Relationships between the High Aluminum Concentration and Other Components in Soil Solution of Acidic Soil in Kumagaya, Central Japan

A plot with a high aluminum (Al) concentration in soil solution was found in Kumagaya, central Japan; the maximum was 4.0 mg L^?1 as total dissolved Al (TD-Al) at a depth of 10 cm in August 2000. The soil type was Dystric Andosols with three horizons, A/Bw1/Bw2, which contained a considerable quantity of Al extracted by dithionite-citrate and acid-oxalate extractants. The upper two horizons were acidic with soil pH (H₂O) of 4.4 and 4.6. The fundamental cause of the high TD-Al concentration was the low pH with a very low base saturation of less than 2%. The seasonal change in TD-Al concentrations in soil solution at a depth of 10 cm was significantly and positively correlated with the nitrate concentrations but weakly and rather negatively correlated with the sulfate concentrations. Nitrification functioned as the direct acid source to cause the TD-Al concentrations to fluctuate strongly, whereas sulfate adsorption onto the soil at the research plot functioned as a sink of proton.