4.1.1. Young ridge crust (Fig. 3)
The thin section of the young ridge crust can be seen to have
a microbed with a massive structure. It can be attributed to the
formation of a structural crust, but also a sedimentation crust has
occurred through the shifting of material from higher to lower-
lying areas caused by the more distinct relief of the ridge.
Soil consolidation through the mechanical forces of raindrop
impact leads to a relatively constant thickness of the consolidated
microbed, whereas sedimentation does generally not result in
constant thickness. According to the relief the material is deposited
here, i.e. in depressions it is thicker than in even or elevated areas.
In the crust thin section there are deviations in the thickness
of the massive microbed: this is shown in the central area of the
image, where the surface moves into the even area and a thick
crust is present. It can therefore be assumed that this is material
eroded from higher-lying into lower-lying areas of the ridge.
Additionally a contour to the unaffected soil beneath indicates a
sedimentation crust. A difference from the young furrow crusts
is that no interbedding of coarse and fine material can be seen.
This backs up the results of Bresson and Boiffin (1990), who
did not find any clear separation in inter-aggregates voids in
sedimentary crusts because of the short transport path or the
transport via splash.