Soil - Temporal variation in aggregate stability

A soil's ability to resist structural deterioration is one of its most important physical properties. An aggregate, a unit of soil structure, is a cluster or coherent association of primary particles (sand, silt, or clay) that has been cemented or bound together by organic or inorganic constituents. A quantitative measure of an aggregate's resistance to some applied disruptive force is its aggregate stability. Stability is usually measured by sieving aggregates in water, and is reported as the percent by weight of aggregates that remain clustered after sieving