SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER OF SUGGESTED SPODIC HORIZONS IN RELIC ORNITHOGENIC SOILS OF COASTAL CONTINENTAL ANTARCTICA (CASEY STATION, WILKES LAND)IN COMPARISON WITH THAT OF SPODIC SOIL HORIZONS IN GERMANY
L. Beyer et al., SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER OF SUGGESTED SPODIC HORIZONS IN RELIC ORNITHOGENIC SOILS OF COASTAL CONTINENTAL ANTARCTICA (CASEY STATION, WILKES LAND)IN COMPARISON WITH THAT OF SPODIC SOIL HORIZONS IN GERMANY, Soil science, 162(7), 1997, pp. 518-527
In Antarctica, ornithogenic soils from penguin guano play an important
role in nutrient cycles in the ecosystem, Soil organic matter (SOM) d
egradation and translocation are the main determinants of these dynami
cs, of which podzolization is probably one, in ornithogenic soil, The
purpose of this study is to describe the SOM in the older ornithogenic
soils of Coastal Continental Antarctica in order to learn more about
the organic matter of these soils, The SOM investigations were carried
out by means of wet chemical SOM analyses and carbon-13 and nitrogen-
15 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, The purpose is to co
mpare these data with those obtained from spodic horizons formed under
temperate climate conditions, This comparison should provide the firs
t information concerning the possibility of podzolization in Antarctic
a, In contrast to the spodic horizons in Germany, the SOM of the antar
ctic soils is characterized by a high percentage of amino derivates fr
om proteins, polysaccharides, urates, and chitin, resulting in a mean
C-to-N ratio of 10 and a high content of carboxyl carbon units, which
probably derived from amino and other organic acids, The N-15-NMR spec
trum of penguin guano suggests the presence of uric acid (2, 6,8-triox
ypurine), Our data suggest that migration of organic acids, not-humifi
ed carbohydrates, and N-containing moieties from the topsoil moving in
to the spodic horizons of the ornithogenic soils affect the podzolizat
ion process, In the SOM of the German Podzols, N-compounds and not-hum
ified carbohydrates were of minor importance within the SOM translocat
ion processes.