NMR studies of soil, soil organic matter and nutrients: spectroscopy and imaging

A short general review of all aspects of the NMR technique, in both the spectroscopic and imaging modes, as applied to the study of soil, is presented from a mainly technical point of view. Illustrations, in the form of spectra and images, are reproduced for whole soils, solids, solid fractions, and liquid extracts from material in the authors' group. Nuclides covered are ¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N, ²⁷Al and ³¹P. For solid samples the techniques employed include CP/MAS with and without TOSS, and for liquid-state studies the first high field (14.1 T) examples for soils in both one and two frequency dimensions are presented. For imaging further results from the first application of the stray field (STRAFI) technique applied to water in soil are given showing distortion-free images of both bound and free water. Finally, the first electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) and pulsed EPR results on soils will be illustrated. This paper is a slightly expanded version of an introductory talk of 35 minutes and so is not discursive. In particular the benefits of the techniques presented to soil science are only touched on. Other speakers present papers elsewhere in this issue which expand on particular aspects of the utility of NMR studies of soils.