ALIPHATIC-ACIDS - INFLUENCE ON SULFATE MOBILITY IN A FORESTED CECIL SOIL

Dissolved organic substances derived from forest litter are believed to influence the retention and movement of SO2- 4 in forest soils. A column study was conducted in which 35SO4 was surface applied to a soil and leached with either low-molecular-weight aliphatic acids (AA) or a forest-litter extract. Oxalic, malonic, and succinic acids were used in the concentration range 8.0 × 10-3 to 1.0 × 10-5 mol L-1. Movement of 35SO4 was determined with column depth, as was the 35SO4 activity in the collected leachates. Labelled SO4 soil movement was found to increase with increasing AA concentration. -from Authors