Storage and distribution of organic carbon and nutrients in acidic soils developed on sulfidic sediments: the roles of reactive iron and macroporesShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Environmental Science and Technology, ISSN 0013-936X, E-ISSN 1520-5851, Vol. 58, no 21, p. 9200-9212Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In a boreal acidic sulfate-rich subsoil (pH 3-4) developing on sulfidic and organic-rich sediments over the past 70 years, extensive brownish-to-yellowish layers have formed on macropores. Our data reveal that these layers ("macropore surfaces") are strongly enriched in 1 M HCl-extractable reactive iron (2-7% dry weight), largely bound to schwertmannite and 2-line ferrihydrite. These reactive iron phases trap large pools of labile organic matter (OM) and HCl-extractable phosphorus, possibly derived from the cultivated layer. Within soil aggregates, the OM is of a different nature from that on the macropore surfaces but similar to that in the underlying sulfidic sediments (C-horizon). This provides evidence that the sedimentary OM in the bulk subsoil has been largely preserved without significant decomposition and/or fractionation, likely due to physiochemical stabilization by the reactive iron phases that also existed abundantly within the aggregates. These findings not only highlight the important yet underappreciated roles of iron oxyhydroxysulfates in OM/nutrient storage and distribution in acidic sulfate-rich and other similar environments but also suggest that boreal acidic sulfate-rich subsoils and other similar soil systems (existing widely on coastal plains worldwide and being increasingly formed in thawing permafrost) may act as global sinks for OM and nutrients in the short run.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS), 2024. Vol. 58, no 21, p. 9200-9212
Keywords [en]
acid sulfate soil, macropores, nutrients, organic carbon storage, reactive iron, sulfide oxidation
National Category
Soil Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-225048DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c11007ISI: 001225291800001PubMedID: 38743440Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85193739676OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-225048DiVA, id: diva2:1866500
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2020-01004Swedish Research Council Formas, 2018-00760Swedish Research Council, 2020-048532024-06-072024-06-072024-06-07Bibliographically approved