SEASONAL VARIATION OF ERODIBILITY INDICES BASED ON SHEAR STRENGTH AND AGGREGATE STABILITY IN SOME ONTARIO SOILS

Abstract

Soil-erodibility indices were investigated in two regions of Ontario to evaluate their seasonal variation and differences between soil types. Shear strength and water-stable aggregates >0.5 mm were strongly negatively correlated with gravimetric soil water content for a Guelph sandy loam soil in southwestern Ontario. Similar variation of shear strength was estimated in three other southwestern Ontario surface soils as a result of seasonal changes in moisture content. Shear strength and aggregate stability increased as four eastern Ontario soils, ranging in texture from loamy sand to clay, dried and warmed following spring thaw. Laboratory incubation at constant temperature and water content showed that shear strength increased in two fine-textured soils with increasing degree days but changed very little in two coarse-textured soils. At the point-of-thaw in the field, all of the eastern Ontario soils exhibited very high values of the indices 1/shear strength and 1/aggregate stability, averaging approximately 15 times those of early July. During spring fallow and seed-bed to 10% canopy periods, the mean values of these indices were 3.7 and 1.4 times, respectively, those in early July. For winter-thaw conditions in the three southwestern Ontario soils, the index 1/shear strength averaged 17 times greater than in the summer. Spring values of this index averaged approximately twice those of summer. Results suggest that Ontario soils are much more susceptible to erosion under thaw and spring conditions than later during the growing season. Soil water content and soil warming may affect the re-establishment of resistance to erosion in soils rendered erodible by freezing, thawing, and saturation. Key words: Erodibility, shear strength, aggregate stability