WATER-REPELLENT SUBSTANCES AND AGGREGATE STABILITY IN HYDROPHOBIC SOIL

Abstract

A hydrophobic fraction was extracted with benzene from a naturally occurring water-repellent soil. The extraction decreased the water stability of soil aggregates. Comparing this extraction with a similar one, with acetylacetone in benzene, the hydrophobic substances appear to behave as cementing substances of soil aggregates like the polyvalent metals linked with the organic matter and at a similar level.