Abstract
Some naturally occurring granular materials, such as granitic quartz and sand‐sized fragments of sedimentary rocks, are susceptible to breakage and may cause problems when present in soil samples being prepared for particle‐size analysis. An assessment was made of three methods of the kind used for disaggregating soils, with prepared samples of granitic alluvium and alluvium rich in argillaceous and quartzitic sedimentary rock fragments. An ultrasonic probe caused least fragmentation of the samples tested; an end‐over‐end shaker caused slight fragmentation of coarse fractions; a drink mixer operated for 15 min caused considerable fragmentation of medium and coarse‐sized fractions.

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