DIRECT MEASUREMENTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF OXYGEN IN SOIL AGGREGATES AND IN COLUMNS OF FINE SOIL CRUMBS

Abstract

Summary The micro electrode of Evans and Naylor was modified to permit measurements of oxygen concentration in soil and was used to determine the distribution of oxygen in ( a ) agar which contained yeast and glucose and served as a model of a respiring water‐saturated soil; ( b ) saturated spherical soil aggregates; ( c ) partly saturated columns of fine soil crumbs. Measurements in (a) and ( b ) but not in ( c ) agreed closely with predictions by diffusion theory. The disagreement appeared to result from water being unevenly distributed in the columns.