How does it happen that the hundreds of topsoils in forest and grassland soils i sampled had bulk densities below 1 g/cm3 but in the literature the numbers are much higher, even above 1.3-1.5, approaching fragipan densities? I have data taken from boreal soils from the Alps, temperate soils from Italy, tropical soils from Uganda, and they are ALL below 1, if not cultivated or overgrazed. Carbon stocks are calculated using BD values, so it is an important topic. And i actually don't believe in those large values.
Michele Eugenio D'Amico
I think you may be dealing with Andosols (also called Andisols) which are typically found in volcanic regions under all climatic conditions around the world. These soils have bulk density values below 0.9 g/cm3 and can be as low as 0.3g/cm3. Their low bulk density values are due to their very high porosity brought about by the abundance of short-range order clay minerals and high soil organic matter content.
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