Soil shear strength and cohesion at high water content and low bulk density determine rill erosion. Aging of wet soil samples at different temperatures may increase the cohesion forces between soil particles. The effects of soil water content (200–500 g kg −1 ), aging (15 min, 4 and 24 h) and temperature (25, 40, and 60°C) on rill erosion of three soils, a grumusol (Typic Chromoxerert), a loess (Calcic Haploxeralf), and a hamra (Typic Rhodoxeralf), were studied in the laboratory using a small hydraulic flume. For water contents above air dried, rill erodibility (RE) decreased with increased aging. Optimum water contents for development of cohesion differed for the grumusol and loess. The effect of aging on RE depended on soil type. At no aging, RE was the highest in the clay grumusol (3.26 × 10 −3 s m −1 ) and the lowest in the loamy sand (0.52 × 10 −3 s m −1 ). With increased aging to 4 and 24 h, RE of the grumusol decreased to 0.24 × 10 −3 s m −1 but the RE of the hamra was not affected. Development of biological and chemical cohesion forces determine RE changes with aging. At 60°C the biological mechanism diminished and the chemical mechanism predominated. High water content and high temperature (high Brownian motion) during aging enhance clay‐to‐clay contacts and cementation of soil particles into a cohesive structure that resists rill erosion.
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Shainberg et al. (1996) studied this question.