A simple procedure for colorimetric determination of organic carbon in soil

Abstract

A simple procedure is described for the rapid determination of organic carbon content in a large number of soil samples using an automated segmented flow analyser. The method is a modification of the wet oxidation/ digestion methods based on potassium dichromate combined with a colorimetric method for determination of chromic oxide (Stevenson and Clare, 1962). Using a segmented flow analyser for the colorimetry, the procedure is capable of automated routine analyses of large numbers of samples and was shown to give high and repeatable recoveries of organic carbon from a range of compounds. Organic carbon values for a range of soils analysed by the reported method and by the dry combustion technique showed a high correlation.