Methods for Measuring Organic Carbon Content in Carbonate-Containing Soils: A Review.

In the world practice, the organic carbon content (Corg) in the soils containing carbonates is measured in different ways. We have analyzed the methods for solving this problem including the state-of-the-art approaches, such as thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and spectroscopy. As is shown, the presence of CaCO3 does not prevent the Corg measurement with dichromatometric method (Tyurin and Walkley–Black variants). The disadvantages of this method comprise the laborious analysis, constant presence of operator, incomplete oxidation of organic compounds, and environmental pollution. The measurement of soil weight loss-on-ignition (LOI) is economical and rapid but overestimates Corg content because of inadequacy of the conversion factor of 1.724, the presence of adsorbed and chemically bound water, as well as mineral components decomposing at T = 105–550°C. The most relevant solution for assaying the Corg content in carbonate soils is to use an analyzer and a calcimeter although the accuracy of Corg measurements in the presence of carbonates is significantly reduced because the errors of two methods are quadratically summed. A high cost of the device, maintenance, verification, and repair limit its widespread use in soil laboratories. The content of soil carbonates can be measured using both gravimetric (LOI) and volumetric (calcimeter) methods. The latter method is preferable for the soils with the prevalence of CaCO3 in carbonates. The preliminary removal of carbonates from soil samples is labor-intensive and can cause a partial loss of Corg via acid extraction. A high cost of the instruments and the absence of the libraries of soil spectra hinder the development of Vis-NIR and MIR spectroscopy as an alternative to wet chemistry methods. Further comparative studies will give a deeper insight into the spatial patterns in the distribution of soil organic carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]