The effects of freeze-thaw processes on crusting, aggregation and the interaction with erosive level winds in the Mollisol region of Northeast China

作者：Hui Liu, Lili Zhou, Donghao Huang, Defeng Yang, Xiaoge Shi, Qing Bai, Huimin Yang · 发表于：International Soil and Water Conservation Research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.iswcr.2025.02.010 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Climate change and permafrost、Aeolian processes and effects、Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

Wind erosion is widely recognised as one of the causes of soil degradation, which is exacerbated by the effects of freezing and thawing, and poses a serious threat to the sustainability of agricultural production. The mechanisms of freeze-thaw effects on wind erosion in the Mollisols region have been the subject of considerable investigation from the perspective of what the impact of freeze-thaw processes have on soil aggregates. In contrast, the role of the physical crust in the mechanism of freeze-thaw effects on wind erosion remains uncertain. In this study, for disentangling the changes in environmental conditions (freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs), initial soil moisture (M)) on aggregate size distribution, mean weight diameter (MWD), crust formation and their properties, and the roles played by these changes in influencing the magnitude of wind erosion (W), a wind tunnel simulation experiment was used to measure the wind erosion rate of erodible soil aggregates with four diameter ranges (D). The relationship between the variations in the distribution of aggregate sizes and the properties of the crust, as well as the impact of freezing and thawing on the distribution of aggregate sizes, were examined. The findings indicated that both aggregates and crust were susceptible to damage during the freeze-thaw cycle. The MWD of the aggregates exhibited a notable alteration following the 1st freeze-thaw cycle (p < 0.05). There exists a good exponential correlation between the strength of...