Characteristics and distributions of humic acids in two soil profiles of the southwest China Karst area

Characteristics and distributions of humic acid(HA) and soil organic matter(SOM) in a yellow soil profile and a limestone soil profile of the southwest China Karst area were systematically investigated to reveal their evolutions in different soils of the study area. The results showed that characteristics and distribution of SOM along the two soil profiles were notably different. Total organic carbon(TOC) contents of soil samples decreased just slightly along the limestone soil profile but sharply along the yellow soil profile. TOCs of the limestone soils were significantly higher than those of the corresponding yellow soils, and C/N ratios of SOMs showed a similar variation trend to that of TOCs, indicating that SOM can be better conserved in the limestone soil than in the yellow soil. The soil humic acids were exhaustively extracted and further fractionated according to their apparent molecular weights using ultrafiltration techniques to explore underlying conservation mechanisms. The result showed that C/N ratios of HAs from different limestone soil layers were relatively stable and that large molecular HA fractions predominated the bulk HA of the top soil, indicating that HA in the limestone profile was protected while bio and chemical degradations were retarded. Combined with organic elements contents and mineral contents of two soils, weconcluded that high calcium contents in limestone soils may play a key role in SOM conservation by forming complexation compounds with HAs or/and enclosing SOMs with hypergene CaCO_3 precipitation.

Effects of Fe3+ and Ca2+ on sorption of phenanthrene by Humin in karst soil,Southwest China

Humin(HM) is the main organic matter component to af fect the migration and transformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) in soil. The study on infl uence of the morphology change of inorganic ions on the adsorption of PAHs in soil and its organic matter is still rare at microscopic scale. In this paper, yellow soil humin(YS-HM) and lime soil humin(LS-HM) were chosen as samples, then Fe^(3+) and Ca^(2+) were added into samples to facilitate the precipitation by changing the existing conditions of ions, and the mechanism by which inorganic precipitation changed adsorption capacity of karst soil was analyzed from the microscopic scale. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of HM reduced with the inorganic precipitation increasing. The precipitation of Ca^(2+)and Fe^(3+) both reduced the adsorption capacity of YS-HM and LS-HM by 61.71% and 71.83% on average, respectively. The results of scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometry(SEM-EDS) and pore analysis showed that the HM porosity decreased after formation of Ca^(2+) and Fe^(3+) precipitation. According to the value of Freundlich parameter n, it may be because the precipitation or colloid of Ca^(2+) and Fe^(3+) fi lled micropores and covers high-energy adsorption sites of the HM. This research provides theoretical support for studying the PAHs migration and bioavailability of Calcium-rich in karst soil.

Research progress on aging of organic pollutants in geosorbents:a review

Geosorbents are the main host of anthropogenic organic pollutants and play a vital role in their fate and transport in the natural environment.Soil and sediment are the most common and abundant geosorbents in the natural environment;their interactions with organic pollutants,especially sorption and desorption processes,have been extensively studied from the perspectives of thermodynamics and kinetics.Recently,the aging of organic pollutants in geosorbents has drawn increased attention,leading to an improved understanding of interactions between organic pollutants and geosorbents and informing remediation criteria.Aging has been deemed important in accurately assessing ecologic and health risks of organic pollutants,and both positive and negative impacts have been reported in studies of natural and artificial sorbents.This paper summarizes recent research progress on organic pollutant aging in geosorbents,including related mechanism research,influence factors,bioavailability assessments,and biological and physicochemical remediation of aged organic pollutants.We also discuss issues in the current research and bring forward suggestions for future study.

The effects of soil sand contents on characteristics of humic acids along soil profiles

It is generally accepted that the compositions and properties of soil organic matter(SOM) are in?uenced by many factors. In order to reveal the effects of soil texture on characteristics and dynamics of SOM and its sub-fraction,humic acid(HA), along two soil pro?les, a yellow soil pro?le and a purplish soil pro?le, under the same climate and vegetation conditions were determined. Results indicate that the decomposition and humi?cation degrees of SOM and HA of the purplish soils are higher than those of the corresponding yellow soils indicated by A/O–A ratios of HAs, TOCs and HA yields of bulk soil samples, nevertheless, the development degree of the purplish soil is lower than that of the yellow soil. The variations of E_4/E_6 ratios of HAs along the soil pro?les indicate the overall molecular sizes of HAs decreased downward along the soil pro?les.A/O–A ratios of HAs decreased downward along both the soil pro?les indicate that humi?cation processes decrease downward along both the soil pro?les. Leaching of SOM shows signi?cant effects on the distribution and characteristics of HAs in the yellow soil pro?le but the purplish soil pro?le, which is consistent with the higher hydrophobicity of HAs in purplish soils, shows that the distribution characteristics of SOM along the soil pro?les are a complex result of the combination of soil texture and characteristics of SOM itself. The remarkably different sand contents are concluded tentatively as one of reasons to the different distributions and dynamics of HAs along the soil pro?les,however, to profoundly understand the evolution and transport of SOM along soil pro?les needs more researches.