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Control of Water Content in Laboratory Determination of Mineralizable Nitrogen in Soils
Author(s) -
MacKay D. C.,
Carefoot J. M.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1981.03615995004500020043x
Subject(s) - water content , soil water , mineralization (soil science) , filter paper , nitrogen , membrane filter , reproducibility , chemistry , suction , bubble , moisture , soil science , nitrogen cycle , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , mineralogy , environmental science , membrane , geology , geotechnical engineering , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , biochemistry , physics , parallel computing , computer science
A simple, convenient method was developed to control precisely moisture content in soil samples during aerobic incubation for determination of mineralizable N. The sample is contained in a polystyrene filter unit with a filter membrane having a bubble point pressure well above the 33‐kPa suction tension normally used for equilibration. Equilibration at seven moisture tensions (5‐67 kPa) gave soil water contents that were very similar to those obtained by conventional pressure plate measurements. Nitrogen mineralization values obtained at different tensions varied as expected, but reproducibility of three determinations on four Chernozemic soils was good (C.V. = 3.9%) at all tensions used.