After growth of doubly labeled (14C and 15N) maize (Zea mays L.), two loamy soils were labeled by root exudation and rhizodeposition, and by direct microbial immobilization of N. Fresh roots were then carefully separated and washed, eliminating organic and organomineral cementing agents by acid and alkaline solubilizing reagents, and the remaining insoluble humin was water dispersed in order to separate coarse, medium, and fine fractions. At harvest time, fresh roots represented 85% of the total C input, and rhizodeposition 15%. Sixty to 70% of the N input was still in living roots at this time, and other organic forms of N were more a result of microbial activity than of rhizodeposition. The largest and most homogeneous organic fraction was the finest insoluble fraction, in which about half of the label for both C and N was found.
The principal methods for studying clay minerals in andosoils differ especially by the succession of the pretreatments, i.e. differential dissolution of amorphous mineral cements before (first method) or after (second method) the dispersion and recovery of granulometric fractions.The first method permits a rapid total quantitative estimation of amorphous components and an accurate identification of crystallized clay minerals by means of X-ray diffraction. The second method only proves the presence of allophane and imogolite.The two methods were applied in two different laboratories on the same soils from the Massif Central. The comparison of the results emphasizes the profit of using the two methods, especially if hypotheses on the mechanisms of clay genesis are to be proposed.These results, if placed in the context of a more comprehensive study, suggest the existence of two principal phases of clay genesis, strongly connected to the evolution of organic matter in andosoils, as follows: (i) an early, prepedologic phase during which halloysites and smectites would form ; (ii) a late phase giving rise especially to some kaolinite and gibbsite.
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