Size distribution of sediment was measured under simulated rainfall conditions at selected downslope distances on plots with corn residue rates ranging from 0.00 to 6.73 t/ha. The formation of rills caused increases in the percentage of larger sized sediment material. Greater surface cover usually resulted in an increase in the percentage of smaller sized sediment.
Considerable variation in the size of sediment from both rill and interrill areas was found with downslope distance. On interrill regions, the presence of residue served to reduce sediment size along the entire plot length. Transport of aggregated sediment occurred on each of the residue treatments