What is Compaction and What Does it do?
Compaction is the moving of soil particles closer together by external forces such as falling rain or livestock and implement traffic. This can result in the following types of problems. * Compaction increases the resistance of soil to penetration by tillage equipment and plant roots. This makes it more difficult to prepare a deep, well-shattered layer that forms an ideal seed bed, and this can adversely affect plant growth–and yield. * Compaction increases the bulk density (weight per volume) of soil. A higher bulk density means less porosity (space between soil particles), which affects aeration. The finer-textured silts and clays have more total pore space than coarse-textured sands although coarse soils have more large pores that promote rapid water movement. Within a given soil, however, the greater the compaction (higher bulk density), the less porosity and the greater the difficulty for water and root movement. * Compaction can restrict soil drainage enough to cause significant
