Undisturbed Soil Sample

Knowledge about the form and distribution of organic and inorganic compounds in a soil sample provides important information for characterizing the properties and process of soil formation.
Soil is rarely analyzed directly by a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR).However, it is possible to analyze soil fixed in resin. The undisturbed soil sample taken with a core sampler is embedded in resin for protection. This sample permits the detailed observation of the soil surface and analysis by a surface analyzer.
The analysis of such a soil sample is introduced below.

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR)

This instrument shines infrared light onto the molecules, which absorb infrared radiation equivalent to the interatomic vibrational energy of the atoms that comprise the molecules. It then estimates the structure and quantifies the compound by investigating this IR absorbance.