Abstract
The soil-water interfaces (SWI) in soil pores are hotspots for organic matter (OM) transformation. However, due to the heterogeneous and opaque nature of soil microenvironment, direct and continuous tracing of interfacial reactions, such as OM transformations and formation of organo-mineral associations, are rare. To investigate these processes, a new soil microarray technology (SoilChips) was developed and used. Homogeneous 800-μm-diameter SoilChips were constructed by depositing a dispersed Oxisol A horizon suspension on a patterned glass. Dissolved organic matter from the original soil was added on the SoilChips to mimic SWI processes. The effects of ammonium fertilization (90 mg N kg−1 soil) on chemical composition of SWIs were evaluated via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Over 21 days, ammonium addition increased OM coatings at SWIs and modified the OM chemical structure with more alcoholic- and carboxylic-C compared to the unfertilized control. Molecular modeling of OM composition at SWIs showed that N fertilization mainly facilitated the microbial production of glucans. We demonstrated that N availability modifies the specific OM molecular processing and its immobilization on SWIs, thereby providing a direct insight into biogeochemical transformation of OM at micro-scale.
Highlights
The soil-water interfaces (SWI) in soil pores are hotspots for organic matter (OM) transformation
While there is no indication for inorganic C, the component at a binding energy of 284.8 eV and 285.5 eV is attributed to aliphatic C (C-H/C), the peak at 286.5 eV is alcohol and amine C (C-O/N), and the component near 288.3 eV is assigned to carbonyl C (C=O)[23]
Continuous responses of the elemental and molecular properties of OM to N fertilization at Oxisol Ap hoirzon SWIs were firstly demonstrated by the SoilChip-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) integrated technique
Summary
The soil-water interfaces (SWI) in soil pores are hotspots for organic matter (OM) transformation. Due to the heterogeneous and opaque nature of soil microenvironment, direct and continuous tracing of interfacial reactions, such as OM transformations and formation of organo-mineral associations, are rare. To investigate these processes, a new soil microarray technology (SoilChips) was developed and used. Modification and oxidation of these organic materials will increase solubility in water as well as the protection against further decomposition at SWIs. Nitrogen (N) availability is one of the main environmental factors controlling SOM transformation[11,12]. To understand the complexity of the SOM behaviors and fate, accurate characterization of these key physicochemical and biological interfacial interactions at SWI is an essential step[15,16]
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