et al. (1998)(see Eq.(1)) wasfitted to the experimental data. The
adjustment was considered satisfactory withr
2
values of 0.940–0.994
(Table 3andFig. 2). Data onTable 3show that abrasion by agitation
in water was the main process of aggregate disruption in the NAT
soils (b=9–37% aggregate losses). In contrast, in the cultivated soils,
with the exception of Undués de Lerda (hereafter, Undués), initial fast
wetting was the primary disruptive mechanism (a=48–91% losses).
In Undués, 44% of aggregates from the CT and NT soils were broken by
mechanical abrasion (b) and around of 30–40% during initial wetting
(a). As discussed below, the greater resistance of the cultivated soils at
this site can be related to the comparatively high OC contents in both
bulk soil and 1–2mmaggregates(Table 2andFig. 3).
Among the mechanisms responsible for the destabilization of soil
aggregates during the initial wetting, slaking was the dominant or