A rainfall simulation study of erosion of some calcareous soils

In order to study the erodibility characteristics of some calcareous soils from Central Greece, the instability
of aggregates of 2.0-4.7 mm in water was studied. Soil loss experiments were also conducted in
the laboratory using a rain simulator where soil loss was measured and the soils’ attitude was studied
under the conditions of simulated rainfall. It was found that the instability of aggregates is negatively
correlated with cation exchange capacity and the total specific surface of soils. Also the calcium carbonate
content affects positively the aggregates instability. The process which seems to control dominantly
the time that runoff occurs and the runoff and soil loss quantity, is the creation of surface seals
with raindrop impact due to large calcium carbonate quantities that are met in the clay fraction.