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Evaluation of Soil 14C Data for Estimating Inert Organic Matter in the Rothc Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Janet Rethemeyer ,
Pieter M Grootes ,
Sonja Brodowski  and
Bernard Ludwig
Janet Rethemeyer*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr, 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research, University of Kiel, Max-Eyth-Str. 11, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Pieter M Grootes
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research, University of Kiel, Max-Eyth-Str. 11, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Sonja Brodowski
Affiliation:
Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Soil Science and Soil Ecology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 13, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Bernard Ludwig
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr, 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
*
Corresponding author. Email: janet.rethemeyer@awi.de
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Abstract

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Changes in soil organic carbon stocks were simulated with the Rothamsted carbon (RothC) model. We evaluated the calculation of a major input variable, the amount of inert organic matter (IOM), using measurable data. Three different approaches for quantifying IOM were applied to soils with mainly recent organic matter and with carbon contribution from fossil fuels: 1) IOM estimation via total soil organic carbon (SOC); 2) through bulk soil radiocarbon and a mass balance; and 3) by quantifying the portion of black carbon via a specific marker. The results were highly variable in the soil containing lignite-derived carbon and ranged from 8% to 52% inert carbon of total SOC, while nearly similar amounts of 5% to 8% were determined in the soil with mainly recent organic matter. We simulated carbon dynamics in both soils using the 3 approaches for quantifying IOM in combination with carbon inputs derived from measured crop yields. In the soil with recent organic matter, all approaches gave a nearly similar good agreement between measured and modeled data, while in the soil with a fossil carbon admixture, only the 14C approach was successful in matching the measured data. Although 14C was useful for initializing RothC, care should be taken when interpreting SOC dynamics in soils containing carbon from fossil fuels, since these reflect the contribution from both natural and anthropogenic carbon sources.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 1079 - 1091
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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