Here in Amazon, my samples of equatorial soils and very altered sedimentary siliciclastic rocks are showing anomalous silt fraction proportions in the laser particle sizer analysis. I would expect higher amounts of clay and lower of silt fraction in these samples of intense weathering areas. I have found some articles about threshold of silt and clay fractions, but there are discrepant opinions about it. All the authors suggest the clay/silt threshold should be raised from 2-4 micra to 6-9 micra.
Thank you.
For particle size distribution of soils and sediments ,the best method is the international pipette method.
Dear Mr. Dilip,
thank you very much. I have found in many papers that the pipette method superestimate the clay fraction. Some of these papers through SEM analysis of soil samples indicates the laser particle sizer is more accurate than pipette method. The main problem is the grain shape of small particles and the threshold between clay/silt fractions, which was about my question. But I think there is no ideal method of particle size analysis and the pipette method still very reliable.
Best regards,
Lucas
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