Spatial variability of caco3solubility in a chihuahuan desert soil

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Abstract
Spatial variability in CaCO3 solubility is an important factor in parameterizing simulation models and designing experiments. The objective of this study was to quantify the spatial variability, both horizontal and vertical, in CaCO3 solubility in a Chihuahuan Desert soil. CaC03 solubilities were estimated in 1: 5 soihwater suspensions. Soil horizon extracts were generally supersaturated with respect to calcite. The mean (± 1 SE) pIAP(CaCO3) for the A, Bk1, and Bk2 horizons were 8.03 (0.055), 8.19 (0.019), and 8.26 (0.015), respectively. The differences in pIAP between the A and B horizons (vertical variability) were statistically significant; these differences could be due to organic matter inhibition of calcite precipitation. Supersaturation with respect to calcite and vertical variability in CaCO3 solubility needs to be explicitly considered in simulation models. The standard errors in pIAP (horizontal variability) were greatest for the A horizons and decreased with increasing soil depth. Given the inherent variability in CaCO3 solubility, a large sample size is necessary to detect small differences in CaCO3 solubility for this Chihuahuan Desert soil.