Abstract
An approach to the study of the sulphur status of soils is described involving the application of one new procedure, and others developed previously, and is illustrated by results obtained on five Quebec soils. The sulphur in these soils was mainly organic in nature, the organic sulphates being the dominant organic sulphur fraction in the mineral soils, whereas the organic sulphate and carbon-bonded sulphur fractions were of similar magnitude in the organic soils. Two components of extractable sulphate were distinguished, namely easily soluble sulphate and adsorbed sulphate. In the mineral soils, the adsorbed sulphate was 26–50 times greater than the easily soluble sulphate.