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Soil & Water Management & Conservation

Organic Carbon Influences on Soil Particle Density and Rheological Properties

^a Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, FAES/OARDC, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State Univ., 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Rd., Columbus, OH 43210-1085
^b Environmental Science Div., Oak Ridge National Lab., Oak Ridge, TN 37831
^c Joint Global Change Research Inst., 8400 Baltimore Ave., Suite 201, College Park, MD 20740-2496
^d USDA-ARS, North Appalachian Experimental Watershed, P.O. Box 488, Coshocton, OH 43812-0488

^* Corresponding author (blanco.16{at}osu.edu)

Soil particle density (_s) is not routinely measured and is assumed to range between 2.60 and 2.70 Mg m^–3 or to be a constant (2.65 Mg m^–3) when estimating essential properties such as porosity, and volumetric water and air relations. Values of _s for the same soil may, however, differ significantly from the standard range due to management-induced changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations. We quantified the _s and Atterberg limits of a Rayne silt loam for five long-term (>22 yr) moldboard-plowed continuous corn (Zea mays L.; MP), no-till continuous corn (NT), no-till continuous corn with beef cattle manure (NTm), pasture, and forest systems. We also assessed the relationships of SOC concentration with _s and the Atterberg limits and the impact of _s on soil porosity. Mean _s across NT, NTm, and pasture (2.35 Mg m^–3) was 7% lower than that for MP in the 0- to 10-cm soil depth (2.52 Mg m^–3, P < 0.01). Forest had the lowest _s of all soils (1.79 Mg m^–3). The NTm caused a greater reduction in _s and a greater increase in SOC concentration, liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and plasticity index (PI) than NT. Surface soils under MP had the highest _s and _b and the lowest SOC concentration, LL, PL, and PI. The SOC concentration was correlated negatively with _s (r² = 0.75) and positively with Atterberg limits (r² > 0.64) at >20-cm depth. Estimates of soil porosity for NT, NTm, and pasture using the constant _s overestimated the "true" porosity by 12% relative to that using the measured _s.

Abbreviations: LL, liquid limit • MP, moldboard plow • NT, no-till with no beef cattle manure • NTm, no-till with beef cattle manure • OM, organic matter • PI, plasticity index • PL, plastic limit • _b, bulk density • _s, particle density • SOC, soil organic carbon