The drying process of volcanic ash soils often results in the formation of shrinkage cracks with consequences for their physical properties (i.e., decrease of water retention capacity) and land use management. This study presents the soil water characteristics and shrinkage behaviour (shrinkage phases in terms of void and moisture ratio), the shrinkage potential (COLE index), and the pore shrinkage capacity (PSI) for 5 and 20 cm depth of a Haplic Arenosol (tephric) and two Silandic Andosols under pasture management along a soil gradient from the Andean mountains to the coastal range in southern Chile. The main focus of the presented study is on the effect of soil development in conjunction with the weathering of volcanic ash soils on the shrinkage properties. The water retention and shrinkage curves were continuously determined for undisturbed soil samples (100 cm(3)) during a drying process under laboratory conditions. In addition, the shrinkage curve data were modelled to distinguish different shrinkage zones. The results suggest that the investigated soil properties vary depending on soil development. The more developed Andosols had higher total porosities (up to 70 cm(3) cm(-3)) than the less developed Arenosol. The shrinkage behaviour of the Haplic Arenosol showed a wide structural shrinkage phase, whereas the Silandic Andosols revealed a more pronounced proportional shrinkage phase, which is related to the pore size distribution. In addition, wide and narrow coarse pores of the Haplic Arenosol and medium and fine pores of the Silandic Andosols determine the shrinkage potential (COLE) and the pore shrinkage capacity, respectively. The finer-grained and organic matter-rich Andosols indicate a higher COLE index (> 0.03-0.09) compared to the Arenosol (<= 0.03). The pore shrinkage index (PSI) of the total pores (TP) varied significantly (P < 0.05) with values of 0.042-0.149 in 5 cm depth and 0.04-0.091 in 20 cm depth of sites 1-3, respectively. In summary, the shrinkage potential and pore shrinkage capacity are positively correlated to the organic carbon content and decrease with increasing dry bulk density. The study points out a higher risk of soil degradation due to irreversible drying processes for the more clayey and allophane containing Andosols than the Arenosol.