Soil Analysis Reveals Presence of Organic Carbon in All Agricultural Soils
Total carbon in soils comes from both organic and inorganic sources. Organic carbon is mainly in soil organic matter, while inorganic carbon is in carbonate minerals. Different methods are used to analyze total carbon in soils, involving converting all carbon forms to CO2 and measuring it. Not all soils have inorganic carbon due to dissolution, but all have organic carbon. It is recommended to report organic carbon concentration as a measure of soil organic matter.