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A Simple Method for the Estimation of Calcium and Magnesium Carbonates in Soils
Author(s) -
El Mahi Y. E.,
Ibrahim I. S.,
Abdel Magid H. M.,
Eltilib A. M. A.
Publication year - 1987
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/sssaj1987.03615995005100050010x
Subject(s) - chemistry , magnesium , ammonium acetate , soil water , neutralization , carbonate , calcium carbonate , ammonium , ammonium carbonate , cation exchange capacity , adsorption , inorganic chemistry , mineralogy , chromatography , geology , soil science , organic chemistry , high performance liquid chromatography , antibody , immunology , biology
A simple titrimetric method is described for the estimation of Ca and Mg carbonates in soils. It involves the determination of acid‐soluble Ca and Mg of the carbonate phase after the removal of soluble and exchangeable cations by ammonium acetate (NH 4 OAc). Twenty‐six tropical soils, which contain free carbonate, were used in this study. The results obtained by the proposed method were compared with those obtained by acid neutralization, calcimeter, and titrimetric methods. Analysis of variance revealed no significant difference between the percent CaCO 3 equivalent obtained by the four methods when the acid neutralization method was corrected against proton adsorption. However, the proposed method has the advantage of estimating Ca and Mg carbonates. The proposed method requires no special equipment and is less time‐consuming if it follows the routine determination of exchangeable cations or the cation exchange capacity (CEC).