SHORT-TERM FLOODING OF SOIL: ITS EFFECT ON THE COMPOSITION OF GAS AND WATER PHASES OF SOIL AND ON PHOSPHORUS UPTAKE OF CORN

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Abstract
A laboratory procedure and apparatus design are described for the sampling of the soil solution and dissolved gases below the surface of a flooded soil without disturbance of the soil or the normal diffusion process. Ethylene and CO2 concentration increased in the dissolved gases of a flooded Maryhill loam (Ortho Humic Gleysol) as the duration of flooding increased from zero to 17 days and the redox potential (Eh) decreased. Soluble Fe and Mn slowly increased as the Eh decreased. The addition of NO3-N depressed ethylene formation and the release of soluble Fe and Mn. The addition of sucrose rapidly eliminated NO3-N from the soil solution, reduced the Eh to −330 mV, stimulated ethylene and CO2 formation, and further solubilized Fe and Mn. The accumulation of dry weight, total P and fertilizer P concentrations in corn were reduced by flooding soil for periods up to 12 days. The measurement of Eh, gases and Fe and Mn in the soil solution suggest that ethylene accumulation and O2 depletion were involved in the reduction of fertilizer P uptake.