Let’s go further in our vocabulary… When the negative and positive charge exchanges stabilize, the clay aggregates flocculate. I flocculate, you flocculate, we flocculate… but yes of course! Flocculation corresponds to the deposit of clay forming at the bottom but which is capable of redispersing again in the event of agitation.
You would have understood it, two states of clay in water are observed: thedispersed state or theflocculated state ! These are two reversible states except in special conditions… heat, degradation, hydration… These states explain in particular the different reactions of the soil to climatic events. When clays are flocculated, they appear welded, allowing soil particles such as sand to form very resistant aggregates, even in heavy rain. However, if the clays are dispersed, there is no “structure” of the soils strictly speaking… The clay loses its role as “cement” and the soil will be disrupted and sensitive to erosion and climatic factors.
In conclusion, a soil that is too waterlogged will disagglomerate the clays from other mineral elements (sand, silt, etc.). The ground will then be less stable. A soil that is too dry, on the contrary, can create faults in clay soils and therefore also weaken it. Ultimately, everything is a question of balance... The desirable water content in ideally constituted soil (50% sand + 30% silt + 15% clay + 5% humus) must be around 15% to 20 %.
Clay is the cement of… soil! The ground, the ground ok, but you will see later, the colloidal properties of clay explain its astonishing therapeutic properties... (the suspense is unbearable..!)