ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Structural Investigation of Humic Acids of Forest
Soils by Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography
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1
University of Science and Technology, Department of Biogeochemistry and Soil Science, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2
Slovak Agricultural University, Department of Soil Science, Nitra, Slovakia
Submission date: 2018-06-18
Final revision date: 2018-09-24
Acceptance date: 2018-10-08
Online publication date: 2019-07-30
Publication date: 2019-09-17
Corresponding author
Magdalena Banach-Szott
University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, 6 Bernardynska Str, 85-029 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2019;28(6):4099-4107
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ABSTRACT
The aim of the present paper is to define the importance of the Py-GC/MS method in the study of
structural composition of HAs of forest soils depending on plant litter properties (oak, spruce, thuja).
Forest soil sampled from the area of Rogow Forest Experiment Department, Warsaw Agricultural
University (WAU), was used for our research. The forest soil (Haplic Luvisols) was sampled
in 5 replications under tree stands of: oak (Quercus robur L.), spruce (Picea abies L. Karsten)
and thuja (Thuja plicata D.Don.ex. Lamb.). Humic acids (HAs) were isolated from the soil sample
using the IHSS method. For the humic acids extracted from horizons Ol, A and E (AE),
the spectrophotometric analyses in the UV-VIS range were performed and the elemental composition
was assayed. The HA chemical composition was evaluated with the use of pyrolysis-gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The humic acids of Ol horizon, irrespective of the tree
stand, showed higher H/C values and lower O/H values as compared with HAs from A and/or E (AE)
horizons. Humic acids pyrolysis products were identified as aromatic single- and multi-ring compounds,
compounds of lignin origin, phenolic compounds, polysaccharide compounds, and nitrogen-containing
compounds as well as aliphatic compounds. The dominant compounds, being part of humic acids
pyrolysis products, were single-ring aromatic hydrocarbons, which accounted for 58.81 to 76.20% of all
the compounds identified. Generally it should be stated that the share of particular groups of compounds
varied with soil depth and depended on the species of tree.