Effect of Acid Treatment on Dissolved Organic Carbon Retention by a Spodic Horizon

摘要

Processes involving the movement of organic substances in forest soils are not well understood. The study was conducted to examine the role of acidic inputs on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mobility, processes affecting the retention of DOC by a B horizon, and SO4(2-) adsorption. Using O and B horizon samples from a Spodosol collected in a forested watershed in Maine, acid solutions leached through O, B, and O over B(O/B) soils in small vacuum extractor columns were analyzed for DOC, DOC fractions, and anions. For the O and O/B columns, DOC in the leachates decreased (7550 to 3350 and 2380 to 850 micro mol C/L, respectively) with an increase in acidic inputs; for the B horizon, the reverse was the case (435 to 1570 micro mol C/L. The DOC in leachates from the O horizon was dominated by hydrophobic and hydrophilic acids (68 and 20% of DOC with no acid addition), which were altered by acidic inputs (46 and 36% of DOC at p(H(1+))=2). The hydrophobic acid percentage in leachates from O/B horizon columns decreased from 52 to 28%, whereas hydrophilic acids increased from 27 to 47% with H2O and p(H(1+))=2 treatments, respectively. Ionic strength adjustment (I=0.01) of treatment solutions reduced C solubilization in O and O/B horizon leachates, leading to lower DOC leaching.