Micro-scale variation of solid-phase properties and soil solution chemistry in a forest podzol and its relation to soil horizons

In order to evaluate micro-scale heterogeneities 55 micro suction cups were placed in an array at 15 mm intervals in a profile face of a cambic podzol. The chemistry of soil solution (mineral anion, pH, UV absorption as a measure of DOC) was compared with solid-phase properties from soil samples (2 cm³ volume), which has surrounded the suction cups. Sequential extraction techniques (water, NH₄Cl, hydroxylamin-hydrochloride, citrate-bicarbonate, oxalate, dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate) and base titrations were applied to characterize the solid phase. Although the average soil solution concentrations between horizons often differed significantly, the spatial distributions of pH and SO₄/² did not correlate with soil horizon borders. Even if concentration isolines and soil horizon borders were parallel, marked concentration gradients could be observed within individual soil horizons. The less intense the interaction between solute ion and soil matrix, the greater was the variation in solution concentration within a soil horizon. For the soil solid phase only a weak correlation of slow buffer reactions to soil horizons was found. The distribution of extractable Fe and Al was typical for a podzol profile, however, with very steep gradients within single soil horizons. Except for pH, which was related mainly to citrate-bicarbonate extractable aluminum, no solid-phase characteristic showed a clear correlation with soil solution chemistry.