The solubility of aluminium in two Swedish acidified forest soils: An evaluation of lysimeter measurements using batch titration data

This paper presents aluminium (Al)-solubility data for two acid forest soils (Inceptisol and Spodosol), obtained in connection with lysimeter measurements (tension-cup and zero-tension lysimeters) and batch equilibrium experiments. The solubility of Al obtained in the batch experiments was used as a reference to test whether Al3+ in soil solutions collected by the lysimeters was in equilibrium with secondary forms of solid-phase Al (Al(OH)(3) or organically bound Al). The relation between pH and Al3+ activity found for the zero-tension lysimeter solutions collected from the Inceptisol agreed well with that obtained in the batch experiment. This suggests that Al3+ in the lysimeter solutions were in, or close to, equilibrium with the solid phase, whether this was organically bound Al (A horizon) or an Al(OH)(3) phase (B horizon). For the tension-cup lysimeters, solutions obtained from the Inceptisol B and Spodosol Bs1 horizons were generally close to equilibrium with respect to secondary solid-phase Al (apparently Al(OH)(3); average ion activity product was 10(9.3) and 10(8.8), respectively), whereas the Inceptisol A and Spodosol Bh solutions were not. The Al solubility in Inceptisol A and Spodosol Bh horizons was consistently higher than that obtained in the batch equilibrium experiment, indicating that the sampled solution partly originated from the underlying horizons. Thus, tension-cup lysimeters should be used with care in soils (or in parts of soil profiles) having steep solute concentration gradients because the soil volume from which the sample is drawn with this lysimeter type seems to be poorly defined.