ABSTRACT
Determination of soil bulk density by capillarity

Elías Letelier A.1
 

Bulk density of 19 soil samples was determined by measuring the cap illary water that penetrated to clods of 2 cm height, approximately. The formula applied was:
Dap = Pss/(VH2O + Pss/2,65) g/cm3
in which Dap = bulk density, Pss weight of dried soil, and VH2O = volume of water that penetrated into the clod.
The correlation found between bulk density estimated by this method and bulk density determined measuring directly the dry weight and the volume occupied by the samples was r = 0,96 and the regresion was: estimated bulk density = 0,11 + 0,98 x efective bulk density.

Keywords:
1 Ing. Agr. Estación Experimental La Platina (INIA). Casilla 5427, Correo 3, Santiago, Chile.