A Rapid Method of Soil Carbonate Analysis Using Gas Chromatography

Abstract

Abstract A rapid and sensitive method of soil carbonate analysis, utilizing gas chromatography, is presented. The analysis of soil samples by gas chromatography and the Chittick methods produced comparable results ( r = 0.96, slope = 1.11). However, the gas chromatograph method was much more rapid. There was also a linear relationship between the results of soils analyzed by both the gas chromatograph and Hg manometer methods ( r = 0.99). The gas chromatograph underestimated CaCO 3 contents at low concentrations, however, and overestimated it at high concentrations relative to the manometer method. The gas chromatograph method was the most sensitive and had the lowest possible detection limit (0.008 mg CaCO 3 ) of the methods compared. The results of the study indicate that the gas chromatograph method is much more rapid than previously reported chromatography methods and has the potential to be used for the rapid analysis of samples low in CaCO 3 .