Measurement of biogenic sulfur gases emission from some Chinese and Japanese soils

Emission of volatile sulfur gases from waterlogged paddy soils and upland soils of China and Japan was studied in the laboratory. Emission of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbonyl sulfide (COS), methyl mercaptan (CH3SH), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), carbon disulfide (CS2) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) were detected. Emission of sulfur gases from paddy soil was more than that from upland, and emission from the Chinese paddy soils was more than that from Japanese. At the same soil, emission of sulfur gases, when both organic manure and chemical fertilizer were applied was higher than when only organic manure or only chemical fertilizer was applied. Under anaerobic conditions, detected biogenic sulfur gases were far more than that under aerobic conditions, H2S was the most obvious. The results have also shown that, at higher temperature, emission and expiration rate of volatile sulfur gases were higher than that at lower temperature. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd