Modification of Soil Solid Aluminium Phases During an Extreme Experimental Acidification of A Horizons of Forest Soils from Southwest Europe

Four umbric A horizons from acid forest soils were acidified in a batch type experiment and its effect in the Al pools of the solid phase analysed by means of selective dissolution methods. The results showed that Al release accounted for the consumption of 85–99% of the added protons, and causes a decrease of 2–33% of the ‘reactive’ Al pool of the soil solid phase. In these A horizons, inorganic non-crystalline Al and high stability Al-humus complexes are the main sources of the dissolved Al. The contribution of the complexes with intermediate stability only was relevant in the more acid horizon developed from phyllites (P18-A). The increase of equilibration time from 96 to 720 h did not caused significant differences in the decrease of the ‘reactive’ Al pool suggesting the acid neutralising reactions occurred in less than 96 h. In most cases the quantity of released Al is in agreement with the decrease of the different reactive Al pools of the solid phase.