Changes on aggregates morphology and roughness induced by different uses of Typical Argiudolls, Buenos Aires province, Argentina

Abstract Over the last few years, the increase of agriculture in the Pampean plains has led to a significant degradation of the most fertile soils in the country. The aim of our work is to define the effect of soil use on the stability of aggregates, bulk density and penetration resistance, and, especially, on the morphology and roughness of aggregates for their evaluation as possible soil quality indicators of Typical Argiudolls of south-eastern Buenos Aires. Mollic epipedons of plots with different soil use were analyzed: cultivated, pasture, and natural plots. The results indicated that bulk density values (>1.2 g/cm 3 ) and penetration resistance (2–4.4 MPa) values were significantly higher ( p 3 and 1.5–3 MPa respectively). Aggregate stability was significantly lower ( p