FIG. 10.

The presence of ca. 2% organic matter in the samples diminishes the deliquescence capacity to about 50%. Two aliquots of 2 g of sample 200 were dried, their organic matter kept (+OM) or baked at 550°C to destroy it (-OM), and finally subjected to the deliquescence capacity assay for 20 days (see Materials and Methods). The adsorbed water was measured as the percentage of the initial dry weight (gray) and as the total liquid water recovered (black). Total organic carbon in sample 200 was 1.98±0.15%.