Distribution Path of Total and Active Carbonates, and Iron Oxides under Two Different Forest Tree Species

Abstract

The research area was in Iraq’s Kurdistan region’s Duhok province. Oak and pine were chosen as the two woodland tree species. At each location, five pedons were dug, and soil horizons were then sampled. Because both types of forest soil were formed from limestone parent materials and the soil of Pine trees was substantially more carbonate than the soil of oak trees, and the calcium carbonate concentration of both forest types increased. The active carbonate varies from horizon to horizon, but it is often lower on the surface horizons, and its distribution pattern matches that of clay. Iron oxides in soils generally fluctuated between increasing and decreasing in the studied pedons, with the highest value of iron oxides in soil being discovered at the Sarke location. In contrast, the distribution pattern of iron oxides in clay fraction increased with increasing depth and was correlated with an increase in clay content. This study came to the conclusion that the distribution of active carbonate follows a similar pattern to that of total carbonate and is consistent with that of clay. The movement from surface soil horizons to subsurface due to gain was associated with the translocation of iron oxides in the investigated soils. The purpose of this study was to clarify the distribution pathways of free iron oxides, total and active carbonates in soil, under two different tree species.