mainly through slaking and the impact off raindrops. To analyze the relations between rainfall characteristics and crust formation, three artificially granulated aggregates were exposed to natural rainfall events. The rainfall characteristics were expressed in terms of the distribution pattern of rainfall intensity, I _10min; mean weighted drop diameters, D _n; raindrop concentration, N _Dn,; rainfall energy, Et;and kinetic energy, KE; as well as conventionally used parameters, such as total amount and mean intensity of rainfall. The degree of crusting was evaluated in terms of the water permeability and morphological observation just after the rainfall treatment. Based on a comparison of the rainfall characteristics and degree of crusting, we confirmed the following relations. Rainfall characteristics at the onset of the event considerably influence the degree of crusting, i.e. initial rainfall with high I _10min; and large drop size promotes aggregate disintegration by slaking due to rapid wetting, whereas initial gentle rainfall prevents slaking by slow wetting and subsequent crusting. When initial rainfall is not saaficient for slaking but Beads to a weakening sf the aggregates, subsequent disintegration and crusting are promoted by impact together with the residual influence of slaking. Impact is a dominant factor for aggregate disintegration under wet conditions after initial rainfall which is so gentle that slaking never occurs. Responses of the soils under different natural rainfall conditions were almost consistent with the results under simulated rainfall reported in the previous papers (Tanaka et $1.1997: Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 43, 99-107, 109-115). Crusting was not observed in the Fujino 1–3 soil gender any rainfall events. In the Wokuei 1–3 soil, characterized by a susceptibility to slaking and stability to impact, crusting was only formed under the rainfall with high I _{10 min} at the onset. For the Shimazu 1 soil, impact played a dominant role in crusting under any rainfall events, and a larger degree of crusting was found when the effects of impact and slaking were combined. The characteristics of rainfall monitored in this study may be within a normal range as natural rainfall in terms of the amount and the mean intensity, suggesting that crusting likely to occur if the aggregate stability of soils is Bower than or similar to that sf the Shimaza 1 and the Hokuei 1–3 soils.