skip to main content
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Current Understanding of the Use of Alkaline Extractions of Soils to Investigate Soil Organic Matter and Environmental Processes

Abstract

A novel understanding of soil organic matter (SOM) biogeochemisty and associated biogeochemical reactions and processes in soils is critical to meeting the environmental challenges that we face currently with the changing climate. Humic substances obtained from alkaline extractions of soils have played a predominant role in developing our knowledge of soil organic matter chemistry and behavior during the 20th century. Recently, there has been new important developments, and research efforts conducted to inspect and interrogate soil organic matter using molecular, nano and micron-scale state-of-the-art techniques have produced evidence that, according to some researchers, may be used to argue against the existence of the humic subtances in soils, as they are presently defined. A debate on the definition and continued use of the term “humic substances” has been taking place at conferences and in the scientific literature. However, because a consensus has not been reached on this important topic, the use of the term “humic substances” in this special issue is conform to the current existing definition of this term. This special issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality includes ten papers on the subject of ‘Alkaline Extraction of Soils and Natural Waters to Understand Environmental Processes’, and contributes to themore » on-going assessment of the role of humic substances in current and future environmental and ecological studies. The contributed papers are grouped into three broad subject headings: (i) chemistry of humic substances, (ii) humic substances in environmental processes, and (iii) case studies and reviews of humic substances. Continued progress in understanding soil organic matter and C biogeochemistry is essential to achieve long-term ecological, environmental, and agriculture sustainability.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Maine, Orono, ME (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1574928
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-146805
Journal ID: ISSN 0047-2425
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Environmental Quality
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 48; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0047-2425
Publisher:
American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; alkaline, soil organic matter, enviornmental process, Humic substances

Citation Formats

Ohno, Tsutomu, Hess, Nancy J., and Qafoku, Nikolla P. Current Understanding of the Use of Alkaline Extractions of Soils to Investigate Soil Organic Matter and Environmental Processes. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.2134/jeq2019.08.0292.
Copy to clipboard
Ohno, Tsutomu, Hess, Nancy J., & Qafoku, Nikolla P. Current Understanding of the Use of Alkaline Extractions of Soils to Investigate Soil Organic Matter and Environmental Processes. United States. doi:10.2134/jeq2019.08.0292.
Copy to clipboard
Ohno, Tsutomu, Hess, Nancy J., and Qafoku, Nikolla P. Thu . "Current Understanding of the Use of Alkaline Extractions of Soils to Investigate Soil Organic Matter and Environmental Processes". United States. doi:10.2134/jeq2019.08.0292. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1574928.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1574928,
title = {Current Understanding of the Use of Alkaline Extractions of Soils to Investigate Soil Organic Matter and Environmental Processes},
author = {Ohno, Tsutomu and Hess, Nancy J. and Qafoku, Nikolla P.},
abstractNote = {A novel understanding of soil organic matter (SOM) biogeochemisty and associated biogeochemical reactions and processes in soils is critical to meeting the environmental challenges that we face currently with the changing climate. Humic substances obtained from alkaline extractions of soils have played a predominant role in developing our knowledge of soil organic matter chemistry and behavior during the 20th century. Recently, there has been new important developments, and research efforts conducted to inspect and interrogate soil organic matter using molecular, nano and micron-scale state-of-the-art techniques have produced evidence that, according to some researchers, may be used to argue against the existence of the humic subtances in soils, as they are presently defined. A debate on the definition and continued use of the term “humic substances” has been taking place at conferences and in the scientific literature. However, because a consensus has not been reached on this important topic, the use of the term “humic substances” in this special issue is conform to the current existing definition of this term. This special issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality includes ten papers on the subject of ‘Alkaline Extraction of Soils and Natural Waters to Understand Environmental Processes’, and contributes to the on-going assessment of the role of humic substances in current and future environmental and ecological studies. The contributed papers are grouped into three broad subject headings: (i) chemistry of humic substances, (ii) humic substances in environmental processes, and (iii) case studies and reviews of humic substances. Continued progress in understanding soil organic matter and C biogeochemistry is essential to achieve long-term ecological, environmental, and agriculture sustainability.},
doi = {10.2134/jeq2019.08.0292},
journal = {Journal of Environmental Quality},
number = 6,
volume = 48,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {10}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
DOI:  10.2134/jeq2019.08.0292
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 1 work
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Potential Alterations in the Chemical Structure of Soil Organic Matter Components during Sodium Hydroxide Extraction
journal, November 2019

  • Chen, Xi; Jin, Mengcan; Xu, Yujun
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.02.0077

Reaction of forest floor organic matter at goethite, birnessite and smectite surfaces
journal, January 2001

Structure-Property-Function Relationship of Humic Substances in Modulating the Root Growth of Plants: A Review
journal, November 2019

  • García, Andrés Calderín; van Tol de Castro, Tadeu Augusto; Santos, Leandro Azevedo
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.01.0027

Evidence for the Existence of Humic Acids in Peat Soils Based on Solid-State 13 C NMR
journal, November 2019

  • Hatcher, Patrick G.; Waggoner, Derek C.; Chen, Hongmei
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.02.0083

Natural and Pyrogenic Humic Acids at Goethite and Natural Oxide Surfaces Interacting with Phosphate
journal, August 2013

  • Hiemstra, Tjisse; Mia, Shamim; Duhaut, Pierre-Benoît
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 47, Issue 16
  • DOI: 10.1021/es400997n

The Future of Humic Substances Research: Preface to a Debate
journal, March 2019

Lignin Contribution to Aliphatic Constituents of Humic Acids through Fungal Degradation
journal, November 2019

  • Khatami, Seyyedhadi; Deng, Ying; Tien, Ming
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.01.0034

Humic Substances Extracted by Alkali Are Invalid Proxies for the Dynamics and Functions of Organic Matter in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems
journal, March 2019

  • Kleber, Markus; Lehmann, Johannes
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.01.0036

Carbon sequestration
journal, August 2007

  • Lal, Rattan
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 363, Issue 1492
  • DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2007.2185

The contentious nature of soil organic matter
journal, November 2015

Stabilization of Soil Organic Matter: Association with Minerals or Chemical Recalcitrance?
journal, January 2006

Biodegradation of forest floor organic matter bound to minerals via different binding mechanisms
journal, May 2007

  • Mikutta, Robert; Mikutta, Christian; Kalbitz, Karsten
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 71, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2007.03.002

Metals and Metalloid Removal by Colloidal Humic Acid–Goethite: Column Experiments and Geochemical Modeling
journal, January 2019

Chemistry of Natural Organic Matter-The Next Step: Commentary on a Humic Substances Debate
journal, March 2019

Using Humic Fractions to Understand Natural Organic Matter Processes in Soil and Water: Selected Studies and Applications
journal, November 2019

  • Olk, D. C.; Bloom, P. R.; De Nobili, M.
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.03.0100

Environmental and Agricultural Relevance of Humic Fractions Extracted by Alkali from Soils and Natural Waters
journal, March 2019

  • Olk, D. C.; Bloom, P. R.; Perdue, E. M.
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.02.0041

Combination of Humic Substances and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Affecting Corn Plant Growth
journal, November 2019

  • Pinos, Nadia Quevedo; Louro Berbara, Ricardo Luis; Elias, Sael Sanchez
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.01.0035

Global soil carbon: understanding and managing the largest terrestrial carbon pool
journal, February 2014

  • Scharlemann, Jörn PW; Tanner, Edmund VJ; Hiederer, Roland
  • Carbon Management, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.4155/cmt.13.77

Substrate quality and concentration control decomposition and microbial strategies in a model soil system
journal, May 2019

Do Fulvic, Humic, and Humin Carbon Fractions Represent Meaningful Biological, Physical, and Chemical Carbon Pools?
journal, November 2019

  • Sherrod, Lucretia A.; Vigil, Merle F.; Stewart, Catherine E.
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.03.0104

Can Humic Substances Improve Soil Fertility under Salt Stress and Drought Conditions?
journal, November 2019

  • Suddarth, Stella R. P.; Ferreira, Jorge F. S.; Cavalcante, Lourival F.
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.02.0071

Molecular Structure in Soil Humic Substances:  The New View
journal, December 2005

  • Sutton, Rebecca; Sposito, Garrison
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 39, Issue 23
  • DOI: 10.1021/es050778q

Supramolecular Answers to the Organic Matter Controversy
journal, November 2019

Humic Acid Buildup Increases Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Redox-Oscillating Upland Soils while Catalyzing Iron(III) Reduction and Phosphorus Desorption
journal, November 2019

  • Wilmoth, Jared L.; Sexstone, Alan J.; McDonald, Louis M.
  • Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2019.01.0038
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: