Abstract
The speciation of soluble Al, particularly estimation of the concentration of the highly phytotoxic Al3+ ion, is problematic in acid mineral soils. This investigation examines the possibility that soluble Al may be complexed with silica in spodosols, creating an error in most methods for estimating free Al3+. Spodosol samples from the Adirondack region of New York were equilibrated either in the natural state at field moisture capacity, or after the addition of a range of strong acid concentrations. Labile and total Al were determined in the soil solutions by the 8-hydroxyquinoline complexation method, while soluble Si was determined by a procedure which estimates monomeric Si(OH)4.
Addition of strong acid to the spodosol horizons caused total soluble Al to increase, decrease, or remain unchanged, depending upon the particular horizon investigated. Decreases in soluble Al in certain B-horizon solutions were associated with concomitant decreases in soluble Si and organic matter. A test of dialyzability revealed that labile Al and “monomeric” silica in these same B-horizon solutions contained a significant fraction of high molecular weight species. The results suggested the presence of imogolite-like soluble aluminosilicate complexes, which may have co-precipitated with fulvic acids upon acidification.
Solubility diagrams showed many of the E-horizon solutions to be undersaturated with respect to imogolite or gibbsite, while the B-horizon solutions tended to be saturated or supersaturated. The apparent supersaturation is attributed to the overestimation of free Al3+ by 8-hydroxyquinoline in solutions containing aluminosilicate complexes. Thus, this chelating agent is sufficiently aggressive to decompose soluble aluminosilicate complexes, and to a lesser extent, soluble Al-organic complexes.
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Johnson, M.G., McBride, M.B. (1991). Solubility of aluminium and silicon in acidified spodosols: Evidence for soluble aluminosilicate. In: Wright, R.J., Baligar, V.C., Murrmann, R.P. (eds) Plant-Soil Interactions at Low pH. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3438-5_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3438-5_2
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