ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Fractionation of Iron and Manganese
in the Horizons of a Nutrient-Poor Forest Soil
Profile Using the Sequential Extraction Method
Barbara Walna1, Waldemar Spychalski2, Aleksandra Ibragimow3
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1Adam Mickiewicz University, Jeziory Ecological Station, P.O. Box 40, 62-050 Mosina, Poland
2Poznań University of Life Sciences, Szydłowska 50, 60-656 Poznań,
3Adam Mickiewicz University, Collegium Polonicum, Kościuszki 1, 69-100 Słubice, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2010;19(5):1029-1037
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Soil iron and manganese fractionation is evaluated in the soil profile sampled from a pine-covered area
of Wielkopolski National Park (mid-western Poland), that for years has been exposed to acid rain. The soils
studied are sands and loamy sands with a pH of 3.3-4.4. The content of iron and manganese was analyzed by
sequential extraction in the following fractions: exchangeable, acid extractable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual.
The soil profile displays a lithogenically dichotomous structure that is reflected in the iron and manganese
content, especially in the Fe residual fraction and Mn oxidizable fraction. In terms of the lability of manganese,
it can be stated that the amount of manganese in reducible fractions (Mnred) is higher than in exchangeable and
acid extractable ones (except in the surface layer), while the amounts of manganese in fractions in which it is
poorly available (Mnox) and unavailable (Mnres) are lower than that of Mnred. For iron, this sequence looks as
follows: Feexac.extred, while the amounts of iron in fractions in which it is poorly available (Feox) and
unavailable (Feres) are similar and decidedly predominant. The availability of the most readily released iron and
manganese lessens with depth, and of the remaining forms grows in accordance with the change in lithology.