Author(s): VASQUES, G. de M.

Summary: In the search for new techniques aimed at complementing and adding new data on Ferralsols, high resolution computer microtomography (microCT) appears as a nondestructive and fast analytical technique. MicroCT has been outstanding in the international scenarios and it is more and more present in soil analyses. Analyzing a soil sample by microCT allows obtaining knowledge, in microscale, on shape, size, distribution, volume, area and pore connectivity and having a 3D visualization of the soil sample and its structure. The objective of this work is to use microCT to compare the porosity distribution and pore connectivity density between a soil without vegetation cover and a soil with grass cover, both Ferralsols. Four undisturbed samples of each soil were collected. The results show that the MicroCT technique is an efficient and non-destructive tool for the analysis and characterization of the pore structure of soils protected from and degraded by erosion, underlining clear differences between them, as expected.

Publication year: 2022

Types of publication: Paper in annals and proceedings

Unit: Embrapa Soils

Keywords: Ferralsols, MicroCT, Soil analysis