13C/12C Ratios of soil organic matter as indicators of vegetation changes in the congo

The ¹³C/¹²C ratios were determined for the organic matter of all horizons of a podzol profile and of the A₁ horizons of some ferrallitic soils, in some grass shoots and in a fossil root fragment from the B_2h horizon of the podzol. The isotope ratio in the organic matter of the A₁ horizon of the podzol matches those in grass shoots from the present savanna vegetation. The ratios in the lower horizons match those of organic matter in the A₁ horizons of soils under forest and that of the fossil root fragment in the B_2h horizon. The ratios thus demonstrate that the humus enrichment of the B_2h horizon of the podzol occurred while it was under forest vegetation and that the present grass vegetation did not take part in the podzolization process. The differences also indicate that savanna replaced forest vegetation after the profile had been formed.     

Podzolization as a deferralitization process: a study of an Acrisol–Podzol sequence derived from Palaeozoic sandstones in the northern upper Amazon Basin

Morphological, geochemical and mineralogical studies were carried out in a representative soil catena of the low‐elevation plateaux of the upper Amazon Basin to interpret the steps and mechanisms involved in the podzolization of low‐activity clay soils. The soils are derived from Palaeozoic sandstones. They consist of Hydromorphic Podzols under tree savannah in the depressions of the plateaux and predominantly of Acrisols covered by evergreen forest elsewhere. Incipient podzolization in the uppermost Acrisols is related to the formation of organic‐rich A and Bhs horizons slightly depleted in fine‐size particles by both mechanical particle transfer and weathering. Weathering of secondary minerals by organic acids and formation of organo‐metallic complexes act simultaneously over short distances. Their vertical transfer is limited. Selective dissolution of aluminous goethite, then gibbsite and finally kaolinite favour the preferential cheluviation of first Fe and secondly Al. The relatively small amount of organo‐metallic complexes produced is related to the quartzitic parent materials, and the predominance of Al over Fe in the spodic horizons is due to the importance of gibbsite in these low‐activity clay soils. Morphologically well‐expressed podzols occur in strongly iron‐depleted topsoils of the depression. Mechanical transfer and weathering of gibbsite and kaolinite by organic acids is enhanced and leads to residual accumulation of sands. Organo‐metallic complexes are translocated in strongly permeable sandy horizons and impregnate at depth the macro‐voids of embedded soil and saprolite materials to form the spodic Bs and 2BCs horizons. Mechanical transfer of black particulate organic compounds devoid of metals has occurred later within the sandy horizons of the podzols. Their vertical transfer has formed well‐differentiated A and Bh horizons. Their lateral removal by groundwater favours the development of an albic E horizon. In an open and waterlogged environment, the general trend is therefore towards the removal of all the metals that have initially accumulated as a response to the ferralitization process and have temporarily been sequestrated in organic complexes in previous stages of soil podzolization.     

The weathering of ferruginous chlorite in a podzol from argyllshire,Scotland

The dominant mineral in the clay fractions from the basal horizons of a podzol developed on till derived mainly from chlorite-schists in Argyllshire is oxidized, iron-rich chlorite. Towards the profile surface, the chlorite decreases in amount, becoming absent in the A₂ horizon in which the dominant mineral is a complex dioctahedral interstratified phase formed from dioctahedral mica and composed of mica and vermiculite. The absence of any trioctahedral mineral in the A₂ horizon together with the marked loss of iron and magnesium from the clay fraction from this horizon indicates that the chlorite, a thuringite, has been destroyed, the only detectable product being goethite. In other apparently similar soils chlorite persists throughout the profiles. As the Eredine podzol contains translocated humus in the B₂ horizon, it is suggested that during podzolization, organic solutions percolated downwards from the surface, formed complexes with iron and aluminium from the chlorite structure, removing them to the B₂ horizon, and thus eventually dissolved out the chlorite from the A₂ horizon.     

Ein Vergleich von Eisenpodsolen im östlichen Niedersachsen mit Podsolen unter borealem Nadelwald in Finnland

Iron podzols in eastern Lower Saxony compared with podzols under finnish boreal Pine forests Well developed iron podzols with orange-brown Bs-horizons poor in humus are found in isolated small areas of eastern Lower Saxony. Because of their similarity they were compared with finnish podzols under boreal pine forest. Similar soil morphology, low humus illuviation and unconsolidized Bs-horizons are common to both groups of podzols. Different are the smaller thickness of soil horizons and the higher amounts of Fe-oxides in B-horizons of finnish podzols. Despite high grade of activity (Fe_ox/d) this may be due more to iron oxide formation by silicate weathering (micas) than to podzolization. An interpretation of the german podzols as relics from boreal coniferous forests may be supposed but there is no significant evidence by the considered datas.     

Mineralogic evolution in hydromorphic sandy soils and podzols in “landes du médoc”, France

Soils of the nearly level “Landes du Médoc” in southwestern France have a pattern of alternating bodies of hydromorphic podzols (Haplaquods) and low humic hydromorphic soils (Psammaquents). The soils are formed in a sedimentary mantle of coarse, quartzose sands with a slight microrelief consisting of low, elongated ridges and shallow, intervening troughs. The water table is at shallow depths throughout the plain, even at the surface in places. The podzols on the crests of the low ridges have distinct A₂ and cemented B₂ h horizons. Podzols persist down the sides of ridges but going downslope first lose the A₂ horizon and then the cementation of the Bh horizon. Soils in the shallow troughs have A₁ and Cg horizons without B horizons.The fine silt (2–20 μm) and clay (0–2 μm) fractions of the parent sand contain primary trioctahedral chlorite, mica, feldspars, and quartz, with the last mineral predominant. During soil development, the first three minerals undergo weathering at different rates and to different extents. Chlorite is most strongly weathered, followed in order by plagioclases and K-minerals. In the fine silt fraction, weathering seems to occur mostly by fragmentation of particles. In the clay fraction, the phyllosilicates successively form irregularly interstratified minerals with contractible but not expandable vermiculitic layers, interstratified minerals with contractible and expandable smectitic layers, and finally smectites.The extent to which the silicate minerals are weathered becomes progressively greater from the low humic hydromorphic soils to the podzols with friable Bh horizons to the podzols with cemented Bh horizons. Smectite is present only in the A₂ horizons of these last podzols.The aluminum release by weathering of silicate minerals is translocated in part in the form of organo-metal complexes into the Bh horizons of the podzols. Greatest concentrations of Al are associated with coatings of monomorphic organic matter on mineral grains in the cemented Bh horizons, in which some Al has also crystallized into gibbsite. That mineral was not detected in friable B horizons of podzols nor in the low humic hydromorphic soil. Contrary to expectations, the mobile Al did not enter interlayer spaces of expanding 2:1 clay minerals.     

Chemical and mineralogical properties of sandy and loamy-sandy ochreous brown earths in relation to incipient podzolization in a brown earth—podzol evolutive sequence

Chemical and mineralogical properties of ochreous brown earths have been studied with particular reference to: (1) the distribution within the profiles of Fe and Al compounds; (2) the occurrence of smectite-like clay minerals in surface horizons. Ochreous brown earths studied belong to a developmental sequence of forest soils, from acid brown earths to ferric podzols, developed on sandy or loamy-sandy acid parent materials. In such a soil sequence, both selective chemical and mineralogical data show clearly that podzolization is already active in ochreous brown earths, whereas such an incipient podzolization is quite undetectable by direct morphological observations. The distribution patterns of amorphous Fe and Al hydrous oxides and organic associations, clearly show the intergrade character of ochreous brown earths, when compared with the vertical distribution of Fe and Al forms in acid brown earths and podzolized soils. The Fe/Al ratio of both an NH₄-oxalate extract and an NaOH/Na-tetraborate extract buffered at pH 9.7, measured in the A₁B diagnostic horizon of ochreous brown earths, is a particularly appropriate and useful genetic criterion for the detection of incipient podzolization. Moreover, the presence of expansible clay minerals (degradation smectites) in the clay-sized fraction of the surface horizons of ochreous brown earths (A₁ and A₁B) can be considered as supplementary evidence of incipient podzolization.     

Geochemical characterization of placic horizons in subtropical montane forest soils,northeastern Taiwan

Well‐developed placic horizons have been found in subalpine forest soils with large clay contents in Taiwan. We investigated their formation processes in five profiles in a subalpine ecosystem of northeastern Taiwan, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy‐dispersive spectrometry (EDS), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), differential X‐ray diffraction (DXRD) and chemical extractions. The placic horizons, ranging from 3‐ to 17‐mm thick, always occurred above argillic horizons with abrupt changes in pH and texture between the two horizons. When fully developed, the placic horizons were clearly differentiated between upper and lower sub‐horizons. EDS and chemical extractions revealed that the cementing materials in both were predominantly inorganic Fe oxides. However, contents of aluminosilicates and organically complexed Fe and Al were greater in the lower than in the upper placic sub‐horizon. Results of EPMA indicated that interstitial fine materials in the upper placic sub‐horizon were composed mainly of Fe oxides, whereas Fe oxides were codominant with illuvial clay in the lower sub‐horizon. These analyses identified the migration of Fe and clay as major formation processes in both sub‐horizons. We hypothesize that there is a pedogenic sequence that starts with clay illuviation, followed by podzolization. The resultant textural and permeability differentiation reinforces the tendency to profile episaturation that is already inherent from the heavy rainfall and clayey surface soils. Topsoil Fe is therefore reduced and mobilized, and then illuviated with clay and organically complexed Fe/Al to initiate the lower placic sub‐horizon. The poor permeability of this layer reinforces the moisture conditions in the surface soils, and the further reduction, illuviation and deposition of inorganic Fe to form the upper placic sub‐horizon.     

Characteristics of brown forest soils developed on the paleozoic shale in northern Kyoto with special reference to their pedogenetic process

Abstract

Morphological and chemical properties of brown forest soils and podzolic soils developed on paleozoic shale under beech and/or cryptomeria have been studied with special reference to the eluviation-illuviation characteristics of Fe and Al.

Mobilization of Al was observed even in brown forest soils and its pattern was similar to that in podzolic soils. Its intensity was higher in the brown forest soils developed on the ridge under cryptomeria than in those on the slope under beech. Hence, podzolization is considered to be one of the genetic processes involved in the brown forest soils in question.

Furthermore, the value of (Fep+Alp)/clay that is employed to define a podzolic B or spodic horizon indicated the presence of a podzolic B horizon even in the brown forest soils studied, while no spodic horizon was found even in the podzolic soils with a clearly recognizable albic horizon. Moreover, the examination of the degree of podzolization showed that the brown forest soils almost corresponded to Ochreous brown earths.     

Organic matter retention in an upland humic podzol; the effects of pH and solute type

This paper discusses the effects of different horizons and soil solution compositions on dissolved organic matter retention in a moorland podzol and compares the results with previous studies of forest podzols. Adsorption isotherms were constructed for each of the major horizons of a freely draining, upland, moorland, humic podzol from north-east Scotland, to investigate processes of retention and release of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Carbon retention of a range of solute types was studied, and phthalate was chosen as a model compound to measure carbon retention at three different pH values (3, 4.5 and 6). Retention and release of DOM was related to chemical, physical and mineralogical characteristics of the different soil horizons. All the mineral horizons retained DOM, with the Bs horizon most retentive. Solution pH did not significantly affect DOM retention in the O and A horizons. At pH 3 and 4.5 organic matter was weakly retained in the Bhs horizon, but strongly retained in the Bs and the Cx horizons. At pH 6 reversal of surface charge occurred in the Bs and Cx horizons resulting in the release of similar amounts of organic matter to that released from the O horizon at the same pH. The results demonstrate how podzols act as a ‘valve’ in controlling the input of dissolved organic compounds into surface and ground water, and how sensitive the controlling mechanisms are to pH change.     

Identification of podzols and podzolised soils in New Zealand by relative absorbance of oxalate extracts of A and B horizons

A method for separating podzols and podzolised soils from other New Zealand soils is proposed. The method is based on measurement of the optical density of acid oxalate extracts of soils. A number of soil leaching sequences and some individual soils are examined.It is assumed that the optical density of the oxalate extracts is due mainly to extracted fulvic acid and that detection of appreciable quantities of this material in the B horizon indicates that podzolisation is an active process in the soil.The technique separated the soils of the leaching sequences well, following the observable increase of podzolic characteristics with increased leaching.When the B horizon/A horizon ODOE (optical density of the oxalate extracts) ratios were compared with the criteria for the spodic horizon in “Soil Taxonomy” (Soil Survey Staff, 1975), it was found that all soils with a ratio of less than 1.0 did not satisfy spodic horizon criteria and were not classified as podzol/podzolised. All the soils examined with ratios > 1.0 satisfied spodic horizon criteria or were classified as podzol/podzolised, usually both.     

Movement of aluminium as an inorganic complex in some podzolised soils,New Zealand

Chemical and mineralogical data are presented for three Spodosols (podzols) and a related Inceptisol (yellow-brown loam). Allophane with an Al/Si atomic ratio close to two is identified in the B horizons of all four soils, and minor amounts of imogolite are present in association with allophane in all but one soil where small-particle gibbsite occurs. Parent materials for these soils are essentially non-vitric. Allophane (Al/Si = 2) has been estimated quantitatively in all soils using oxalate-extractable Si (Si₀) and is selected clay fractions using both Si₀ and infrared spectroscopy. Maximum concentrations of allophane (Al/Si = 2) range from 5% to 18% of fine earth (< 2 mm) fractions and all occur in B horizons. Fe₀ values are low relative to Al₀ values except for the upper horizons of the Inceptisol. Al₀ values peak in B horizons and the ratio pyrophosphate-extractable Al to Al₀ decreases from about 1 in A and upper B horizons to 0.1–0.4 in lower B horizons.An interpretation of the data is consistent with recent proposals that the movement of Al in podzolisation is due primarily to the formation of inorganic complexes with Si. Chemical criteria for spodic horizons should be consistent with the total illuviation of Al and Fe (and perhaps Si), rather than just the organic-bound fraction of Al and Fe in these horizons as indicated by amounts in extractants such as pyrophosphate.     

Roles of iron and clay in Genesis of acid soils under a humid,temperate climate

The occurence of acid brown soils, podzols and podzolic soils, and the intermediate types of ochreous brown and brown podzolic soils over arenaceous granite in Vosges was closely correlated with the contents of iron rather than with calcium plus magnesium in the parent materials. Acid brown soils were associated with high and podzols and podzolic soils with low contents of iron, the limiting value being near 5 percent. Additional investigations in beech forests of soils derived from a variety of acid rocks indicated that contents of iron and clay in the parent materials controlled the type of humification of litter. With higher contents of iron and clay, humification gave rise to mull. With lower contents, mor or moder was formed. The nature of humification was believed responsible for tilting pedogenesis toward brunification or toward podzolization. In brunification, the clay-iron-humus complexes that are formed tend to be immobile and promote formation of crumbly structure. The “active iron” occurs as films around clay particles and thus links them to humus. In podzolization, on the other hand, the complexes formed are of humus with iron or aluminum but without clay. These are mobile and are translocated downward in profiles to form spodic horizons. The organo-metal complexes in ochreous brown and brown podzolic soils are mobile to only a limited extent. The combined results of these investigations demonstrate that contents of iron and clay rather than calcium in parent materials determine the pathway of pedogenesis from acid rocks under humid, temperate climates.     

The formation and evolution of colluvium on arable land in northern Luxembourg

The paper deals with colluvial deposits found in dry valley heads in a farmland area near the village of Berlé in northern Luxembourg. The colluvium, with a maximum depth of 1.50 m, overlies a truncated red and gray mottled IIBtb horizon of an older soil. The colluvium shows signs of groundmass illuviation in the form of matriargillans, matrans or agricutans, as this feature is variously called. These coarse grained cutans are also found in the buried IIBtb horizon, where they are superimposed upon illuviation ferriargillans. From a review of the literature it appears that matrans are generally considered to result from structural breakdown of the superficial soil horizons under human cultivation. That the colluvium was formed under cultivation is in agreement with its pollen content of practically only non-tree species associated with human occupation and cereals.The colluvium contains heavy minerals from a volcanic eruption in the Eifel which took place during the Upper-Pleniglacial or Late-Glacial of the Weichselian. Furthermore it is rich in charcoal fragments, presumably from charcoal burning after 1450 A.D. and/or from forest burning for agricultural purposes. The presence of pollen of Fagopyrum (buckwheat), which was introduced in the area around 1460 A.D., in the colluvium confirms a late-mediaeval and/or later time of formation of the colluvium.     

Unterscheidung der Subtypen Humus-, Eisenhumus- und Eisenpodsol

Differentiation of the subtypes humuspodzol, humus-iron podzol and iron podzol Humic podzols are characterized by a distinct Bh-horizon and deep humus illuviation (humic bands). They may be thus recognized by morphological features. Differentiation of humic podzols on layered sands, of humus-iron podzols and of iron podzols is only possible by quantitative analytical data. For that the ratio of pyrophosphate-extractable C/Fe is proposed: humic podzols (Bh) > 10, humus-iron podzols (Bhs) 3–10, iron podzols (Bs) < 3. For differentiation of soil varieties quantities of illuviated matter in the investigated illuvial subhorizons (Bh, Bhs, Bs) may be chosen.     

Pedogenic processes of placic and spodic horizons in subtropical subalpine forest soils with contrasting textures

Placic (Bsm) and spodic (Bhs) horizons are common in subalpine or alpine forest soils in Taiwan. Bsm horizons are found more usually in finer textured soils than those with Bhs horizons. To understand the different formation processes in Bsm and Bhs horizons in a humid subtropical ecosystem, we identified micro‐morphological features by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and electron probe micro‐analysis (EPMA), and determined the physiochemical properties by chemical extractions and clay mineralogy. The study included four pedons with well‐developed Bsm horizons from our previous study and four with well‐developed Bhs horizons at other sites. Both sites were in subtropical mountain forests with similar climate, topography and general geology but over regoliths with distinctly different textures. Micro‐morphology revealed a vughy (small cavities lined with in‐washed materials) microstructure in Bsm horizons but a granular structure with bridge microstructures between coarse grains in Bhs horizons. Chemical analysis revealed more free pedogenic iron (Fe_d) and aluminium (Al_d) in Bsm than in Bhs horizons, but more organically complexed Al (Al_p) in Bhs horizons. Energy dispersive spectrometry revealed predominant Fe, oxygen (O) and carbon (C) in the matrix of the Bsm horizons, whereas Al, silicon (Si) and C were the major elements of interstitial materials in Bhs horizons. Polarizing microscopy and EPMA spectra confirmed the illuvial nature of organic Al complexes in Bhs horizons. The transformation of clay minerals showed more intense podzolization in Bhs horizons than in Bsm horizons. The different formation mechanisms in Bsm and Bhs horizons result from contrasting texture; redox processes are predominant in Bsm horizons because of the clayey texture whereas podzolization is predominant in sandy Bhs horizons.     

Water-soluble organic matter in incipient podzols: accumulation in B horizons or in fibres?

To elucidate the mechanism of podzolization in its first stages we studied the fate of the water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) in incipient podzols in sandy soils by comparing the composition of the WSOM from L, F and H horizons with that in the bulk of the Bh horizons and fibres of three profiles. The WSOM appeared to consist significantly of ligno-cellulose and proteins, but these biopolymers were hardly present in the Bh horizons. The material of the fibres, however, greatly resembled the WSOM composition, thereby suggesting that in these soils most of the WSOM is transported through the B horizon and accumulates hardly changed in thin bands where the water stops moving. This implies that in the early steps of podzolization, accumulation of organic matter in the B horizon is not likely to be caused by water-soluble material.     

Total lipid extracts from characteristic soil horizons in a podzol profile

The podzolization process is studied through lipids in nine characteristic podzol horizons. Organic matter accumulates particularly with aluminium in the Bh horizon, while the hard, cemented Bs horizon below this is formed mainly by iron oxides. The low soil pH seems to have no great influence on the preservation of lipids as reflected by the absolute amounts present and the presence of bacterial lipid markers throughout the profile. Independent of soil pH, lipids accumulate in organically enriched horizons. Albeit, high molecular weight organic compounds accumulate to a relatively greater extent than lipids in these horizons. A lipid signal related to the aerial parts, i.e. leaves and flowers, of Calluna is observed only in the O horizon. This ‘n‐alkane, steroid and triterpenoids’ signal is quickly lost in the underlying Ah horizon due to (bacterial) oxidation. The other total lipid extracts obtained are dominated by root‐derived compounds. In subsoil horizons rich in organic matter, i.e. the Ahb and Bh horizons, root‐derived friedooleanan and steroid compounds dominate the total lipid signal. Degraded horizons, poor in organic matter, i.e. the E2, Bhs, Bs and B/C horizons, are dominated by C₂₂ and C₂₄ω‐hydroxy acids, long‐chain (> C₂₀) n‐alkanoic acids with a strong even‐over‐odd predominance and C₂₂ and C₂₄n‐alkanols. Steroid and root‐derived triterpenoids with a friedooleanan structure have been removed from these horizons through degradation. Based on total organic carbon content and lipid composition, the formation of an E1 horizon has started, but is not yet complete. In the Ahb horizon, a contribution from buried vegetation to the total lipid signal is still present, although degradation and an input from roots have significantly altered the original signal. Overall, lipid data indicate that degradation (microbial oxidation) is an important process that should be taken into account, in addition to leaching, when describing podzolization processes in soils.     

Zur pedochemie des berylliums — untersuchungen einer bodengesellschaft im gebiet des bärhaldegranits (südschwarzwald)

The profile distribution of Be is given for a toposequence of podzols, brown earths, stagnogley, forest bog and “Ockererde” (slope gley with infiltrated Al, Mn and Fe). Analysed were the parent rock, fine earth, four fractions of mineral soil (fine skeleton, sand, silt, clay) and the needles of spruce trees.Beryllium is involved in selective weathering processes of elements. Accordingly, the Be-content increases from the fine skeleton to sand, rock, silt and clay, progressively. Through pedogenetic enrichment, Be accumulates in the mica-rich silt fraction.Uptake of Be by spruce is very low even from these acid soils. The accumulation in the needles becomes greater with increasing age.The pedochemical behaviour of Be is very similar to that of Al.Be is incorporated very little in the organic matter cycle, and is therefore not enriched in the soil humus.The brown earth has lost Be, especially in the A_h-horizon.In the A_e-horizon of the podzol, loss of Be is even greater; the loss is partly offset by Be-enrichment in the B-horizon.In the profiles of depressions, the Be-content is high and is ascribed to lateral flow from the slopes. Be-enrichment is especially high in horizons with a pH of about 5.The Be-balance of the watershed indicates an export of about 10% of the original amount.     

A study of argillic horizons in some soils in Morocco

Whether some soils observed in Morocco prior to the 1966 conference on Mediterranean soils held in Madrid had argillic horizons was the subject of active discussions. Textural differences between A- and B-horizons were obvious. Consequently, individual horizons of a number of profiles were sampled for micromorphological study. No clay films were observed in thin sections representing the B-horizons free in carbonate. Peds had pressure faces and internal striations in the matrix. Microchurning and swelling and shrinking are believed to have obliterated evidence of clay illuviation in the B-horizons, but clay coatings were observed at greater depth in well-developed B_ca-horizons.