Comparing methods for determination of clay contents in different Brazilian soils
Abstract
Soil texture refers to the relative proportions of various particle sizes of soil (<2 mm diameter), which are expressed by conventional textural classes defined by different combinations of clay, silt and sand. The study was carried out at the Laboratory of Soils Genesis and Mineralogy of the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, in Lages, SC using samples from two horizons (A and B) of twelve soil profiles from five Brazilian states (Acre, Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina).The dispersion of the soil samples was done by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for most soil and with calgon for soils with high levels of Ca2+ and Mg2+. Those soils showed problems to disperse particles with NaOH 1 mol L-1 solution. The results indicated that the hydrometer method tended to slightly overestimate the clay content, mainly in subsurface horizons, whereas for pipette method there were no differences for most soils, more precisely in topsoils horizons, when they were compared with weighing method.
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