Xinjiang is a large district suffering from soil and water loss in China,but soil erosion processes in the region have not yet been under stood deeply.Taking San'gong River water shed in Fukang City,Xinjiang Wei Autonomous Region,as an example,a preliminary study for the distribution characteristics of waterstable aggregate content and its influence factors was performed to provide an important basis for soil erosion control.Soils of 0-20 cm and 20-50 cm on a typical hilly slope,slopes of different gradients,and vegetation converage of different degrees were analyzed.Results showed that the dist ribution of soil water stable aggregates in the small watershed had the following characteristics:it had a decreasing tendency from surface down to bottom in the same soil profile;on the same slope,it had a increasing tendency from top to bottom;and on slopes of different gradients,it had a decreasing tendency with slope increasing.In terms of the water stable aggregate content under vegetation coverage of different degrees,landuse was in the descendant order of sloping cropland