Premium
VARIABILITY OF ORGANIC MATTER AND EXCHANGEABLE CATIONS WITHIN THE A 2 HORIZON OF AN IRON PODZOL
Author(s) -
BRACEWELL J. M.,
ROBERTSON G. W.,
LOGAN J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1979.tb00989.x
Subject(s) - podzol , humus , horizon , organic matter , chemistry , total organic carbon , mineralogy , nitrogen , soil science , environmental chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , soil water , environmental science , mathematics , geometry , organic chemistry
Summary Analysis of variance has been carried out between soil samples separated by distances of 0.5 m, 10 m and 0.5–8 km. The samples were taken from the A 2 horizon of the Countesswells series iron podzol, thus maintaining the same pedological feature, profile class and parent material. The organic matter has been examined by the pyrolysis characteristics, total carbon and nitrogen, and the cations by exchangeable Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + , K + and H + , whilst pH and total phosphorus have also been determined. The analysis of variance with respect to distance between the samples shows that all the properties examined exhibit considerable variation over short distances, many showing the major proportion of their total variance at a distance of 0.5 m. This markedly limits the interpretation of data from single samples. Those properties reflecting base status and humus type show, in addition, a variation of similar size over distances of the order of a kilometre.