Elementary mass for the particle-size analysis

ABSTRACT

The research hypothesis was that particle-size analysis and sand fractionation can be performed using small amounts of soil. The objectives were as follows: to calculate the errors resulting from the replacement of the reference method; to define the smallest mass to determine soil particle size; and to perform sand fractionation. The experiment was conducted with samples from the A and B horizons of an Argissolo Amarelo (Alfisol) in a completely randomized design, with four treatments: 2, 4, 6, and 20 g of Air-Dried Fine Earth (ADFE), and 10 replicates. In all cases, the F-test was used on the analysis of variance, and Dunnett’s test was conducted for means comparison. The results with the reference method for clay, sand, and silt, in sequence, were as follows: 66 (±2), 867 (±6), and 67 (±5) g kg⁻¹ for A horizon and 379 (±15), 557 (±17), and 64 (±5) g kg⁻¹ for the B horizon. Among all treatments used to determine particle size, only the treatment with a soil mass of 6g does not statistically differ from the reference method (20 g) in the determination of sand, silt, and clay fractions. In terms of sand sorting, all treatments applied defined poorly sorted sands.

KEYWORDS:

• Alfisol
• micropipette
• sand fractionation
• soil physics
• physical methods

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowlege the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for providing the research grant for the first author and partially funding this study through the Finance Code 001. The authors also acknowlege the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for providing the research grant for the last author.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, A. S. Lopes, upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) [001]; Cearense Foundation for Scientific and Technological Development Support [BMD-0008-01029.01.11/18]; and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [301215/2018-9].