Articles | Volume 10, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-77-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-77-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| 
01 Feb 2024
Original research article |
| 01 Feb 2024
| 01 Feb 2024
Organic matters, but inorganic matters too: column examination of elevated mercury sorption on low organic matter aquifer material using concentrations and stable isotope ratios
David S. McLagan
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L3N6, Canada
School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L3J6, Canada
Carina Esser
Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Lorenz Schwab
Department for Environmental Geosciences, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria
Environmental Engineering Institute IIE-ENAC, Soil Biogeochemistry Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, 1950, Switzerland
Jan G. Wiederhold
Department for Environmental Geosciences, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria
Jan-Helge Richard
Institute for Hygiene and Environment Hamburg, 20539 Hamburg, Germany
Harald Biester
Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Related authors
Ashu Dastoor, Hélène Angot, Johannes Bieser, Flora Brocza, Brock Edwards, Aryeh Feinberg, Xinbin Feng, Benjamin Geyman, Charikleia Gournia, Yipeng He, Ian M. Hedgecock, Ilia Ilyin, Terry Keating, Jane Kirk, Che-Jen Lin, Igor Lehnherr, Robert Mason, David McLagan, Marilena Muntean, Peter Rafaj, Eric M. Roy, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Francesco De Simone, Anne L. Soerensen, Frits Steenhuisen, Oleg Travnikov, Shuxiao Wang, Xun Wang, Simon Wilson, Rosa Wu, Qingru Wu, Yanxu Zhang, Jun Zhou, Wei Zhu, and Scott Zolkos
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-65, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-65, 2024
Preprint under review for GMD
Short summary
Short summary
This paper introduces the Multi-Compartment Mercury (Hg) Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP) aimed to inform the effectiveness evaluations of two multilateral environmental agreements: the Minamata Convention on Mercury and Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The experimental design exploits a variety of models (atmospheric, land, oceanic and multi-media mass balance models) to assess the short- and long-term influences of anthropogenic Hg releases in the environment.
David S. McLagan, Harald Biester, Tomas Navrátil, Stephan M. Kraemer, and Lorenz Schwab
Biogeosciences, 19, 4415–4429, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4415-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4415-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Spruce and larch trees are effective archiving species for historical atmospheric mercury using growth rings of bole wood. Mercury stable isotope analysis proved an effective tool to characterise industrial mercury signals and assess mercury uptake pathways (leaf uptake for both wood and bark) and mercury cycling within the trees. These data detail important information for understanding the mercury biogeochemical cycle particularly in forest systems.
David S. McLagan, Geoff W. Stupple, Andrea Darlington, Katherine Hayden, and Alexandra Steffen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5635–5653, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5635-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5635-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
An assessment of mercury emissions from a burning boreal forest was made by flying an aircraft through its plume to collect in situ gas and particulate measurements. Direct data show that in-plume gaseous elemental mercury concentrations reach up to 2.4× background for this fire and up to 5.6× when using a correlation with CO data. These unique data are applied to a series of known empirical emissions estimates and used to highlight current uncertainties in the literature.
David S. McLagan, Carl P. J. Mitchell, Alexandra Steffen, Hayley Hung, Cecilia Shin, Geoff W. Stupple, Mark L. Olson, Winston T. Luke, Paul Kelley, Dean Howard, Grant C. Edwards, Peter F. Nelson, Hang Xiao, Guey-Rong Sheu, Annekatrin Dreyer, Haiyong Huang, Batual Abdul Hussain, Ying D. Lei, Ilana Tavshunsky, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5905–5919, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5905-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5905-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
A new passive air sampler for gaseous mercury was tested at 20 sites on four continents. These sites have in common that they use the state-of-the-art active air sampling technique for gaseous mercury on a continuous basis and therefore allow for an evaluation and calibration of the passive sampler. The sampler proved to work exceptionally well, with a precision and accuracy on par with the active
instrument and better than what has previously been achieved with passive samplers.
David S. McLagan, Carl P. J. Mitchell, Haiyong Huang, Batual Abdul Hussain, Ying Duan Lei, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3651–3660, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3651-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3651-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Laboratory experiments indicate that the sampling rate of a passive air sampler for gaseous mercury is (1) not affected by relative humidity, (2) increases slightly with increasing temperature because of the effect of temperature on molecular diffusivity, (3) increases only slightly with wind speed as long as the wind speed is at least 1 m/s, and (4) is not changed when previously deployed diffusive barriers are used.
David S. McLagan, Maxwell E. E. Mazur, Carl P. J. Mitchell, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3061–3076, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3061-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3061-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
For more than 20 years, scientists and engineers have tried to design simple sampling devices that can collect gaseous elemental mercury from the atmosphere without the use of a pump. A thorough review of the sampler designs that have been presented so far suggests that while some may be suitable for measuring higher air concentrations close to sources, none of them have the accuracy and precision required to record the low atmospheric mercury concentrations prevalent in background regions.
Ashu Dastoor, Hélène Angot, Johannes Bieser, Flora Brocza, Brock Edwards, Aryeh Feinberg, Xinbin Feng, Benjamin Geyman, Charikleia Gournia, Yipeng He, Ian M. Hedgecock, Ilia Ilyin, Terry Keating, Jane Kirk, Che-Jen Lin, Igor Lehnherr, Robert Mason, David McLagan, Marilena Muntean, Peter Rafaj, Eric M. Roy, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Francesco De Simone, Anne L. Soerensen, Frits Steenhuisen, Oleg Travnikov, Shuxiao Wang, Xun Wang, Simon Wilson, Rosa Wu, Qingru Wu, Yanxu Zhang, Jun Zhou, Wei Zhu, and Scott Zolkos
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-65, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-65, 2024
Preprint under review for GMD
Short summary
Short summary
This paper introduces the Multi-Compartment Mercury (Hg) Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP) aimed to inform the effectiveness evaluations of two multilateral environmental agreements: the Minamata Convention on Mercury and Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The experimental design exploits a variety of models (atmospheric, land, oceanic and multi-media mass balance models) to assess the short- and long-term influences of anthropogenic Hg releases in the environment.
Laura Balzer, Carluvy Baptista-Salazar, Sofi Jonsson, and Harald Biester
Biogeosciences, 20, 1459–1472, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1459-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1459-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Toxic methylmercury (MeHg) in lakes can be enriched in fish and is harmful for humans. Phytoplankton is the entry point for MeHg into the aquatic food chain. We investigated seasonal MeHg concentrations in plankton of a productive lake. Our results show that high amounts of MeHg occur in algae and suspended matter in lakes and that productive lakes are hot spots of MeHg formation, which is mainly controlled by decomposition of algae organic matter and water-phase redox conditions.
David S. McLagan, Harald Biester, Tomas Navrátil, Stephan M. Kraemer, and Lorenz Schwab
Biogeosciences, 19, 4415–4429, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4415-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4415-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Spruce and larch trees are effective archiving species for historical atmospheric mercury using growth rings of bole wood. Mercury stable isotope analysis proved an effective tool to characterise industrial mercury signals and assess mercury uptake pathways (leaf uptake for both wood and bark) and mercury cycling within the trees. These data detail important information for understanding the mercury biogeochemical cycle particularly in forest systems.
David S. McLagan, Geoff W. Stupple, Andrea Darlington, Katherine Hayden, and Alexandra Steffen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5635–5653, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5635-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5635-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
An assessment of mercury emissions from a burning boreal forest was made by flying an aircraft through its plume to collect in situ gas and particulate measurements. Direct data show that in-plume gaseous elemental mercury concentrations reach up to 2.4× background for this fire and up to 5.6× when using a correlation with CO data. These unique data are applied to a series of known empirical emissions estimates and used to highlight current uncertainties in the literature.
David S. McLagan, Carl P. J. Mitchell, Alexandra Steffen, Hayley Hung, Cecilia Shin, Geoff W. Stupple, Mark L. Olson, Winston T. Luke, Paul Kelley, Dean Howard, Grant C. Edwards, Peter F. Nelson, Hang Xiao, Guey-Rong Sheu, Annekatrin Dreyer, Haiyong Huang, Batual Abdul Hussain, Ying D. Lei, Ilana Tavshunsky, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5905–5919, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5905-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5905-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
A new passive air sampler for gaseous mercury was tested at 20 sites on four continents. These sites have in common that they use the state-of-the-art active air sampling technique for gaseous mercury on a continuous basis and therefore allow for an evaluation and calibration of the passive sampler. The sampler proved to work exceptionally well, with a precision and accuracy on par with the active
instrument and better than what has previously been achieved with passive samplers.
David S. McLagan, Carl P. J. Mitchell, Haiyong Huang, Batual Abdul Hussain, Ying Duan Lei, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3651–3660, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3651-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3651-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Laboratory experiments indicate that the sampling rate of a passive air sampler for gaseous mercury is (1) not affected by relative humidity, (2) increases slightly with increasing temperature because of the effect of temperature on molecular diffusivity, (3) increases only slightly with wind speed as long as the wind speed is at least 1 m/s, and (4) is not changed when previously deployed diffusive barriers are used.
David S. McLagan, Maxwell E. E. Mazur, Carl P. J. Mitchell, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3061–3076, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3061-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3061-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
For more than 20 years, scientists and engineers have tried to design simple sampling devices that can collect gaseous elemental mercury from the atmosphere without the use of a pump. A thorough review of the sampler designs that have been presented so far suggests that while some may be suitable for measuring higher air concentrations close to sources, none of them have the accuracy and precision required to record the low atmospheric mercury concentrations prevalent in background regions.
Related subject area
Soils and biogeochemical cycling
Shifts in controls and abundance of particulate and mineral-associated organic matter fractions among subfield yield stability zones
The six rights of how and when to test for soil C saturation
Cover crops improve soil structure and change organic carbon distribution in macroaggregate fractions
Soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus storage in juniper–oak savanna: role of vegetation and geology
Contrasting potential for biological N2 fixation at three polluted central European Sphagnum peat bogs: combining the 15N2-tracer and natural-abundance isotope approaches
The influence of land use and management on the behaviour and persistence of soil organic carbon in a subtropical Ferralsol
What is the stability of additional organic carbon stored thanks to alternative cropping systems and organic wastes products application? A multi-methods evaluation
Soil organic carbon stocks did not change after 130 years of afforestation on a former Swiss Alpine pasture
Improving measurements of microbial growth, death, and turnover by accounting for extracellular DNA in soils
Land inclination controls CO2 and N2O fluxes, but not CH4 uptake, in a temperate upland forest soil
Tropical Andosol organic carbon quality and degradability in relation to soil geochemistry as affected by land use
Formation of particulate organic carbon from dissolved substrate input enhances soil carbon sequestration
Elemental stoichiometry and Rock-Eval® thermal stability of organic matter in French topsoils
Oil-palm management alters the spatial distribution of amorphous silica and mobile silicon in topsoils
Semantics about soil organic carbon storage: DATA4C+, a comprehensive thesaurus and classification of management practices in agriculture and forestry
Forest liming in the face of climate change: the implications of restorative liming for soil organic carbon in mature German forests
Biotic factors dominantly determine soil inorganic carbon stock across Tibetan alpine grasslands
Effects of returning corn straw and fermented corn straw to fields on the soil organic carbon pools and humus composition
Soil nutrient contents and stoichiometry within aggregate size classes varied with tea plantation age and soil depth in southern Guangxi in China
Land use impact on carbon mineralization in well aerated soils is mainly explained by variations of particulate organic matter rather than of soil structure
Inclusion of biochar in a C dynamics model based on observations from an 8-year field experiment
Synergy between compost and cover crops in a Mediterranean row crop system leads to increased subsoil carbon storage
Phosphorus dynamics during early soil development in a cold desert: insights from oxygen isotopes in phosphate
Transformation of n-alkanes from plant to soil: a review
Heterotrophic soil respiration and carbon cycling in geochemically distinct African tropical forest soils
Soil organic carbon mobility in equatorial podzols: soil column experiments
Microbial activity responses to water stress in agricultural soils from simple and complex crop rotations
The role of geochemistry in organic carbon stabilization against microbial decomposition in tropical rainforest soils
Geogenic organic carbon in terrestrial sediments and its contribution to total soil carbon
Aluminous clay and pedogenic Fe oxides modulate aggregation and related carbon contents in soils of the humid tropics
Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa
Modelling of long-term Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb dynamics from soils fertilised with organic amendments
Stable isotope signatures of soil nitrogen on an environmental–geomorphic gradient within the Congo Basin
Iron and aluminum association with microbially processed organic matter via meso-density aggregate formation across soils: organo-metallic glue hypothesis
Land-use perturbations in ley grassland decouple the degradation of ancient soil organic matter from the storage of newly derived carbon inputs
Switch of fungal to bacterial degradation in natural, drained and rewetted oligotrophic peatlands reflected in δ15N and fatty acid composition
Catchment export of base cations: improved mineral dissolution kinetics influence the role of water transit time
Boreal-forest soil chemistry drives soil organic carbon bioreactivity along a 314-year fire chronosequence
Ramped thermal analysis for isolating biologically meaningful soil organic matter fractions with distinct residence times
Variations in soil chemical and physical properties explain basin-wide Amazon forest soil carbon concentrations
Lithology- and climate-controlled soil aggregate-size distribution and organic carbon stability in the Peruvian Andes
Evaluating the effects of soil erosion and productivity decline on soil carbon dynamics using a model-based approach
Base cations in the soil bank: non-exchangeable pools may sustain centuries of net loss to forestry and leaching
Short-range-order minerals as powerful factors explaining deep soil organic carbon stock distribution: the case of a coffee agroforestry plantation on Andosols in Costa Rica
A new look at an old concept: using 15N2O isotopomers to understand the relationship between soil moisture and N2O production pathways
Assessing the impact of acid rain and forest harvest intensity with the HD-MINTEQ model – soil chemistry of three Swedish conifer sites from 1880 to 2080
Dynamic modelling of weathering rates – the benefit over steady-state modelling
Aluminium and base cation chemistry in dynamic acidification models – need for a reappraisal?
Challenges of soil carbon sequestration in the NENA region
Continental soil drivers of ammonium and nitrate in Australia
Sam J. Leuthold, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Bruno Basso, William F. Brinton, and M. Francesca Cotrufo
SOIL, 10, 307–319, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-307-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-307-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We examined physical soil organic matter fractions to understand their relationship to temporal variability in crop yield at field scale. We found that interactions between crop productivity, topography, and climate led to variability in soil organic matter stocks among different yield stability zones. Our results imply that linkages between soil organic matter and yield stability may be scale-dependent and that particulate organic matter may be an indicator of unstable areas within croplands.
Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude R. Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 275–279, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil C saturation has been tested in several recent studies and led to a debate about its existence. We argue that, to test C saturation, one should pay attention to six fundamental principles: the right measures, the right units, the right dispersive energy and application, the right soil type, the right clay type, and the right saturation level. Once we take care of those six rights across studies, we find support for a maximum of C stabilized by minerals and thus soil C saturation.
Norman Gentsch, Florin Laura Riechers, Jens Boy, Dörte Schweneker, Ulf Feuerstein, Diana Heuermann, and Georg Guggenberger
SOIL, 10, 139–150, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Cover crops have substantial impacts on soil properties, but so far it is not clear how long a legacy effect of cover cropping will remain in the soil. We found that cover crops attenuate negative effects on soil structure that come from soil cultivation. The combination of plants with different litter qualities and rhizodeposits in biodiverse cover crop mixtures can improve the positive effects of cover cropping on soil structure amelioration.
Che-Jen Hsiao, Pedro A. M. Leite, Ayumi Hyodo, and Thomas W. Boutton
SOIL, 10, 93–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-93-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-93-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tree cover has increased in grasslands worldwide, with juniper and oak trees expanding in the southern Great Plains, USA. Here, we examine how these changes interact with geology to affect soil C, N, and P storage. Soil concentrations of these elements were significantly higher under trees than grasslands but increased more under trees growing on Edwards soils. Our results suggest that geology and vegetation change should be considered when predicting soil storage in dryland ecosystems globally.
Marketa Stepanova, Martin Novak, Bohuslava Cejkova, Ivana Jackova, Frantisek Buzek, Frantisek Veselovsky, Jan Curik, Eva Prechova, Arnost Komarek, and Leona Bohdalkova
SOIL, 9, 623–640, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-623-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-623-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Biological N2 fixation helps to sustain carbon accumulation in peatlands and to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Changes in N2 fixation may affect the dynamics of global change. Increasing inputs of reactive N from air pollution should lead to downregulation of N2 fixation. Data from three N-polluted peat bogs show an interplay of N2-fixation rates with 10 potential drivers of this process. N2 fixation was measurable only at one site characterized by high phosphorus and low sulfate availability.
Laura Hondroudakis, Peter M. Kopittke, Ram C. Dalal, Meghan Barnard, and Zhe H. Weng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2983, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2983, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Land use change to cropping is known to greatly reduced organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations, but much remains unknown about the mechanisms influencing their persistence in soil. In a soil from a subtropical Australian cropping system, we demonstrate that organic carbon is protected by mineral-associations, but not particulate forms. Importantly, we also show that reversion from cropping to pasture or plantation can partially restore this organic carbon.
Tchodjowiè P. I. Kpemoua, Pierre Barré, Sabine Houot, François Baudin, Cédric Plessis, and Claire Chenu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2955, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2955, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Several agroecological management options foster soil organic C stocks accrual. What is the persistence of this « additional » C? We used three different methodological approaches and >20 years field experiments under temperate conditions. We found that the additional C is less stable at the pluri-decadal scale than the baseline C. This highlights the need to maintain agroecological practices to keep these carbon stocks at a high level over time.
Tatjana C. Speckert, Jeannine Suremann, Konstantin Gavazov, Maria J. Santos, Frank Hagedorn, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 9, 609–621, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is key player in the global carbon cycle. Afforestation on pastures potentially alters organic matter input and SOC sequestration. We investigated the effects of a Picea abies L. afforestation sequence (0 to 130 years) on a former subalpine pasture on SOC stocks and dynamics. We found no difference in the SOC stock after 130 years of afforestation and thus no additional SOC sequestration. SOC composition was altered due to a modified SOC input following afforestation.
Jörg Schnecker, Theresa Böckle, Julia Horak, Victoria Martin, Taru Sandén, and Heide Spiegel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2302, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2302, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Microbial processes are driving the formation and decomposition of soil organic matter. In contrast to respiration and growth, microbial death rates currently lack distinct methods to be determined. Here we propose a new approach to measure microbial death rates. This new approach to determine microbial death rates and dynamics of intracellular and extracellular DNA separately will help to improve concepts and models of C dynamics in soils in the future.
Lauren M. Gillespie, Nathalie Y. Triches, Diego Abalos, Peter Finke, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Stephan Glatzel, and Eugenio Díaz-Pinés
SOIL, 9, 517–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-517-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-517-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Forest soil is potentially an important source or sink of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O, and CH4), but this is affected by soil conditions. We studied how land inclination and soil/litter properties influence the flux of these gases. CO2 and N2O were more affected by inclination than CH4; all were affected by soil/litter properties. This study underlines the importance of inclination and soil/litter properties in predicting greenhouse gas fluxes from forest soil and potential source–sink balance.
Sastrika Anindita, Peter Finke, and Steven Sleutel
SOIL, 9, 443–459, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-443-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-443-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigated how land use, through its impact on soil geochemistry, might indirectly control soil organic carbon (SOC) content in tropical volcanic soils in Indonesia. We analyzed SOC fractions, substrate-specific mineralization, and net priming of SOC. Our results indicated that the enhanced formation of aluminum (hydr)oxides promoted aggregation and physical occlusion of OC, which is consistent with the lesser degradability of SOC in agricultural soils.
Qintana Si, Kangli Chen, Bin Wei, Yaowen Zhang, Xun Sun, and Junyi Liang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1483, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1483, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Our soil incubation experiment demonstrates that dissolved labile carbon is a significant contributor to the formation of particulate organic carbon. The formation of particulate organic carbon from dissolved substrates is regulated by microbial biomass carbon and soil texture. The soil carbon model underestimates soil carbon sequestration when carbon flow from dissolved substrates to particulate organic carbon through microbial processes is not considered.
Amicie A. Delahaie, Pierre Barré, François Baudin, Dominique Arrouays, Antonio Bispo, Line Boulonne, Claire Chenu, Claudy Jolivet, Manuel P. Martin, Céline Ratié, Nicolas P. A. Saby, Florence Savignac, and Lauric Cécillon
SOIL, 9, 209–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-209-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-209-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We characterized organic matter in French soils by analysing samples from the French RMQS network using Rock-Eval thermal analysis. We found that thermal analysis is appropriate to characterize large set of samples (ca. 2000) and provides interpretation references for Rock-Eval parameter values. This shows that organic matter in managed soils is on average more oxidized and more thermally stable and that some Rock-Eval parameters are good proxies for organic matter biogeochemical stability.
Britta Greenshields, Barbara von der Lühe, Harold J. Hughes, Christian Stiegler, Suria Tarigan, Aiyen Tjoa, and Daniela Sauer
SOIL, 9, 169–188, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-169-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-169-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Silicon (Si) research could provide complementary measures in sustainably cultivating oil-palm monocultures. Our study shows that current oil-palm management practices and topsoil erosion on oil-palm plantations in Indonesia have caused a spatial distribution of essential Si pools in soil. A lack of well-balanced Si levels in topsoil could negatively affect crop yield and soil fertility for future replanting at the same plantation site. Potential measures are suggested to maintain Si cycling.
Kenji Fujisaki, Tiphaine Chevallier, Antonio Bispo, Jean-Baptiste Laurent, François Thevenin, Lydie Chapuis-Lardy, Rémi Cardinael, Christine Le Bas, Vincent Freycon, Fabrice Bénédet, Vincent Blanfort, Michel Brossard, Marie Tella, and Julien Demenois
SOIL, 9, 89–100, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-89-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-89-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a first comprehensive thesaurus for management practices driving soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. So far, a comprehensive thesaurus of management practices in agriculture and forestry has been lacking. It will help to merge datasets, a promising way to evaluate the impacts of management practices in agriculture and forestry on SOC. Identifying the drivers of SOC stock changes is of utmost importance to contribute to global challenges (climate change, food security).
Oliver van Straaten, Larissa Kulp, Guntars O. Martinson, Dan Paul Zederer, and Ulrike Talkner
SOIL, 9, 39–54, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-39-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-39-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Across northern Europe, millions of hectares of forest have been limed to counteract soil acidification and restore forest ecosystems. In this study, we investigated how restorative liming affects the forest soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and correspondingly ecosystem greenhouse gas fluxes. We found that the magnitude and direction of SOC stock changes hinge on the inherent site characteristics, namely, forest type, soil texture, initial soil pH, and initial soil SOC stocks (before liming).
Junxiao Pan, Jinsong Wang, Dashuan Tian, Ruiyang Zhang, Yang Li, Lei Song, Jiaming Yang, Chunxue Wei, and Shuli Niu
SOIL, 8, 687–698, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-687-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-687-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We found that climatic, edaphic, plant and microbial variables jointly affect soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stock in Tibetan grasslands, and biotic factors have a larger contribution than abiotic factors to the variation in SIC stock. The effects of microbial and plant variables on SIC stock weakened with soil depth, while the effects of edaphic variables strengthened. The contrasting responses and drivers of SIC stock highlight differential mechanisms underlying SIC preservation with soil depth.
Yifeng Zhang, Sen Dou, Batande Sinovuyo Ndzelu, Rui Ma, Dandan Zhang, Xiaowei Zhang, Shufen Ye, and Hongrui Wang
SOIL, 8, 605–619, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-605-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-605-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
How to effectively convert corn straw into humic substances and return them to the soil in a relatively stable form is a concerning topic. Through a 360 d field experiment under equal carbon (C) mass, we found that return of the fermented corn straw treated with Trichoderma reesei to the field is more valuable and conducive to increasing easily oxidizable organic C, humus C content, and carbon pool management index than the direct application of corn straw.
Ling Mao, Shaoming Ye, and Shengqiang Wang
SOIL, 8, 487–505, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-487-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-487-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Soil ecological stoichiometry offers a tool to explore the distribution, cycling, limitation, and balance of chemical elements. This study improved the understanding of soil organic carbon and nutrient dynamics in tea plantation ecosystems and also provided supplementary information for soil ecological stoichiometry in global terrestrial ecosystems.
Steffen Schlüter, Tim Roussety, Lena Rohe, Vusal Guliyev, Evgenia Blagodatskaya, and Thomas Reitz
SOIL, 8, 253–267, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-253-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-253-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We combined microstructure analysis via X-ray CT with carbon mineralization analysis via respirometry of intact soil cores from different land uses. We found that the amount of particulate organic matter (POM) exerted a dominant control on carbon mineralization in well-aerated topsoils, whereas soil moisture and macroporosity did not play role. This is because carbon mineralization mainly occurs in microbial hotspots around degrading POM, where it is decoupled from conditions of the bulk soil.
Roberta Pulcher, Enrico Balugani, Maurizio Ventura, Nicolas Greggio, and Diego Marazza
SOIL, 8, 199–211, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-199-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-199-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Biochar, a solid product from the thermal conversion of biomass, can be used as a climate change mitigation strategy, since it can sequester carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. The aim of this study is to assess the potential of biochar as a mitigation strategy in the long term, by modelling the results obtained from an 8-year field experiment. As far as we know, this is the first time that a model for biochar degradation has been validated with long-term field data.
Daniel Rath, Nathaniel Bogie, Leonardo Deiss, Sanjai J. Parikh, Daoyuan Wang, Samantha Ying, Nicole Tautges, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, and Kate M. Scow
SOIL, 8, 59–83, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Storing C in subsoils can help mitigate climate change, but this requires a better understanding of subsoil C dynamics. We investigated changes in subsoil C storage under a combination of compost, cover crops (WCC), and mineral fertilizer and found that systems with compost + WCC had ~19 Mg/ha more C after 25 years. This increase was attributed to increased transport of soluble C and nutrients via WCC root pores and demonstrates the potential for subsoil C storage in tilled agricultural systems.
Zuzana Frkova, Chiara Pistocchi, Yuliya Vystavna, Katerina Capkova, Jiri Dolezal, and Federica Tamburini
SOIL, 8, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-1-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-1-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Phosphorus (P) is essential for life. We studied microbial processes driving the P cycle in soils developed on the same rock but with different ages (0–100 years) in a cold desert. Compared to previous studies under cold climate, we found much slower weathering of P-containing minerals of soil development, likely due to aridity. However, microbes dominate short-term dynamics and progressively redistribute P from the rock into more available forms, making it available for plants at later stages.
Carrie L. Thomas, Boris Jansen, E. Emiel van Loon, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 7, 785–809, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-785-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-785-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Plant organs, such as leaves, contain a variety of chemicals that are eventually deposited into soil and can be useful for studying organic carbon cycling. We performed a systematic review of available data of one type of plant-derived chemical, n-alkanes, to determine patterns of degradation or preservation from the source plant to the soil. We found that while there was degradation in the amount of n-alkanes from plant to soil, some aspects of the chemical signature were preserved.
Benjamin Bukombe, Peter Fiener, Alison M. Hoyt, Laurent K. Kidinda, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 639–659, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-639-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-639-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Through a laboratory incubation experiment, we investigated the spatial patterns of specific maximum heterotrophic respiration in tropical African mountain forest soils developed from contrasting parent material along slope gradients. We found distinct differences in soil respiration between soil depths and geochemical regions related to soil fertility and the chemistry of the soil solution. The topographic origin of our samples was not a major determinant of the observed rates of respiration.
Patricia Merdy, Yves Lucas, Bruno Coulomb, Adolpho J. Melfi, and Célia R. Montes
SOIL, 7, 585–594, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-585-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-585-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Transfer of organic C from topsoil to deeper horizons and the water table is little documented, especially in equatorial environments, despite high primary productivity in the evergreen forest. Using column experiments with podzol soil and a percolating solution sampled in an Amazonian podzol area, we show how the C-rich Bh horizon plays a role in natural organic matter transfer and Si, Fe and Al mobility after a kaolinitic layer transition, thus giving insight to the genesis of tropical podzol.
Jörg Schnecker, D. Boone Meeden, Francisco Calderon, Michel Cavigelli, R. Michael Lehman, Lisa K. Tiemann, and A. Stuart Grandy
SOIL, 7, 547–561, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-547-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-547-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Drought and flooding challenge agricultural systems and their management globally. Here we investigated the response of soils from long-term agricultural field sites with simple and diverse crop rotations to either drought or flooding. We found that irrespective of crop rotation complexity, soil and microbial properties were more resistant to flooding than to drought and highly resilient to drought and flooding during single or repeated stress pulses.
Mario Reichenbach, Peter Fiener, Gina Garland, Marco Griepentrog, Johan Six, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 453–475, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-453-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In deeply weathered tropical rainforest soils of Africa, we found that patterns of soil organic carbon stocks differ between soils developed from geochemically contrasting parent material due to differences in the abundance of organo-mineral complexes, the presence/absence of chemical stabilization mechanisms of carbon with minerals and the presence of fossil organic carbon from sedimentary rocks. Physical stabilization mechanisms by aggregation provide additional protection of soil carbon.
Fabian Kalks, Gabriel Noren, Carsten W. Mueller, Mirjam Helfrich, Janet Rethemeyer, and Axel Don
SOIL, 7, 347–362, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-347-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-347-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Sedimentary rocks contain organic carbon that may end up as soil carbon. However, this source of soil carbon is overlooked and has not been quantified sufficiently. We analysed 10 m long sediment cores with three different sedimentary rocks. All sediments contain considerable amounts of geogenic carbon contributing 3 %–12 % to the total soil carbon below 30 cm depth. The low 14C content of geogenic carbon can result in underestimations of soil carbon turnover derived from 14C data.
Maximilian Kirsten, Robert Mikutta, Didas N. Kimaro, Karl-Heinz Feger, and Karsten Kalbitz
SOIL, 7, 363–375, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-363-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-363-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Mineralogical combinations of aluminous clay and pedogenic Fe oxides revealed significant effects on soil structure and related organic carbon (OC) storage.
The mineralogical combination resulting in the largest aggregate stability does not better preserve OC during conversion of forests into croplands.
Structural changes in the direction of smaller mean weight diameters do not cancel out the stabilizing effect of soil minerals.
Sophie F. von Fromm, Alison M. Hoyt, Markus Lange, Gifty E. Acquah, Ermias Aynekulu, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephan M. Haefele, Steve P. McGrath, Keith D. Shepherd, Andrew M. Sila, Johan Six, Erick K. Towett, Susan E. Trumbore, Tor-G. Vågen, Elvis Weullow, Leigh A. Winowiecki, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 305–332, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated various soil and climate properties that influence soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings indicate that climate and geochemistry are equally important for explaining SOC variations. The key SOC-controlling factors are broadly similar to those for temperate regions, despite differences in soil development history between the two regions.
Claudia Cagnarini, Stephen Lofts, Luigi Paolo D'Acqui, Jochen Mayer, Roman Grüter, Susan Tandy, Rainer Schulin, Benjamin Costerousse, Simone Orlandini, and Giancarlo Renella
SOIL, 7, 107–123, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-107-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-107-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Application of organic amendments, although considered a sustainable form of soil fertilisation, may cause an accumulation of trace elements (TEs) in the topsoil. In this research, we analysed the concentration of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in a > 60-year experiment in Switzerland and showed that the dynamic model IDMM adequately predicted the historical TE concentrations in plots amended with farmyard manure, sewage sludge and compost and produced reasonable concentration trends up to 2100.
Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Travis W. Drake, Landry C. Ntaboba, Basile M. Bazirake, Johan Six, Pascal Boeckx, and Kristof Van Oost
SOIL, 7, 83–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-83-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We compared stable isotope signatures of soil profiles in different forest ecosystems within the Congo Basin to assess ecosystem-level differences in N cycling, and we examined the local effect of topography on the isotopic signature of soil N. Soil δ15N profiles indicated that the N cycling in in the montane forest is more closed, whereas the lowland forest and Miombo woodland experienced a more open N cycle. Topography only alters soil δ15N values in forests with high erosional forces.
Rota Wagai, Masako Kajiura, and Maki Asano
SOIL, 6, 597–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-597-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-597-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Global significance of metals (extractable Fe and Al phases) to control organic matter (OM) in recognized. Next key questions include the identification of their localization and mechanism behind OM–metal relationships. Across 23 soils of contrasting mineralogy, Fe and Al phases were mainly associated with microbially processed OM as meso-density microaggregates. OM- and metal-rich nanocomposites with a narrow OM : metal ratio likely acted as binding agents. A new conceptual model was proposed.
Marco Panettieri, Denis Courtier-Murias, Cornelia Rumpel, Marie-France Dignac, Gonzalo Almendros, and Abad Chabbi
SOIL, 6, 435–451, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-435-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-435-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In the context of global change, soil has been identified as a potential C sink, depending on land-use strategies. This work is devoted to identifying the processes affecting labile soil C pools resulting from changes in land use. We show that the land-use change in ley grassland provoked a decoupling of the storage and degradation processes after the grassland phase. Overall, the study enables us to develop a sufficient understanding of fine-scale C dynamics to refine soil C prediction models.
Miriam Groß-Schmölders, Pascal von Sengbusch, Jan Paul Krüger, Kristy Klein, Axel Birkholz, Jens Leifeld, and Christine Alewell
SOIL, 6, 299–313, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-299-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-299-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Degradation turns peatlands into a source of CO2. There is no cost- or time-efficient method available for indicating peatland hydrology or the success of restoration. We found that 15N values have a clear link to microbial communities and degradation. We identified trends in natural, drained and rewetted conditions and concluded that 15N depth profiles can act as a reliable and efficient tool for obtaining information on current hydrology, restoration success and drainage history.
Martin Erlandsson Lampa, Harald U. Sverdrup, Kevin H. Bishop, Salim Belyazid, Ali Ameli, and Stephan J. Köhler
SOIL, 6, 231–244, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-231-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-231-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we demonstrate how new equations describing base cation release from mineral weathering can reproduce patterns in observations from stream and soil water. This is a major step towards modeling base cation cycling on the catchment scale, which would be valuable for defining the highest sustainable rates of forest harvest and levels of acidifying deposition.
Benjamin Andrieux, David Paré, Julien Beguin, Pierre Grondin, and Yves Bergeron
SOIL, 6, 195–213, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-195-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-195-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Our study aimed to disentangle the contribution of several drivers to explaining the proportion of soil carbon that can be released to CO2 through microbial respiration. We found that boreal-forest soil chemistry is an important driver of the amount of carbon that microbes can process. Our results emphasize the need to include the effects of soil chemistry into models of carbon cycling to better anticipate the role played by boreal-forest soils in carbon-cycle–climate feedbacks.
Jonathan Sanderman and A. Stuart Grandy
SOIL, 6, 131–144, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-131-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-131-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soils contain one of the largest and most dynamic pools of carbon on Earth, yet scientists still struggle to understand the reactivity and fate of soil organic matter upon disturbance. In this study, we found that with increasing thermal stability, the turnover time of organic matter increased from decades to centuries with a concurrent shift in chemical composition. In this proof-of-concept study, we found that ramped thermal analyses can provide new insights for understanding soil carbon.
Carlos Alberto Quesada, Claudia Paz, Erick Oblitas Mendoza, Oliver Lawrence Phillips, Gustavo Saiz, and Jon Lloyd
SOIL, 6, 53–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Amazon soils hold as much carbon (C) as is contained in the vegetation. In this work we sampled soils across 8 different Amazonian countries to try to understand which soil properties control current Amazonian soil C concentrations. We confirm previous knowledge that highly developed soils hold C through clay content interactions but also show a previously unreported mechanism of soil C stabilization in the younger Amazonian soil types which hold C through aluminium organic matter interactions.
Songyu Yang, Boris Jansen, Samira Absalah, Rutger L. van Hall, Karsten Kalbitz, and Erik L. H. Cammeraat
SOIL, 6, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-1-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-1-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soils store large carbon and are important for global warming. We do not know what factors are important for soil carbon storage in the alpine Andes or how they work. We studied how rainfall affects soil carbon storage related to soil structure. We found soil structure is not important, but soil carbon storage and stability controlled by rainfall is dependent on rocks under the soils. The results indicate that we should pay attention to the rocks when we study soil carbon storage in the Andes.
Samuel Bouchoms, Zhengang Wang, Veerle Vanacker, and Kristof Van Oost
SOIL, 5, 367–382, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-367-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-367-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Soil erosion has detrimental effects on soil fertility which can reduce carbon inputs coming from crops to soils. Our study integrated this effect into a model linking soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics to erosion and crop productivity. When compared to observations, the inclusion of productivity improved SOC loss predictions. Over centuries, ignoring crop productivity evolution in models could result in underestimating SOC loss and overestimating C exchanged with the atmosphere.
Nicholas P. Rosenstock, Johan Stendahl, Gregory van der Heijden, Lars Lundin, Eric McGivney, Kevin Bishop, and Stefan Löfgren
SOIL, 5, 351–366, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-351-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-351-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Biofuel harvests from forests involve large removals of available nutrients, necessitating accurate measurements of soil nutrient stocks. We found that dilute hydrochloric acid extractions from soils released far more Ca, Na, and K than classical salt–extracted exchangeable nutrient pools. The size of these acid–extractable pools may indicate that forest ecosystems could sustain greater biomass extractions of Ca, Mg, and K than are predicted from salt–extracted exchangeable base cation pools.
Tiphaine Chevallier, Kenji Fujisaki, Olivier Roupsard, Florian Guidat, Rintaro Kinoshita, Elias de Melo Viginio Filho, Peter Lehner, and Alain Albrecht
SOIL, 5, 315–332, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-315-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-315-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial C stock. Andosols of volcanic areas hold particularly large stocks (e.g. from 24 to 72 kgC m−2 in the upper 2 m of soil) as determined via MIR spectrometry at our Costa Rican study site: a 1 km2 basin covered by coffee agroforestry. Andic soil properties explained this high variability, which did not correlate with stocks in the upper 20 cm of soil. Topography and pedogenesis are needed to understand the SOC stocks at landscape scales.
Katelyn A. Congreves, Trang Phan, and Richard E. Farrell
SOIL, 5, 265–274, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-265-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-265-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
There are surprising grey areas in the precise quantification of pathways that produce nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, as influenced by soil moisture. Here, we take a new look at a classic study but use isotopomers as a powerful tool to determine the source pathways of nitrous oxide as regulated by soil moisture. Our results support earlier research, but we contribute scientific advancements by providing models that enable quantifying source partitioning rather than just inferencing.
Eric McGivney, Jon Petter Gustafsson, Salim Belyazid, Therese Zetterberg, and Stefan Löfgren
SOIL, 5, 63–77, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-63-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-63-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Forest management may lead to long-term soil acidification due to the removal of base cations during harvest. By means of the HD-MINTEQ model, we compared the acidification effects of harvesting with the effects of historical acid rain at three forested sites in Sweden. The effects of harvesting on pH were predicted to be much smaller than those resulting from acid deposition during the 20th century. There were only very small changes in predicted weathering rates due to acid rain or harvest.
Veronika Kronnäs, Cecilia Akselsson, and Salim Belyazid
SOIL, 5, 33–47, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-33-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-33-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Weathering rates in forest soils are important for sustainable forestry but cannot be measured. In this paper, we have modelled weathering with the commonly used PROFILE model as well as with the dynamic model ForSAFE, better suited to a changing climate with changing human activities but never before tested for weathering calculations. We show that ForSAFE gives comparable weathering rates to PROFILE and that it shows the variation in weathering with time and works well for scenario modelling.
Jon Petter Gustafsson, Salim Belyazid, Eric McGivney, and Stefan Löfgren
SOIL, 4, 237–250, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-237-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-237-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper investigates how different dynamic soil chemistry models describe the processes governing aluminium and base cations in acid soil waters. We find that traditional cation-exchange equations, which are still used in many models, diverge from state-of-the-art complexation submodels such as WHAM, SHM, and NICA-Donnan when large fluctuations in pH or ionic strength occur. In conclusion, the complexation models provide a better basis for the modelling of chemical dynamics in acid soils.
Talal Darwish, Thérèse Atallah, and Ali Fadel
SOIL, 4, 225–235, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-225-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-225-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper is part of the GSP-ITPS effort to produce a global SOC map and update information on C stocks using old and new soil information to assess the potential for enhanced C sequestration in dry land areas of the NENA region. We used the DSMW from FAO-UNESCO (2007), focusing on organic and inorganic content in 0.3 m of topsoil and 0.7 m of subsoil, to discuss the human factors affecting the accumulation of organic C and the fate of inorganic C.
Juhwan Lee, Gina M. Garland, and Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel
SOIL, 4, 213–224, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-213-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-213-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Soil nitrogen (N) is an essential element for plant growth, but its plant-available forms are subject to loss from the environment by leaching and gaseous emissions. Still, factors controlling soil mineral N concentrations at large spatial scales are not well understood. We determined and discussed primary soil controls over the concentrations of NH4+ and NO3− at the continental scale of Australia while considering specific dominant land use patterns on a regional basis.
Cited articles
Andersson, A.: Mercury in soil, in: The biochemistry of mercury in the environment, edited by: Nriagu, J. O., Elsevier, Amsterdam, Holland, 79–112, ISBN 0444801103, 1979.
Akcay, H., Kilinç, S., and Karapire, C.: A comparative study on the sorption and desorption of Hg, Th and U on clay, J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem., 214, 51–66, https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02165058, 1996.
Avotins, P. V.: Adsorption and coprecipitation studies of mercury on hydrous iron oxide, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, ISBN 9798660526602, 1975.
Bergquist, B. A. and Blum, J. D.: Mass-dependent and-independent fractionation of Hg isotopes by photoreduction in aquatic systems, Science, 318, 417–420, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1148050, 2007.
Bergquist, B. A. and Blum, J. D.: The odds and evens of mercury isotopes: applications of mass-dependent and mass-independent isotope fractionation, Elements, 5, 353–357, https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.5.6.353, 2009.
Biester, H. and Scholz, C.: Determination of mercury binding forms in contaminated soils: mercury pyrolysis versus sequential extractions, Environ. Sci. Technol., 31, 233–239, https://doi.org/10.1021/es960369h, 1996.
Bloom, N. S., Preus, E., Katon, J., and Hiltner, M.: Selective extractions to assess the biogeochemically relevant fractionation of inorganic mercury in sediments and soils, Anal. Chim. Ac, 479, 233–248, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-2670(02)01550-7, 2003.
Bollen, A., Wenke, A., and Biester, H.: Mercury speciation analyses in HgCl2-contaminated soils and groundwater – implications for risk assessment and remediation strategies, Water Res., 42, 91–100, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2007.07.011, 2008.
Brocza, F. M., Biester, H., Richard, J. H., Kraemer, S. M., and Wiederhold, J. G.: Mercury isotope fractionation in the subsurface of a Hg(II) chloride-contaminated industrial legacy site, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 7296–7305, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b00619, 2019.
Bradl, H. B.: Adsorption of heavy metal ions on soils and soils constituents, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., 277, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2004.04.005, 2004.
Clarkson, T. W.: The toxicology of mercury, Crit. Rev. Clinic. Lab. Sci., 34, 369–403, https://doi.org/10.3109/10408369708998098, 1997.
Delnomdedieu, M., Boudou, A., Georgescauld, D., and Dufourc, E. J.: Specific interactions of mercury chloride with membranes and other ligands as revealed by mercury-NMR, Chem.-Biol. Interact., 81, 243–269, https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2797(92)90081-U, 1992.
Demers, J. D., Blum, J. D., Brooks, S. C., Donovan, P. M., Riscassi, A. L., Miller, C. L., Zheng, W. and Gu, B.: Hg isotopes reveal in-stream processing and legacy inputs in East Fork Poplar Creek, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts, 20, 686–707, https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EM00538E, 2018.
DIN ISO: Method 11277: Soil quality–Determination of particle size distribution in mineral soil material–Method by sieving and sedimentation, German Institute for Standardisation (Deutsches Institut für Normung; DIN) International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Berlin, ICS number: 13.080.20, Germany, 2002.
DIN: Method 1483: Water quality - Determination of mercury - Method using atomic absorption spectrometry, German Institute for Standardisation (Deutsches Institut für Normung; DIN), Berlin, ICS number: 13.060.50, Germany, 2007.
DIN: 19528-01: Leaching of solid materials – Percolation method for the joint examination of the leaching behaviour of organic and inorganic substances for materials with a particle size up to 32 mm – Basic characterization using a comprehensive column test and compliance test using a quick column test, German Institute for Standardisation (Deutsches Institut für Normung; DIN), Berlin, Germany, ICS number: 13.060.50, 2009.
Gabriel, M. C. and Williamson, D. G.: Principal biogeochemical factors affecting the speciation and transport of mercury through the terrestrial environment, Environ. Geochem. Health, 26, 421–434, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-004-1308-0, 2004.
Gettens, R. J., Feller, R. L., and Chase, W. T.: Vermilion and cinnabar, Stud. Conserv., 17, 45–69, https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.1972.006, 1972.
Goix, S., Maurice, L., Laffont, L., Rinaldo, R., Lagane, C., Chmeleff, J., Menges, J., Heimbürger, L. E., Maury-Brachet, R., and Sonke, J. E.: Quantifying the impacts of artisanal gold mining on a tropical river system using mercury isotopes, Chemosphere, 219, 684–694, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.12.036, 2019.
Grigg, A. R., Kretzschmar, R., Gilli, R. S., and Wiederhold, J. G.: Mercury isotope signatures of digests and sequential extracts from industrially contaminated soils and sediments, Sci. Tot. Environ., 636, 1344–1354, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.261, 2018.
Gu, B., Bian, Y., Miller, C. L., Dong, W., Jiang, X., and Liang, L.: Mercury reduction and complexation by natural organic matter in anoxic environments, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 108, 1479–1483, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008747108, 2011.
Gunneriusson, L. and Sjöberg, S.: Surface complexation in the H+-goethite (α-FeOOH)-Hg (II)-chloride system, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., 156, 121–128, https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1993.1090, 1993.
Haitzer, M., Aiken, G. R., and Ryan, J. N.: Binding of mercury (II) to dissolved organic matter: the role of the mercury-to-DOM concentration ratio, Environ. Sci. Technol., 36, 3564–3570, https://doi.org/10.1021/es025699i, 2002.
Hall, G. E., Pelchat, J. C., Pelchat, P., and Vaive, J. E.: Sample collection, filtration and preservation protocols for the determination of “total dissolved” mercury in waters, Analyst, 127, 674–680, https://doi.org/10.1039/B110491H, 2002.
Hammerschmidt, C. R., Bowman, K. L., Tabatchnick, M. D., and Lamborg, C. H.: Storage bottle material and cleaning for determination of total mercury in seawater, Limnol. Oceanogr.-Meth., 9, 426–431, https://doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.426, 2011.
Hebig, K. H., Nödler, K., Licha, T., and Scheytt, T. J.: Impact of materials used in lab and field experiments on the recovery of organic micropollutants, Sci. Tot. Environ., 473, 125–131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.12.004, 2014.
Ho, T. L.: Hard soft acids bases (HSAB) principle and organic chemistry, Chem. Rev., 75, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1021/cr60293a001, 1975.
Jiskra, M., Wiederhold, J. G., Bourdon, B., and Kretzschmar, R.: Solution speciation controls mercury isotope fractionation of Hg(II) sorption to goethite, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 6654–6662, https://doi.org/10.1021/es3008112, 2012.
Jiskra, M., Wiederhold, J. G., Skyllberg, U., Kronberg, R. M., and Kretzschmar, R.: Source tracing of natural organic matter bound mercury in boreal forest runoff with mercury stable isotopes, Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts, 19, 1235–1248, https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EM00245A, 2017.
Katsenovich, Y., Tachiev, G., Fuentes, H. R., Roelant, D., and Henao, A.: A study of the mercury (II) sorption and transport with Oak Ridge Reservation soil, Waste Management Conference 2010, Phoenix, USA, https://archivedproceedings.econference.io/wmsym/2010/pdfs/10222.pdf (last access: 19 January 2024), 2010.
Kim, C. S., Rytuba, J. J., and Brown Jr., G. E.: EXAFS study of mercury (II) sorption to Fe-and Al-(hydr) oxides: II. Effects of chloride and sulfate, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., 270, 9–20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2003.07.029, 2004.
Kocman, D., Horvat, M., Pirrone, N., and Cinnirella, S.: Contribution of contaminated sites to the global mercury budget, Environ. Res., 125, 160–170, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2012.12.011, 2013.
Lamborg, C. H., Kent, D. B., Swarr, G. J., Munson, K. M., Kading, T., O'Connor, A. E., Fairchild, G. M., LeBlanc, D. R., and Wiatrowski, H. A.: Mercury speciation and mobilization in a wastewater-contaminated groundwater plume, Environ. Sci. Technol., 47, 13239–13249, https://doi.org/10.1021/es402441d, 2013.
Leterme, B., Blanc, P., and Jacques, D.: A reactive transport model for mercury fate in soil – application to different anthropogenic pollution sources, Environ. Sci. Poll. Res., 21, 12279–12293, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3135-x, 2014.
Lewis, J. and Sjöstrom, J.: Optimizing the experimental design of soil columns in saturated and unsaturated transport experiments, J. Contam. Hydrol., 115, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2010.04.001, 2010.
Lockwood, R. A. and Chen, K. Y.: Adsorption of mercury (II) by hydrous manganese oxides, Environ. Sci. Technol., 7, 1028–1034, https://doi.org/10.1021/es60083a006, 1973.
Llanos, W., Kocman, D., Higueras, P., and Horvat, M.: Mercury emission and dispersion models from soils contaminated by cinnabar mining and metallurgy, J. Environ. Monit., 13, 3460–3468, https://doi.org/10.1039/C1EM10694E, 2011.
Lu, Y. F., Wu, Q., Yan, J. W., Shi, J. Z., Liu, J., and Shi, J. S.: Realgar, cinnabar and An-Gong-Niu-Huang Wan are much less chronically nephrotoxic than common arsenicals and mercurial, Exp. Biol. Med., 236, 233–239, https://doi.org/10.1258/ebm.2010.010247, 2011.
Lyon, B. F., Ambrose, R., Rice, G., and Maxwell, C. J.: Calculation of soil-water and benthic sediment partition coefficients for mercury, Chemosphere, 35, 791–808, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0045-6535(97)00200-2, 1997.
Manceau, A. and Nagy, K. L.: Thiols in natural organic matter: Molecular forms, acidity, and reactivity with mercury (II) from First-Principles calculations and high energy-resolution X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, ACS Earth Space Chem., 3, 2795–2807, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.9b00278, 2019.
McLagan, D. S., Schwab, L., Wiederhold, J. G., Chen, L., Pietrucha, J., Kraemer, S. M., and Biester, H.: Demystifying mercury geochemistry in contaminated soil–groundwater systems with complementary mercury stable isotope, concentration, and speciation analyses, Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts, 24, 1406–1429, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EM00368B, 2022.
Miretzky, P., Bisinoti, M. C., andJardim, W. F.: Sorption of mercury (II) in Amazon soils from column studies, Chemosphere, 60, 1583–1589, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.02.050, 2005.
Norrby, L. J.: Why is mercury liquid? Or, why do relativistic effects not get into chemistry textbooks?, J. Chem. Ed., 68, 110, https://doi.org/10.1021/ed068p110, 1991.
Obrist, D., Agnan, Y., Jiskra, M., Olson, C. L., Colegrove, D. P., Hueber, J., Moore, C. W., Sonke, J. E., and Helmig, D.: Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution, Nature, 547, 201–204, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997, 2017.
Parker, J. L. and Bloom, N. S.: Preservation and storage techniques for low-level aqueous mercury speciation, Sci. Tot. Environ., 337, 253–263, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.07.006, 2005.
Patterson, B. M., Pribac, F., Barber, C., Davis, G. B., and Gibbs, R.: Biodegradation and retardation of PCE and BTEX compounds in aquifer material from Western Australia using large-scale columns, J. Contam. Hydrol., 14, 261–278, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-7722(93)90028-Q, 1993.
Pirrone, N., Cinnirella, S., Feng, X., Finkelman, R. B., Friedli, H. R., Leaner, J., Mason, R., Mukherjee, A. B., Stracher, G. B., Streets, D. G., and Telmer, K.: Global mercury emissions to the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 5951–5964, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-5951-2010, 2010.
Reis, A. T., Davidson, C. M., Vale, C., and Pereira, E.: Overview and challenges of mercury fractionation and speciation in soils, Trends Anal. Chem., 82, 109–117, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2016.05.008, 2016.
Richard, J. H., Bischoff, C., and Biester, H.: Comparing modeled and measured mercury speciation in contaminated groundwater: Importance of dissolved organic matter composition, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 7508–7516, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2016.05.008, 2016a.
Richard, J. H., Bischoff, C., Ahrens, C. G., and Biester, H.: Mercury (II) reduction and co-precipitation of metallic mercury on hydrous ferric oxide in contaminated groundwater, Sci. Tot. Environ., 539, 36–44, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.116, 2016b.
Sentenac, P., Lynch, R. J., and Bolton, M. D.: Measurement of a side-wall boundary effect in soil columns using fibre-optics sensing, Int. J. Phys. Model. Geotech., 1, 35–41, https://doi.org/10.1680/ijpmg.2001.010404, 2001.
Sanemasa, I.: The solubility of elemental mercury vapor in water, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 48, 1795–1798, https://doi.org/10.1246/bcsj.48.1795, 1975
Schroeder, W. H. and Munthe, J.: Atmospheric mercury – an overview, Atmos. Environ., 32, 809–822, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(97)00293-8, 1998.
Schlüter, K., Seip, H. M., and Alstad, J.: Mercury translocation in and evaporation from soil. II. Evaporation of mercury from podzolized soil profiles treated with HgCl2 and CH3HgCl, Soil Sediment Contam., 4, 269–298, https://doi.org/10.1080/15320389509383498, 1995.
Schlüter, K.: Sorption of inorganic mercury and monomethyl mercury in an iron–humus podzol soil of southern Norway studied by batch experiments, Environ. Geol., 30, 266–279, https://doi.org/10.1007/s002540050156, 1997.
Schnaar, G. and Brusseau, M. L.: Measuring equilibrium sorption coefficients with the miscible-displacement method, J. Environ. Sci. Health A, 48, 355–359, https://doi.org/10.1080/10934529.2013.727733, 2013.
Schöndorf, T., Egli, M., Biester, H., Mailahn, W., and Rotard, W.: Distribution, Bioavailability and Speciation of Mercury in Contaminated Soil and Groundwater of a Former Wood Impregnation Plant, in: Mercury Contaminated Sites, edited by: Ebinghaus, R., Turner, R. R., de Lacerda, L. D., Vasiliev, O., Salomons, W., Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 181–206, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03754-6_ 9, 1999.
Schuster, E.: The behavior of mercury in the soil with special emphasis on complexation and adsorption processes-a review of the literature, Water Air Soil Poll., 56, 667–680, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342308, 1991.
Schuster, P. F., Shanley, J. B., Marvin-Dipasquale, M., Reddy, M. M., Aiken, G. R., Roth, D. A., Taylor, H. E., Krabbenhoft, D. P. and DeWild, J. F.: Mercury and organic carbon dynamics during runoff episodes from a northeastern USA watershed, Water Air Soil Poll., 187, 89–108, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9500-3, 2008.
Schwab, L., Gallati, N., Reiter, S. M., Kimber, R. L., Kumar, N., McLagan, D. S., Biester, H., Kraemer, S. M., and Wiederhold, J. G.: Mercury Isotope Fractionation during Dark Abiotic Reduction of Hg (II) by Dissolved, Surface-Bound, and Structural Fe (II), Environ. Sci. Technol., 57, 15243–15254, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c03703, 2023.
Skyllberg, U.: Chemical speciation of mercury in soil and sediment, in: Environmental chemistry and toxicology of mercury, edited by: Liu, G., Cai, Y., Driscoll, N., Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, USA, 219–258, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118146644.ch7, 2012.
Streets, D. G., Horowitz, H. M., Lu, Z., Levin, L., Thackray, C. P., and Sunderland, E. M.: Global and regional trends in mercury emissions and concentrations, 2010–2015, Atmos. Environ., 201, 417–427, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.12.031, 2019.
Ullrich, S. M., Tanton, T. W., and Abdrashitova, S. A.: Mercury in the aquatic environment: a review of factors affecting methylation, Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol., 31, 241–293, https://doi.org/10.1080/20016491089226, 2001.
USEPA: Method 1631, Revision E: Mercury in water by oxidation, purge and trap, and cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry, United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Washington, DC, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-08/documents/method_1631e_2002.pdf, (last access: 19 January 2024), 2002.
USEPA.: Understanding variation in partition coefficient, Kd, values. Volume III: Review of Geochemistry and Available Kd Values for Americium, Arsenic, Curium, Iodine, Neptunium, Radium, and Technetium. United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Washington, DC, USA, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-05/documents/402-r-04-002c.pdf, (last access: 19 January 2024), 2004.
Van Genuchten, M. T. and Parker, J. C.: Boundary conditions for displacement experiments through short laboratory soil columns, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 48, 703–708, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1984.03615995004800040002x, 1984.
Van Glubt, S., Brusseau, M. L., Yan, N., Huang, D., Khan, N., and Carroll, K. C.: Column versus batch methods for measuring PFOS and PFOA sorption to geomedia. Environ. Poll., 268, 115917, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115917, 2021.
Wiederhold, J. G.: Metal stable isotope signatures as tracers in environmental geochemistry, Environ. Sci. Technol., 49, 2606–2624, https://doi.org/10.1021/es504683e, 2015.
Wiederhold, J. G., Cramer, C. J., Daniel, K., Infante, I., Bourdon, B., and Kretzschmar, R.: Equilibrium mercury isotope fractionation between dissolved Hg (II) species and thiol-bound Hg, Environ. Sci. Technol., 44, 4191–4197, https://doi.org/10.1021/es100205t, 2010.
Yin, Y., Allen, H. E., Li, Y., Huang, C. P., and Sanders, P. F.: Adsorption of mercury (II) by soil: effects of pH, chloride, and organic matter, J. Environ. Qual., 25, 837–844, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1996.00472425002500040027x, 1996.
Yin, Y., Allen, H. E., Huang, C., Sparks, D. L., and Sanders, P. F.: Kinetics of mercury (II) adsorption and desorption on soil, Environ. Sci. Technol., 31, 496–503, https://doi.org/10.1021/es9603214, 1997.
Zheng, W. and Hintelmann, H.: Nuclear field shift effect in isotope fractionation of mercury during abiotic reduction in the absence of light, J. Phys. Chem. A, 114, 4238–4245, https://doi.org/10.1021/jp910353y, 2010.
Short summary
Sorption of mercury in soils, aquifer materials, and sediments is primarily linked to organic matter. Using column experiments, mercury concentration, speciation, and stable isotope analyses, we show that large quantities of mercury in soil water and groundwater can be sorbed to inorganic minerals; sorption to the solid phase favours lighter isotopes. Data provide important insights on the transport and fate of mercury in soil–groundwater systems and particularly in low-organic-matter systems.
Sorption of mercury in soils, aquifer materials, and sediments is primarily linked to organic...
