Sectioning of Soil

Abstract

MANY workers interested in soil microbiology or soil structure have attempted to impregnate soil with materials such as balsam in the hope that the soil could be hardened sufficiently to enable sections to be prepared by normal geological techniques. Few of these attempts met with much success. Kubiena¹ made considerable progress by introducing the use of a thermolabile plastic material, and was able to prepare sections showing the soil structure in many different soil types. However, Kubiena's technique does not seem to have given satisfactory results in the hands of other workers. Haarløv and Weis-Fogh² have developed a method for sectioning litter, using a hardened agar, but their method is unsatisfactory for mineral soil. More recently, Alexander and Jackson³ have described the use of a marco-resin for impregnating the soil and preparing thin sections.