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Estimation of Slow- and Fast-Cycling Soil Organic Carbon Pools from 6N HCl Hydrolysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

S. W. Leavitt ,
R. F. Follett  and
E. A. Paul
S. W. Leavitt
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
R. F. Follett
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS-NPA, Soil, Plant, Nutrient Research/NRRC, 301 S. Howes, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 USA
E. A. Paul
Affiliation:
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
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Abstract

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Acid hydrolysis is used to fractionate the soil organic carbon pool into relatively slow- and fast-cycling compartments on soils from Arizona, the Great Plains states and Michigan collected for carbon isotope tracer studies related to soil carbon sequestration, for studies of shifts in C3/C4 vegetation, and for “pre-bomb” soil-carbon inventories. Prior to hydrolysis, soil samples are first treated with cold 0.5–1N HCl to remove soil carbonates if necessary. Samples are then dispersed in a concentrated NaCl solution (ρ≍1.2 g cm-3) and floated plant fragments are skimmed off the surface. After rinsing and drying, all remaining recognizable plant fragments are picked from the soil under 20x magnification. Plant-free soils, and hot, 6N HCl acid-hydrolysis residue and hydrolyzate fractions are analyzed for carbon content, δ13C and 14C age, and the carbon distribution is verified within 1–2% by stable-carbon isotope mass balance. On average, the recalcitrant residue fraction is 1800 yr older and 2.6% more 13C-depleted than total soil organic carbon. A test of hydrolysis with fresh plant fragments produced as much as 71–76% in the acid-hydrolysis residue pool. Thus, if plant fragments are not largely removed prior to hydrolysis, the residue fraction may date much younger than it actually is.

Type
14C and Soil Dynamics: Special Section
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , 1996 , pp. 231 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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