The influence of hydrogen-ion concentration on the decomposition of soil Organic matter by hydrogen peroxide (With two text-figures.)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The decomposition of the organic matter of the soil by means of hydrogen peroxide is shown to be a function of the hydrogen-ion concentration of the soil, alkaline soils permitting of a very low degree of oxidation, while with acid soils up to 90 per cent, of the organic matter is destroyed. The results obtained with a range of soils suggest that a portion of the organic matter is oxidised irrespective of the soil reaction, while the oxidation of the remainder is a definite function of the hydrogen-ion concentration, the relation being expressed by the equation The proportion of the organic matter oxidised further appears to be a definite function of the clay content of the soil. Alkaline soils containing free manganese dioxide also show small losses.

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit: