Factors affecting aggregate instability of Greek agricultural soils

The aggregate stability of several surface soils from Thessaly plain, Central Greece, was studied using an instability index which classified the soils according to the stability of their aggregates to water. This index was correlated to the basic soil properties influencing aggregate stability. It was found that soil aggregate stability was positively correlated with clay content, total specific surface area, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, and free silicon oxides content. Silt, very fine and fine sand, and the ratio (sand+silt)/clay influenced negatively the aggregate stability. Organic matter content and sesquioxides have no effect on aggregate stability. It was also observed that the fraction of carbonates with silt dimension influenced negatively the aggregate stability. From the results of this study it was concluded that the factors affecting water aggregate stability were specific surface area and cation exchange capacity of the soils.