Changes of structure and tilth mellowing in a Vertisol due to wet/dry cycles in the liquid and vapour phases

Summary Development of a fine tilth in Vertisols increases infiltration, plant‐available water and ease of cultivation and produces a fine seed bed. The tilth‐mellowing properties of a strongly self‐mulching Vertisol from Zimbabwe were investigated by applying different types of wetting to a worked soil and examining macromorphological features, size, density, strength and friability of the resulting clods/aggregates, developed through successive wet/dry cycles. Wetting regimes were chosen to simulate likely field conditions and included rapid flood‐, slow and fast capillary‐, simulated rainfall‐ and vapour‐wetting. Tilth development was compared to that of field soils. All wetting treatments in the liquid phase resulted in decreases in aggregate density. Fast capillary wetting rapidly reduced size and strength of aggregates to below that of field soils whereas slow capillary wetting similarly rapidly decreased size but reduced strength more slowly. Flood wetting caused little change in size but aggregates showed a small decrease in strength. Rainfall wetting resulted in changes intermediate between these extremes. There was a significant linear relationship between strength and porosity of aggregates! For rainfall‐ and flood‐wetting, friabilities were at a maximum after one wet/dry cycle but subsequently decreased. Vapour wet/dry cycles reduced strength but not density of worked soils, implying changes in internal microstructure without measurable porosity change. Hypotheses to explain these changes are put forward.