Chemical Structure of Organic Matter of Agrochernozems of Different Alocalization on the Slope

Abstract

The chemical structure of organic matter (OM) pools in agrochernozems confined to different zones of denudation-accumulation has been studied by solid-state 13C-NMR spectroscopy. It was revealed that in the erosion zone there are two competing processes occurring simultaneously: the decomposition of the “old” OM of the earlier underlying horizon and the stabilization of the fresh OM that has arrived with plant remains of cultivated plants (dynamic replacement of OM). Analytical data allow us to assert that the processes of dynamic replacement of eroded OM in the erosive zone quite effectively compensate for the processes of OM decomposition, as evidenced by the highest C/N ratio of all the studied OM pools in the eroding agrochernozem, along with the absence of significant differences in the integral indicators of their chemical structure. However, the constant removal of the upper soil layer from the eroding agrochernozem during each erosion event does not allow one to fully compensate for the OM quantitative losses in it. During the transportation of eroded material to the accumulative zone, the most labile part of OM can be mineralized. Accordingly, the OM again entering the accumulative zone is more transformed than that of the eroding agrochernozem. Nevertheless, the alluvial agrochernozem is characterized by an increased level of C accumulation in the soil as a whole and in all the studied OM pools. Accordingly, it can be stated that the constant OM inputs from the eroding position with its subsequent burial with each subsequent erosion event, as well as the repacking/aggregation of newly deposited OM, very effectively contribute to the deposition of C in the accumulative zone.