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Applicability of HNO 3 ‐H 2 O 2 digestion for elemental analysis of organic matter in mor humus forms
Author(s) -
Emmer Igino M.,
Verstraten Jacobus M.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
zeitschrift für pflanzenernährung und bodenkunde
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 0044-3263
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.19931560609
Subject(s) - ashing , humus , chemistry , environmental chemistry , elemental analysis , digestion (alchemy) , organic matter , trace element , extraction (chemistry) , phosphorus , mineralogy , soil water , inorganic chemistry , chromatography , environmental science , soil science , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
Wei acid digestion is commonly used for the elemental analysis of the labile (i.e. organic, exchangeable plus soluble) pool in organic soil horizons. However, this method is not entirely specific for this pool in samples containing mineral admixtures. In this study, these admixtures are found to release significant amounts of elements, although these admixtures are highly quartzitic. A statistical evaluation of ash and element concentrations shows that, for a wide range of ash concentrations, only for phosphorus and calcium reliable concentrations of their labile pool were obtained. Acid extraction after dry ashing showed to produce somewhat better results at low ash concentrations, but suffered from large overestimations at high ash contents as well. Therefore, elemental analyses in element dynamics studies merit a critical consideration of the digestion technique used. Implications of overestimations for such studies are discussed.