Aluminum (Al) is one of the most abundant elements in weight in Brazilian soils, found in different minerals and forms. Considering the lack of information about its participation in the physical behavior of soil, the present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the mineralogy of the clay fraction, different forms of Al and physical attributes of different soils. Disturbed and undisturbed samples of A and B horizons of representative soils from the South and Campos das Vertentes physiographic regions in the State of Minas Gerais were therefore collected. The samples were subjected to physical, chemical and mineralogical characterizations. Correlation studies performed with the resulting data from the different characterizations showed that the physical attributes of the different studied soils are associated to the different forms of Al and to the mineralogy of the clay fraction: the amorphous and less crystalline forms of Al were more associated to physical attributes related with particle aggregation, such association being ascribed to the affinity of this element with organic matter, while the crystalline components were more associated to physical attributes related with the structural organization of the soils.
kaolinite; gibbsite; organic matter; aggregation; soil structure
