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Several factors examined herein which control opal dissolution are: specific surface area, Al content, hydration state, age, and rate of organic matter biodegradation of the encasing vegetative tissues. These factors are covariable with opal of different origin. Recent (6 months old) opal phytoliths of deciduous origin are most hydrated (11%), have lower A1 content (2%) and highest dissolution (9 mg Si/liter, cold water; 50 mg Si/liter, hot water; and 3 mg Si/liter under natural environments). In contrast, opal of coniferous origin is older (30 months), more rigid, has higher Al content (3 to 4%), is encased within litter that is more slowly biodegradable and yields lower dissolution (2 to 3 mg Si/liter, cold water; 20 mg Si/liter, hot water; and 0.5 mg Si/liter under natural environments). Gramineous phytoliths associated with understory forest vegetation generally are intermediate in the above properties and dissolution. Biogenic opal has solubilities that approximate geologic opal‐A. It is relatively stable and not sufficiently labile under most soil environments to support observed soluble Si levels.

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Approximately 75 grams of biogenetic opal were isolated from 45 kilograms of soil by employing gross particle-size and sink-float specific gravity fractionation procedures. After pretreatment of the sample to remove extraneous organic and inorganic carbon contaminants, the carbon occluded within opal phytoliths was dated at 13,300 +/- 450 years before the present. Therefore, biogenetic opal is stable for relatively long periods.

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Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) have gained recognition in recent years as an approach to translate simple soil characteristics found in soil surveys into more complicated model input parameters. However, existing pedotransfer functions have not yet incorporated critical soil structural information. This study showed that soil hydraulic properties could be estimated from morphological features determined in situ (including texture, initial moisture state, pedality, macroporosity, and root density) through a morphology quantification system. Comparison between the class and continuous PTFs developed in this study indicated that the use of quantified morphological properties yielded predictive power similar to that of physical properties in estimating hydraulic conductivity at zero potential; water flow rates in macro‐, meso‐, and micropores; and a soil structure and texture parameter αmacro The results confirmed that soil structure was crucial in characterizing hydraulic behavior in macropore flow region; whereas texture had major impact on those hydraulic properties controlled by micropores. Depending on the flow domain to be included, estimation of hydraulic properties required the use of different combinations of morphometric indices or physical properties. The PTFs established may be used as starting points for estimating model input parameters.

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