Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T20:07:10.910Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Determination of soil aggregate disintegration dynamics using laser diffraction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

A. Bieganowski ,
M. Ryżak  and
B. Witkowska-Walczak
A. Bieganowski*
Affiliation:
Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Doświadczalna 4, 20-290 Lublin 27, Poland
M. Ryżak
Affiliation:
Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Doświadczalna 4, 20-290 Lublin 27, Poland
B. Witkowska-Walczak
Affiliation:
Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Doświadczalna 4, 20-290 Lublin 27, Poland
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A new practical and precise method for determining soil aggregate stability is described. Four air-dry aggregate fractions (<0.25, 0.25–0.5, 0.5–1.0 and 1.0–2.0 mm) were added to thoroughly stirred water in a Mastersizer 2000 laser diffractometer. The suspension obtained was passed directly through the measuring system. The dynamics of median (equivalent diameter d50) particle-size distribution decrease (interpolated with a logarithmic function) was assumed to be the measure of soil aggregate stability. In order to show the applicability of the new method, the results obtained (for selected and diverse soils) were compared with those from the wet sieving standard method. The main conclusion is that the proposed method is convenient and can be successfully used for the estimation of soil aggregate stability. Moreover, it has wider application because standard sieving methods are restricted to aggregates >0.25 mm whereas, with the use of the laser diffraction method, smaller aggregates can be measured. The energy delivered to the aggregates in the process of aggregate disintegration is more reproducible in the method described here. The method also provides an opportunity to verify that the soil aggregates are completely destroyed (lack of the changes of the median value shows the end of soil aggregate disintegration).

Keywords

soil aggregate stabilitylaser diffractiondynamicssoil aggregate disintegration
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 23 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arriaga, F.J., Lowery, B. & Mays, M.D. (2006) A fast method for determining soil particle size distribution using a laser instrument. Soil Science, 171, 663–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beuselinck, L., Govers, G. & Poesen, J. (1999) Assessment of micro-aggregation using laser diffractometry. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 24, 41–49.3.0.CO;2-2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, R.B. (1971) The efficiency of aggregation indices in the comparison of some England and Canadian soils. Journal of Soil Science, 22, 166–178.Google Scholar
Buurman, P., Pape, Th. & Muggier, C.C. (1997) Laser grain-size determination in soil genetic studies. 1. Practical problems. Soil Science, 162, 211–218.Google Scholar
Calero, N., Barron, V. & Torrent, J. (2008) Water dispersible clay in calcareous soil of southwestern Spain. Catena, 74, 22–30.Google Scholar
Chappell, A. (1998) Dispersing sandy soil for the measurement of particle size distribution using optical laser diffraction. Catena, 31, 271–281.Google Scholar
Cooper, L.R., Haverland, R.L., Hendricks, D.M. & Knisel, W.G. (1984) Microtrac particle-size analyzer: an alternative particle-size determination method for sediments and soils. Soil Science, 138, 138–146.Google Scholar
De Boodt, M., editor (1967) West-European Methods for Soil Structure Determinations. University of Ghent Press, Ghent, Belgium.Google Scholar
Dexter, A.R. (1988) Advances of characterization of soil structure. Soil and Tillage Research, 11, 199–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dexter, A.R. & Czyż, E.A. (2000) Effects of soil management on the dispersibility of clay in a sandy soil. International Agrophysics, 14, 269–272.Google Scholar
Gardner, W.R. (1956) Representation of soil aggregate-size distribution by a logarithmic-normal distribution. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings, 2, 151–153.Google Scholar
Goossens, D. (2008) Techniques to measure grain-size distributions of loamy sediments: a comparative study of ten instruments for wet analysis. Sedimentology, 55, 65–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorbunov, N.I. (1987) Soil Clays, Properties and Methods of Investigation. PWRiL Press, Warsaw, Poland (in Polish).Google Scholar
Hillel, D. (1998) Environmental Soil Physics. Academic Press, London-New York-Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kalicka, M., Witkowska-Walczak, B., Dębicki, R. & Sławiñski, C. (2008) Impact of land use on physical properties of rendzinas. International Agrophysics, 22, 333–338.Google Scholar
Kutilek, M. & Nielsen, D. (1994) Soil Hydrology. Catena Press, Cremlingen-Destedt, Germany.Google Scholar
Levy, G.J., Agassi, M., Smith, H.J.C. & Stern, R. (1993) Microaggregate stability of kaolinitic and illitic soils determined by ultrasonic energy. Soil Science Society of America, Journal, 57, 803–808.Google Scholar
Malvern Operators Guide(1999) MAN 0247, Issue 2.0, Malvern Instruments, Malvern, UK.Google Scholar
Mayer, H., Mentler, A., Papakyriacou, M., Rampazzo, N., Merxer, Y. & Blum, W.E.H. (2002) Influence of vibration amplitude on ultrasonic dispersion of soils. International Agrophysics, 16, 53–60.Google Scholar
Mentler, A., Mayer, H., Straub, P. & Blum, W.E.H. (2004) Characterization of soil aggregate stability by ultrasonic dispersion. International Agrophysics, 18, 39–45.Google Scholar
Niewczas, J. & Witkowska-Walczak, B. (2003) Index of soil aggregates stability as a linear function value of transition matrix elements. Soil and Tillage Research, 70, 121–130.Google Scholar
Niewczas, J. & Witkowska-Walczak, B. (2005) The soil stability index and its extreme values. Soil and Tillage Research, 80, 69–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pini, R. & Guidi, G. (1989) Determination of soil microaggregates with laser scattering. Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 20, 47–59.Google Scholar
Rewut, I.B. (1969) Methods of Soil Structure Investigations. Kolos Press, Leningrad, Russia.Google Scholar
Roth, C. & Witkowska-Walczak, B. (1992) Comparison of three methods for measuring the water stability of soil aggregates from temperate and tropical zones. Polish Journal of Soil Science, 25, 11–16.Google Scholar
Savinov, N.O. (1936) Soil Physics. Sielchozgiz Press, Moscow, Russia (in Russian).Google Scholar
Shein, E.V. & Goncharov, V.M. (2006) Agrophysics. Feniks Press, Rostov, Russia (in Russian).Google Scholar
Sperazza, M., Moore, J.N. & Hendrix, M.S. (2004) High-resolution particle size analysis of naturally occurring very fine-grained sediment through laser diffractometry. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 74, 736–743.Google Scholar
Taubner, H., Roth, B. & Tippkotter, R. (2009) Determination of soil texture: comparison of the sedimentation method and the laser-diffraction analysis. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Sciences, 172, 161–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tippkotter, R. (1994) The effect of ultrasound on the stability of mezoaggregates (60–2000 μm). Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernahrung Bodenkunde, 157, 99–104.Google Scholar
Walczak, R. & Witkowska, B. (1976) Methods of investigations and description of soil aggregation. Problemy Agrofizyki, 19, 5–52 (in Polish).Google Scholar
Yoder, R. (1936) A direct method of aggregate analysis of soil and a study of the physical nature of erosion losses. Journal of the American Society of Agronomy, 28, 337–35.Google Scholar
Zobeck, T.M. (2004) Rapid soil particle size analyses using laser diffraction. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 20, 633–639.Google Scholar