Resumo

CABRIA, Fabián Néstor; BIANCHINI, María Rosa  e  MEDIAVILLA, María Clara. Free iron oxides associated to organic carbon in soils aggregates in Balcarce county. Cienc. suelo [online]. 2005, vol.23, n.1, pp.23-29. ISSN 1850-2067.

When organic matter is the principal stabilizing agent and soil aggregates structure is hierarchical, the mechanism of formation of aggregates drives to seclude the organic carbon in stable macroaggregates. This concept comes from research about the way as tillage alters the rate of formation and degradation of aggregates and, consequently, the natural dynamic of particulate organic matter and organomineral associations. There is no local information that corroborate within aggregates organic carbon associated to minerals and better information on the nature and dynamics of organomineral associations will lead to a greater understanding of soil structure dynamics and of carbon cycling and sequestration in soils. These were the aims of this research and free iron oxides associated to organic compounds were chemically removed from soil aggregates in three soil series under continuous cropping with conventional tillage (CCCT) and non-grazed crop-pasture (NGCP). The results showed that ferrihydrite, a low crystallinity oxide, would be part of organomineral associations. The quantity of this mineral would diminish under CCCT, but the magnitude of this result in the three soil series was different. In both management systems, the iron removed of free iron oxides associated to organic compounds was more abundant in macroaggregates than in microaggregates. Under conventional tillage, the iron diminished in macroaggregates and increased in microaggregates. We suggest that in undisturbed soils the organic carbon associated to mineral sequestration, ferrihydrite, among others, would occur within microaggregates finally confined in stable macroaggregates.

Palavras-chave : Ferrihydrite; Soil aggregates; Organic carbon; Mollisols.

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