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Sulphur in soils. I.—Determination of readily soluble sulphates in soil
Author(s) -
Little R. C.
Publication year - 1953
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740040707
Subject(s) - soil water , chemistry , hydrochloric acid , environmental chemistry , organic matter , bromocresol green , chloride , soil science , chromatography , inorganic chemistry , environmental science , organic chemistry
A review is given of techniques proposed for the determination of sulphates in soils. Classical methods for sulphate determination are not, in general, suitable for determining readily soluble sulphates in soils. Sulphate in a 0.001N‐hydrochloric acid extract of soil (40 g. of soil in 100 ml. of acid) can be directly titrated with 0‐02N‐barium chloride by using sodium rhodizonate as an internal indicator. Bromocresol purple used to screen the rhodizonate indicator increases the sensitivity and the ease of detection of the end‐point. The method is simple, rapid and free from serious interference. Results were within the limits of ± 0.5 mg. of SO 4 per 100 g. of soil for soils having a sulphate content of about 10 mg. of SO 4 per 100 g. of soil; from soils of higher sulphate content, errors amounting to less than 5% can be expected. The method is applicable to soils of a wide range of organic matter and sulphate contents.