Abstract

GARCIA, J; MEDINA, H  and  NUNEZ, D. El método del hidrómetro: influencia de los tiempos de lecturas en el cálculo de la distribución del tamaño de partículas en suelos de La Habana. cultrop [online]. 2008, vol.29, n.2, pp. 21-26. ISSN 0258-5936.

The hydrometer method is one of the most widely used for soil texture analysis in the world. This study is aimed at evaluating the influence of hydrometer reading times for determining soil particle size distribution in Havana province. It is supported by 101 property measurements, starting from 51 sampling points at two depths, 10-15 and 35-40 cm. Point distribution responds to a more ambitious project focused on evaluating several physical, chemical and hydraulic properties from this province, by means of a nonaligned stratified sampling. Three methodologies, markedly differing in terms of reading times, were compared to that reported by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). It was proved that by limiting measuring times to one or two hours, as it is usually done in several Cuban agronomic laboratories, soil texture classification may change completely, with a large clay content overestimation. Calculated sand values were sensitive to the methodology just for the high contents of this fraction

Keywords : methods; measuring instruments; particle size; soil; Havana.