Soil and Mineral Analysis?

[Theophrastus]

:confused:I'm not quite sure whether this is the right place to pose such a question, however I'm rather interested, but what common methods of analysis, are available to test the chemical composition of various stones. So far, I've come up with acid testing, which can be used to identify the presence of carbonates and sulfides. Density, streak- test, and the like could be used as well, however they are not so conclusive and concrete, rather, formulating a guideline. Any help? I was thinking of using this type of data to contrast the chemical features and composition of soil and bedrock, and contrast it to the flora within it.

 

I know I've mentioned some methods for stone, however, are there any similar ways to test soil composition, and the like?

Help surrounding this topic would be most appreciated.

[stereologist]

Look through soil journals.

 

Soil is composed of both organic and inorganic materials. These can be separated. The inorganics can be separated by size. Soil can be cast with resins. Thin sections under a polarizing microscope can be used to identify the minerals and hence the chemical composition. Dense liquids can also be used to separate minerals.

[amit]

finding about composition of soil is really a broad thing. soil basically can have everything so iy really depends on what are u looking at. i have done a summe research project on soil where we tried to find total amount of lead in soil. proceeding were like remove lead bind in different forms (organically bound. inorganically bound, free lead etc) for each type of lead we employed different reagents and stirred it for long then on filtering we performed the next step on same sample thus getting total amount of lead.

[Theophrastus]

Ah, I should have clarified... I'm not looking for a method that can tell the total composition of the soil but rather the presence of certain key compounds within it, silicates, carbonates, etc. Minerals, I was thinking of finding a way to determine their chemical structure, by means of chemical analysis, as well as the overall structure, which can be determined by breaking it, and examining the fracture, and of course, by external means. I suppose streak and flame test may be useful for certain minerals as well. That said, any ideas?

Edited April 15, 2009 by Theophrastus
addition of content

[amit]

i dont know about carbonates and phosphates etc as we just sent the samples to a lab and they gave us total content of carbon, nitrogen and phosphate. so as stereologist said consult some soil or enviroment related journals.