Comparison of laser grain size analysis with pipette and sieve analysis: a solution for the underestimation of the clay fraction
1997/06/01 by MARTIN KONERT, M. Konert, JEF VANDENBERGHE +1 · 1,127 citations
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Environmental Science · Mathematics · #Aeolian processes and effects #Analytical Chemistry (journal) #Chemistry #Chromatography #Composite material #Geology #Geomorphology #Grain size #Laser #Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma #Materials science #Mathematics #Mineralogy #Optics #Particle size #Particle-size distribution #Physics #Pipette #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Sieve (category theory) #Silt #Sphericity
paper · doi:10.1046/j.1365-3091.1997.d01-38.x
published in Sedimentology 44(3), 523-535 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 1997/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract
ABSTRACT Classically, the grain size of soil and sediment samples is determined by the sieve method for the coarse fractions and by the pipette method, based on the ‘Stokes’ sedimentation rates, for the fine fractions. Results from the two methods are compared with results from laser diffraction size analysis, which is based on the forward scattering of monochromatic coherent light. From a point of view of laboratory efficiency, the laser sizing technique is far superior. Accuracy and reproducibility are shown by measurements on certified materials. It appears that laser grain size measurements of certified materials correspond very well with the certificated measurements. Tests were also done on a set of randomly selected sediments of fluvial, aeolian and lacustrine origin. Except for the (<2 μm) clay fraction, there is a coarsening of the mean diameter of one to two size classes (0.25 ɛ), caused by the non‐sphericity of the particles. The platy form of the clay particles induces considerable differences (eight size classes) between pipette and laser measurements: the <2 μm grain size, defined by the pipette method corresponds with a grain size of 8 μm defined by the Laser Particle Sizer for the studied sediments. Using a higher grain size level for the clay fraction, when laser analysis is applied, enables workers in the geological and environmental field to compare classical pipette analysis with a laser sizing technique.
Cited by
- African dust transport and deposition modelling verified through a citizen science campaign in Finland
- Linkages between East Antarctic Ice Sheet extent and Southern Ocean temperatures based on a Pliocene high‐resolution record of ice‐rafted debris off Prydz Bay, East Antarctica
- Shall we abandon sedimentation methods for particle size analysis in soils?
- Palaeoenvironmental Interpretation of Yedoma Silt (Ice Complex) Deposition as Cold‐Climate Loess, Duvanny Yar, Northeast Siberia
- Testing the integral suspension pressure method for soil particle size analysis across a range of soil organic matter contents
- PALEOLIMNOLOGY OF LAKE HAMOUN (E IRAN): IMPLICATION FOR PAST CLIMATE CHANGES AND POSSIBLE IMPACTS ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
- Drones over excavations – Enhancing the archaeologist’s eyes. An empirical case study into the deployment of UAS remote sensing as a research tool for archaeological excavation, in Veldhoven, the Netherlands
- Pedotransfer functions for converting laser diffraction particle‐size data to conventional values
- Earliest known human burial in Africa
- Late Pleistocene dune construction in the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin, USA
- Chronology, cryostratigraphy, and palaeoenvironmental evidence from the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel, Alaska
- Comparing and improving different methods to quantify silt and clay abundance within estuarine mud
- Late Quaternary aeolian sand deposition sustained by fluvial reworking and sediment supply in the Hexi Corridor — An example from northern Chinese drylands
- Interpretation of sedimentary (sub)populations extracted from grain size distributions of Central European loess-paleosol series
- Landscape instability at the end of MIS 3 in western Central Europe: evidence from a multi proxy study on a Loess-Palaeosol-Sequence from the eastern Lower Rhine Embayment, Germany
- The loess–paleosol–cryptotephra sequence at Otkaznoe (Stavropol region, Russia): New insights into Middle to Late Quaternary subaerial stratigraphy in the Southern East European Plain
- Grain-size distribution function of polymodal sediments in hydraulic and aeolian environments, and numerical partitioning of the sedimentary components
- Morphological analysis of mineral grains from different sedimentary environments using automated static image analysis
- Application of spheroid models to account for aerosol particle nonsphericity in remote sensing of desert dust
- Messinian age and savannah environment of the possible hominin Graecopithecus from Europe
- Pollen reconstruction and vegetation dynamics of the middle Holocene maximum summer monsoon in northern China
- Geological roles of the siltstones in tight oil play
- Pedo-chemical climate proxies in Late Pleistocene Serbian–Ukranian loess sequences
- The MIS 3/2 transition in a new loess profile at Krems-Wachtberg East – A multi-methodological approach
- Shallow ground temperature measurements on the highest volcano on Earth, Mt. Ojos del Salado, Arid Andes, Chile
- Scattering matrices and expansion coefficients of martian analogue palagonite particles
- Carbonate Grain-Size Distribution in Hemipelagic Sediments from a Laser Particle Sizer
- Effect of organic matter on estuarine flocculation: a laboratory study using montmorillonite, humic acid, xanthan gum, guar gum and natural estuarine flocs. [europepmc]
- Towards Quantitative Spatial Models of Seabed Sediment Composition. [europepmc]
- Southern Ocean warming and Wilkes Land ice sheet retreat during the mid-Miocene. [europepmc]
- Evaluation and Comparison of Three Types of Spray Dried Coprocessed Excipient Avicel® for Direct Compression. [europepmc]
- Free radicals and ultrafine particulate emissions from the co-pyrolysis of Croton megalocarpus biodiesel and fossil diesel. [europepmc]
- Sediments from Arctic Tide-Water Glaciers Remove Coastal Marine Viruses and Delay Host Infection. [europepmc]
- An uptake and elimination kinetics approach to assess the bioavailability of chromium, copper, and arsenic to earthworms (Eisenia andrei) in contaminated field soils. [europepmc]
- A comparison of soil texture measurements using mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) and laser diffraction analysis (LDA) in diverse soils. [europepmc]
- Predicting the growth of lettuce from soil infrared reflectance spectra: the potential for crop management. [europepmc]
- Effects of polyacrylamide molecular weight and mass concentration on water transport characteristics of iron tailings. [europepmc]
- Long-Term Impact of Wind Erosion on the Particle Size Distribution of Soils in the Eastern Part of the European Union. [europepmc]
- DCB dissolution of iron oxides in aeolian dust deposits controlled by particle size rather than mineral species. [europepmc]
- African dust transport and deposition modelling verified through a citizen science campaign in Finland. [europepmc]
- Reconciling Coulter Counter and laser diffraction particle size analysis for aquaculture monitoring. [europepmc]
- Extreme river flood exposes latent erosion risk. [europepmc]
- The effects of sediment properties on the aeolian abrasion and surface characteristics of microplastics. [europepmc]
- Morphological Characteristics, Sediment Grain Size, and Spatial Distribution Patterns of Caragana tibetica Nabkhas in Desert Steppe. [europepmc]
Related