DITHIONITE- AND OXALATE-EXTRACTABLE Fe AND Al AS AIDS IN DIFFERENTIATING VARIOUS CLASSES OF SOILS

Abstract

Iron and aluminum were determined in acid ammonium oxalate extracts and in dithionite–citrate–bicarbonate extracts of a wide range of Canadian soils, several oxide and silicate minerals, and some amorphous preparations of iron or aluminum and silica. The oxalate extraction dissolved much of the iron and aluminum from the amorphous materials but very little from crystalline oxides, whereas the dithionite extraction dissolved a large proportion of the crystalline iron oxides as well as much of the amorphous materials. Oxalate-extractable iron and aluminum gave a useful indication of Bf horizon development in many soils, even if the parent materials were high in iron oxides. In one class of Gleysolic soils, however, the Bfg horizons were high in dithionite-extractable iron and low in oxalate-extractable iron. An accumulation of goethite was found in the Bfg horizon of some of these soils. In some other Gleysolic soils iron was depleted in the A horizon but there was no horizon of iron accumulation. Extraction of soils with oxalate as well as with dithionite is useful in differentiating certain classes of soils and in identifying horizons of accumulation of secondary sesquioxides.