ChileanJAR

Bulk density was measured in 46 soil samples from three regions of Chile, by three differnt methods: soil core (diameter of the cilinder: 8.3 cm), coated clod, and capilarity. In the first two, the samples were wetted to field capacity; in the capilarity method, to near saturation. Correlations between the coated clod method and the other two, were:
Coated clod - core, r = 0.72
Coated clod - capilarity, r= 0.87
The lower correlation between the coated clod and the core method, can be asigned to the pore spaces among clods in the upper layers of the soil and to the compaction caused by the instrument, in lower layers. Coefficients of correlation between replicates for the coated clod and the capilarity methods, were 0.97 and 0.85, respectivity. It was concluded that the capilarity method, which is very simple, could be used when a high precision is not required.