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AR Dig. elelements (17C1)

Aqua Regia block digested.  ICP-AES/ICP-MS/GF-AAS finishes.  Produces 'Pseudo-totals'.

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Exchangeable Bases - Ammonium Chloride (15A1)

Method for measuring exchangeable bases (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+) - 1M ammonium chloride at pH 7.0

 

Suited for use on all soils, irrespective of whether acidic or alkaline, but preferred on acidic to weakly alkaline soils not dominated by solid-phase carbonates. Method 15A1 has no pre-treatment to remove soluble salts, with alternatives to remove them chemically (15A2) or to adjust for the presence of soluble sodium (15A3).

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Mehlich3 ICP (18F1)

Analysis of Mehlich 3 extract using inductively-coupled atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES)

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pH CaCl2, stirred (4B3)

This pH test on milled air-dry sample is suitable for use on all soils, irrespective of whether acidic or alkaline. Values are usually unaffected by fertilisation prior to sampling, as changes to the soil’s ionic strength is masked by the calcium chloride. Code 4B3 indicates direct use of 0.01M CaCl2, at a soil/solution ratio of 1:5, with mechanical shaking for 1 h prior to pH measurement.  The measurement is made using calibrated electrodes positioned in the stirred suspension. 

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pH of 1:5 soil/water suspension (4A1)

This test on milled air-dry sample involves mechanical shaking with deionised water in a closed system for 1 h at a soil/water ratio of 1:5 prior to pH measurement using calibrated electrodes, while stirring the soil/water suspension. The method is suitable for use on all soils, irrespective of whether acidic or alkaline. Values may be lower than expected on recently fertilised soils due to a temporary increase in soil solution ionic strength.
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Total organic carbon - high frequency induction furnace, volumetric (6B2)

This method for total soil OC involves production, purification and measurement of CO2 evolved when soil carbon is ignited in a stream of O2. Because all C compounds are converted to CO2, the C from carbonates, charcoal, undecomposed wood, etc, will be included, as no soil pre-treatment is specified. In the volumetric sub-method 6B2a, concentrated KOH solution is used to absorb the CO2 released. The difference between the original volume of gas in the burette and the volume produced after ignition equals the volume of CO2 evolved from the sample, after correction for gas temperature and pressure. Sub-method 6B2b is similar to Method 6B2a, except the CO2 produced by ignition is measured via infrared / thermal conductivity detection. Both 6B2a and 6B2b use finely-milled air-dry sample, with weights varying with expected C concentrations. Surrogate estimates can be obtained by NIR (method 6B4a) or MIR (method 6B4b) reflectance spectroscopy. The methods specify reporting as %C on an oven-dry (105oC) basis.

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Total soil nitrogen semi micro Kjeldahl, steam distillation. (7A1)

Method 7A1 provides a good estimate of total soil N in soils with little NO3: otherwise slightly lower apparent total soil N concentrations are likely. The method initially involves semi-micro Kjeldahl digestion. Subsequently, NaOH solution is added to release NH3 by steam distillation. The NH3 released is quantitatively absorbed in dilute boric acid, with total soil N determined by titration with standard acid. The method uses finely-milled air-dry sample and specifies reporting results as %N on an oven-dry (105oC) basis.

 

 

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Soil organic matter by loss-on-ignition (6G1)

This simple test involves the ignition of finely-milled air-dry sample initially to 105oC and then to 550oC. One hundred times the difference in sample weight in grams between these two temperatures, i.e, [100(Weight105C – Weight550C)] = Loss on ignition550C (LOI550C), which is assumed to approximate % Organic Matter.