JORD213 Chemical and Physical Soil Analysis
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Showing course contents for the educational year 2019 - 2020 .
Course responsible: Åsgeir Rossebø Almås
Teachers: Valentina Zivanovic, Christian Solheim, Trond Børresen, Øyvind Peder Vartdal, Jan Mulder
ECTS credits: 5
Faculty: Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management
Teaching language: EN, NO
(NO=norsk, EN=Engelsk)
(NO=norsk, EN=Engelsk)
Limits of class size:
16
Teaching exam periods:
The cource starts in January block. Education and exam in January block.
Course frequency: Anually.
First time: Study year 2017-2018
Preferential right:
Exchange students following SIU exchange programs and MSc-program in "Sustainable water and sanitation, health and development".
Course contents:
The course includes lecture of soil, soil analysis theory and how soil analyses are used for environmental assessment, and in agriculture as a tool for fertilizer and liming recommendation. The following exercises and analyses are performed at the laboratory: Good lab practice, soil and plant sampling (theory), and soil and plant material preparation (drying, sieving, milling). Determination of dry matter, loss on ignition, grain size distribution will be carried out. Analysis of important soil physical (soil density, water retention) and soil chemical parameters (pH, plant available K, Mg, Ca, P and Cu, and soluble NO3- and NH4+) will be demonstrated for and executed by the students. During the last week, students are given the option to focus more in depth on agronomic related soil and plant analyses, alternatively on environmental related soil and speciation analysis. The last week will involve a combination of laboratory experiments and demonstrations of methods were students get access to existing data for their own learning.
Learning outcome:
After completion of the course, the students should be able to:
1) conduct good soil and plant sampling practice, and evaluate good strategies for sampling and methods to be used for a given situation.
2) Prepare soil and plant samples for analysis using standard laboratory protocols and instruments.
3) Conduct selected standardized chemical and physical analysis.
4) Evaluate qualities and uncertainties of own soil and plant analysis results.
5) Evaluate own methods and results as a tool for assessing plant availability and environmental impact of measured parameters.
Learning activities:
The student activities comprises daily preparatory lectures followed up by either demonstrations or student exercises. Time will be allocated during the course for the students to work on their laboratory reports. The students will be grouped in smaller groups during laboratory exercises.
Syllabus:
-Klute, A. 1986. Methods of soil analysis. 2nd ed. Agron. Monogr. 9. ASA and SSSA, Madison, WI. -Westerman, R.L. 1990. Soil testing and plant analysis. Third edition. Soil Science Society of America, USA: 400pp. -Assouline, S., Tessier, D. & Bruand, A. 1998. A conceptual model of the soil water retention curve. Water Resources Research34, 223-231, doi:10.1029/97wr03039. -Perrier, E., Rieu, M., Sposito, G. & de Marsily, G. 1996. Models of the water retention curve for soils with a fractal pore size distribution. Water Resources Research 32, 3025-3031, doi:10.1029/96wr01779. -Børrensen, T. 2011. Pore size distribution and pF-analsis. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University for Life Sciences. -Sparks D.L., 1996. Methods of soil analysis. Part 3: Chemical methods. Soil Science Society of America, USA.
-Relevant litterature presented in Canvas.
Prerequisites:
JORD230 or similar. Relevant courses in Soil Sciences.
Recommended prerequisites:
Mandatory activity:
It is mandatory to submit a laboratory report from all exercises, and to take part in all laboratory activities and demonstrations.
Assessment:
The teachers evaluates laboratory reports (group reports). Continuous exam. Grading scale: pass / fail
Nominal workload:
Total workload: 150 hours. Lectures every morning (25%) followed up by either demonstrations (25%) or student exercises and report preparations (50%).
Entrance requirements:
Special requirements in Science
Reduction of credits:
5 ECTS for students with exam in JORD212.
Type of course:
Approximately 112 hours.
Note:
This cource is recommended for english speaking students on the MSc-program in ¿Sustainable water and sanitation, health and development¿ and exchange students following SIU exchange programs.
Examiner:
External examinor.
Examination details: Portfolio: Passed / Failed