MBONU, O.A., OPARA, C. C. and IKPE, F.N. (2007). Methods of estimating bulk density of soils of varying texture. Acta Agronomica Nigeriana. Vol. 7(2):103 – 107.
Abstract:
An experiment was carried out at three locations of varying texture, in Port Harcourt (4°51N, 7001E), to determine the most reliable of three methods of bulk density determination. The methods included the core, excavation and clod methods, and the determination was for two depths (0-15 and 15-30cm). The results showed that bulk density values determined by the different methods for particular texture varied significantly (p=0.05); with the excavation method giving the highest values of 2.890, 2.755 and 2.805 gcm-3 for sandy, clay and loamy soils, respectively, and the core method gave lower values of 1.615. 1.496 and 1.410 gcm3 for sandy, clay and loamy soils respectively, at the 0-15 cm depth. The trend was the same for the 15 – 30cm depth. When compared with the Soil Science Society of American average bulk density values for particular textures, the core method appeared most suitable for the sandy and loamy soils; giving values of 1.615 and 1.4l0gcm-3 for the sandy and loamy soils at the 0-15cm depth and 1.598 and 1.468 g cm3 at the 15 – 30 cm depth. The clod method also appeared to be most reliable for the clay soils, giving values of 1.070 and 1.239gcm-3 for both the 0- 15 and 15-30cm depths.
Keywords soil texture, bulk density; core, clod and excavation methods.