PART IV

SOIL AGGREGATES
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

A statement by Jacks, referenced and reproduced in Section 15.1, has placed in

context the importance of the interactions between the colloidal inorganic and organic
constituents of soils. According to Jacks, these interactions and associations are "as
vital to life as photosynthesis". There are many among the uninitiated who will reject
such sentiments, though some will be more guarded than others in their rejection. But
no one who appreciates good soil structure, and its importance in the conservation of
the soil and in providing a desirable medium for the proliferation of plant roots, will
doubt the fundamental importance of the soil aggregate. Some attention was focused in
Section 3.6, and again in Sections 17.7 and 18.5, on the possible role of iron oxides
in stabilizing aggregates in oxidic soils, but there is no doubt at all about the role of
the colloidal components of soil organic matter in the formation and stabilization of
soil aggregates.
In Chapter IS, Professor Jack M. Bremner and Dr. D.A. Genrich have outlined a
procedure which can give excellent fractionation, on the basis of particle size
differences, of the gross mineral components of soils. These authors worked with ten·
Mollisol soils with different pH values and organic matter contents. Four of the soils
were paired samples from virgin and cultivated plots. Their fractionation procedure'
involved dispersion of the soil by ultrasonication in water, and subsequent isolation of
the sand, silt, and clay fractions by sieving, centrifugation, and filtration techniques.
Fractions were analysed for carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, metals,
cation-exchange capacity, and minerals.
The fractionation procedures provided an almost quantitative recovery of the soil
materials as the sand, silt, and clay fractions, and there was, of course, no
contamination by the detergents needed to achieve dispersion of the soil particles, as
used in other procedures. Results for all of the soils showed that the clay-size fractions
were enriched with carbon and nitrogen, and almost all of the organic matter in the
silts and sands were not associated with the mineral materials. Furthermore, the oldest
organic matter in the virgin soils was associated with the clays. The reader will find it
interesting to compare carbon contents for different Mollisols in TabeIs 15.6 and 17.2,
and to observe the differences between the carbon contents of the cultivated (soils 8
and 10) and virgin (soils 7 and 9) soils in Table 15.1. There are small differences in
the clay contents in the cultivated soils compared with their virgin counterparts, and
the losses may well add 'fuel' to the concern of conservationists.

417
418 Soil Colloids and their Associations in Aggregates

Chapter 15 focuses attention also on the importance of breaking aggregates, and

many will reflect on the extents to which microaggregates have contributed to unusual
properties reported for some silts in the past. The Bremner - Genrich study would
have been complete in the context of the theme of Part IV of this book had data been
provided for the sizes, distributions, and stabilities of aggregates in the different soils,
and it would have been especially interesting for us to see a comparison of such data
for the paired cultivated and virgin soils. That is, of course, a 'tall order' and should
not be interpreted as any form of criticism of a very fine contribution. To some
eextent we can draw on the contributions by others to this Part to give a partial
answer to some of the questions that arise from the work of Bremner and Genrich.
In Chapter 16 Professor James P. Quirk and Dr. R.S. Murray have looked at the
macroscopic scale of the influence of organic matter on the stabilities of aggregates.
Their discussion of the stabilities of samples of cultivated and virgin Rhodoxeralf
red-brown soils tells much about the importance of organic matter, and of its
distribution (within aggregates) for the stabilization of aggregates. A continuous
wheat-fallow regime was followed for the cultivated soil.
The evidence suggests that aggregate failure resulted from rapid wetting, and there
were clear indications that the virgin soil aggregates (which had the higher organic
matter contents) were stronger than those for the cultivated soils. However, when the
aggregates were dispersed and then reformed, there was no difference between the
stabilities of the reformed aggregates from the virgin and cultivated soils, although the
reformed aggregates were more stable than the aggregates from the field. Such results
would suggest that it may not be the organic matter per se which is responsible for the
increased stability, but the distribution of the organic matter within the aggregates.
Murray and Quirk are convincing in their thesis that, for the red-brown earth soils,
at least, the stabilization of the soil components surrounding the 15-50 I'm pore size is
of a major importance to the stabilization of soil aggregates. They argue that stability
of the soils forming the boundaries of such pores is especially important because these
pores form a continuum throughout the aggregates. In fact, it was possible to cause
the stabilities of the cultivated soils to match those of the virgin soils by introducing
the neutral polymer poly(vinyl alcohol) into the aggregates of the cultivated soils in
order to 'fix' the soils liming the 15-50 I'm pores.
The information in Chapter 18, by Dr. William W. Emerson and Dr. Dennis J.
Greenland, emphasizes further the role of organic matter in stabilizing aggregates.
They have summarised evidence which shows that stable macroaggregates are formed
under grass. Although these macroaggregates degrade rapidly initially under ploughing,
aggregation of the finer particles may persist, and there is evidence for the beneficial
effects of grassland persisting for up to 10 years of cultivation. In their concept of
stabilization, the organic matter provides a flexible bonding between the external
surfaces of clay domains, or perhaps more accurately tactoids. Clay tactoids and
silt-sized particles bond together first, especially in the zone of rapid root proliferations,
and then the larger sand-sized particles become incorporated to form macro- water-stable
aggregates. Polysaccharides may well provide the 'glue' that binds the clay-sized
particles together, and microbial filaments and fungal hyphae may provide the
mechanical binding effect that holds together the tactoids and larger soil particles.
 Introduction to Part IV 419

Extracellular polysaccharides in the filaments and hyphae can help the binding. The
authors consider that the breaking of such filamentous binders during ploughing or
mechanical disruptions of the soil would lead to break up of the macroaggregates.
The contribution of Drs. Emerson and Greenland does not emphasize a role for
humic substances in the formation and stabilisation of aggregates. Professor J.
Malcolm Oades, however, has stressed in Section 17.4 how humic substances in
Mollisols are associated with microaggregates that are very stable physically, and he
has referenced observations of the relatively high degree of insolubility in conventional
solvents of the humic substances associated with the clays in these soils. Evidence
from electron microscopy of leached soils (Section 17.3) suggests that the humic
materials occur as isolated concentrations of materials in the matrix of clay, and Oades
has expressed the opinion that such concentrations arose from the remnants of
microbial colonies or from resistant plant debris now surrounded by clay. This again
raises the question (see Section 10.9) of how humic acids, or humin materials became
associated with inorganic colloids. It is easy enough to visualise interactions between
the inorganic colloids and mobile humic acids in solution. But it is more likely that the
humic acids would be in the solid or gel (in particular the gel) states prior to
interaction with the clays. The possible importance of drying was mentioned to
'cement' associations between the inorganic colloids and the organic colloids in the gel
state.
There is, of course, more to soil structure than the forces involved in the
interactions between soil organic matter and the mineral constituents of soils. In
Chapter 16, Murray and Quirk have divided the forces which operate within soil
aggregates into two groups. One of these requires the presence of foreign materials
(other than water), such as the organic substances referred to already, and the
inorganic cementing agents which sorb to soil particle surfaces to form interparticle
bridges, as well as substances capable of establishing very long range interparticle
forces, such as fringal hyphae and plant roots, which provide mechanical binding
effects.
In so far as the inorganic cementing agents are concerned, the most important are
considered to be the oxides of iron and aluminium. Mention has already been made to
the role that is often attributed (but never fully substantiated) to the close associations
between iron oxides and clay silicates (section 3.6) in the stabilization of aggregates in
oxidic soils. Professor Oades agrees (Section 17.7) that the role of aluminium and iron
in binding soil colloids in surface soils in temperate regions remains controversial. He
refers to work which indicates that all iron oxides examined in soils and in waters
possess a net negative charge at the pH of their environments. Such would indicate
sorption of silicate and organic anions, which include humic substances of course, and
would explain why oxides move with clays in aerobic soils and waters. Also, the fact
that electron microscopy of weathered soils shows the iron oxides as discrete particles
(see also Section 18.5) separated from the clays, would not give confidence to
concepts of these negatively charged particles providing good 'cementing' agents in
soils. He considers, from the data he has summarised, that aluminium has more
potential than iron as a source of positive charge, because there is evidence for
relatively simple hydroxyaluminium species which interact with organic matter through
coulombic forces and the hydroxyaluminium species can act as a link between the
negatively charged colloids in acid soils.
420 Soil Colloids and their Associations in Aggregates

Much of what Drs. Emerson and Greenland have said in Section 18.5 agrees with
the sentiments of Professor Oades in Section 17.7. However, possibly because of their
separate involvements with research in the area Emerson and Greenland are more
supportive of a role for the oxyhydroxides of iron and aluminium in stabilizing
aggregates. They too see the binding mechanism as involving the bridging between the
negatively charged organic and inorganic soil components.
Calcium, from calcium carbonate, also has a very definite involvement in the
aggregates of Mollisols and of calcareous soils. Professor Oades, and Drs. Emerson
and Greenland have reviewed the contributions in Section 17.8 and 18.6. Emerson and
Greenland are, through their own research efforts, well versed in the contributions of
calcium to the formation and stabilization of aggregates in calcareous soils.
The second group of forces considered by Murray and Quirk to be important within
aggregates are classed by them as the microscopic interparticle forces which require
only the presence of water and soil colloids. The authors go on to discuss the effects
and influences of such forces as the van der Waals forces, hydration forces, double
layer repulsion, and forces resulting from the adsorption of uncharged macromolecules.
In the cases of the last set of forces, they refer to the influences of the loops and
tools, components of macromolecules which extend away from the adsorbent surface,
on the adhesion of mineral particles. They refer too to the thesis which attributes the
stability of aggregates treated with neutral polymers to the formation of two-dimensional
surface-adsorbed networks which cover the pore walls rather than via an interconnection
of particles by long strands as might apply for polyelectrolytes. This, of course,
returns the consideration to the first group of forces which operate within aggregates.
The reader will enjoy the content of the four chapters which compose Part IV of
this book. In one way or another, these chapters address a subject area that is at the
'core' of soil fertility and incorporates the essences of solid state soil science. The
scientists who have contributed were highly expert for the difficult assignments they
were given, and each has put forward clear concepts of procedures and techniques
relevant to the study, and/or given clear descriptions of aggregates, their components,
and their 'strenghts' and 'weaknesses'. Although most of the pictures which emerge
are relatively clear, they are but representations or models, and we are left in no
doubt of the enormous complexity of the subject at the 'macro' or molecular levels.
There is still a long way to go before there is agreement of how aggregates are
formed and stabilized in all soil types, and of the detailed mechanisms involved in the
formation of the aggregates.
The research contribution by Bremner and Genrich in Chapter 15 will, it is hoped,
spur others to a comprehensive approach to studies of the composition and properties
of soils. Soils are highly complicated mixtures, of course, but the useful studies of
composition and properties might well begin with the approach used by these author,
and isolate and characterize the different-size fractions. Such studies could parallel
others which determine the aggregate sizes and porosities, the stabilities of the
aggregates, and the energy inputs needed to disintegrate these.
There are too many theories about the 'glues' which 'cement' the particles in
aggregates and hold the aggregates intact, and not all of thses theories can be correct.
It will be important, for example, to concentrate on the organic matter components
which adhere to the clays in degraded aggregates. There is enough evidence to show
that the clays of many soils, and Mollisols as one special example, have strong
 Introduction to Part IV 421

associations with humic substances. These fractions are often classified as humin only
because they resist being extracted in soluble base. They could, possibly, be liberated
by other solvents. The role of this so-called humin in forming or stabilizing aggregates
cannot be understood until more is known about its composition and properties, abour
the nature of its associations with clays, and whether or not it bridges the gaps
between clay sheets and tactoids, and if it does do so, how does it do it?
There is pressing intellectual need to know more precisely the roles played by
humic acids, and many will need to be convinced that they do have a role. Also,
polysaccharides which are active in aggregate processes can be expected to associate
with the inorganic colloids. Isolation and characterization of polysaccharides associated
with the' clay-size fraction could lead to a more realistic appraisal of polysaccharides
which are involved in aggregate structures.
There is a need too to consider the vast, in the molecular sense, distances which
separate the centres of particles, and to reflect on the sizes of the molecules needed to
bridge the gaps. It will be seen that many of the distances are too large to be bridged
by a single polysaccharide or humic substances molecule. This could especially be true
for the particles which enclose pores. And is it necessary to invoke the involvements
of hyphae and bacterial pili to bridge such distances?
The questions seem endless. Yet it is important to ask them, and to seek the
answers, because there is too much that will be lost if soil aggregates are allowed to
degrade faster than they form. A knowledge of the science can help to introduce new
ways, to hasten the formation (by non-mechanical means) and to lengthen the
conservation of soil aggregates.