Soil aggregate stability typically have a higher water infiltration rate, allowing more water into the soil profile faster, and are not susceptible to water ponding. Soil aggregates are formed due to flocculation and cementation processes, and are enhanced by physical and biological processes. Primary soil particles (sand, silt, and clay) are subjected to these processes, and can stick together to form larger sub-microaggregates (< 250 μm), microaggregates, and macroaggregates (> 250 μm). It has been suggested that soil aggregates form hierarchically, meaning larger less dense aggregates are composed of smaller more dense aggregates (Kay, 1990; Oades, 1993). Flocculation refers to a state when
Erosion and tectonics surface. The term erosion refers to the group of natural processes, including weathering, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation, by which material is worn away from the Earth's surface to be transported and deposited in other locations. The feedback of erosion on tectonics is given by the transportation of surface, or near-surface, mass (rock, soil, sand, regolith, etc.) to a new location. This redistribution of material can have profound effects on the state of gravitational stresses in the area, dependent on the magnitude of mass transported. Because tectonic processes are highly dependent on the current state of gravitational stresses, redistribution of