Correction to: Influence of physico-chemical properties of soil clay fractions on the retention of dissolved organic carbon.

Unfortunately, in the original publication of the article, Prof. Yong Sik Ok's affiliation was incorrectly published. The author's affiliation is as follows.

Influence of physico-chemical properties of soil clay fractions on the retention of dissolved organic carbon.

This study investigated the effects of surface functional groups, cation exchange capacity (CEC), surface charge, sesquioxides and specific surface area (SSA) of three soil clay fractions (SCFs) (kaolinite-illite, smectite and allophane) on the retention of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soils. Physico-chemical properties of the SCFs before and after removing native carbon and/or sesquioxides were characterised, and the DOC adsorption-desorption tests were conducted by a batch method. Native organic carbon (OC)/sesquioxide removal treatments led to a small change in the CEC values of kaolinite-illite, but significant changes in those of smectite and allophane. The net negative surface charge increased in all samples with an increase in pH indicating their variable charge characteristics. The removal of native OC resulted in a slight increase in the net positive charge on soil clay surfaces, while sesquioxide removal increased the negative charge. Changes in the functional groups on the SCF surfaces contributed to the changes in CEC and zeta potential values. There was a strong relationship (R 2 = 0.93, p < 0.05) between the Langmuir maximum DOC adsorption capacity (Q max) and SSA. The Q max value also showed a moderately strong relationship (R 2 = 0.55, p < 0.05) with zeta potential (at pH 7). Q max was only poorly correlated with CEC and native OC content. Therefore, along with SSA, the surface charge and functional groups of SCFs played the key role in determining the adsorption affinity and hence retention of DOC in soils.

Decomposition of soil organic matter as affected by clay types, pedogenic oxides and plant residue addition rates.

The interactive effects of the types and contents of soil clay fractions (SCFs) and plant-residue addition rates on soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilisation are largely unknown. We conducted incubation experiments by amending a sandy soil sample with kaolinitic-illitic, smectitic and allophanic SCFs and adding wheat residues to the mineral mixtures to compare their C stabilisation capacity. The rate of carbon (C) decomposition was higher in the kaolinitic-illitic SCF followed by smectitic and allophanic clay minerals. The supply of easily degradable C substrate from decomposing residues markedly influenced the SCFs' abilities to stabilise SOC. The removal of sesquioxides from the SCFs significantly decreased their C stabilisation capacity, which coincided with a decrease in the dehydrogenase activity of the mineral-residue mixture. The allophanic SCF showed the least microbial activity and the greatest C stabilisation due to having a higher proportion of micropores (75%). The high C stabilisation capacity of allophanic SCF could also be explained by its high specific surface area (119 m2 g-1). The results of this study are helpful to understand the role of various SCFs in stabilising added C originating from external wheat residue addition but warrant further validation under field conditions.

Fe-oxide mineralogy of the Jiujiang red earth sediments and implications for Quaternary climate change, southern China.

Diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (DRS) is a new, fast, and reliable method to characterize Fe-oxides in soils. The Fe-oxide mineralogy of the Jiujiang red earth sediments was investigated using DRS to investigate the climate evolution of southern China since the mid-Pleistocene. The DRS results show that hematite/(hematite + goethite) ratios [Hm/(Hm + Gt)] exhibit an upward decreasing trend within the Jiujiang section, suggesting a gradual climate change from warm and humid in the middle Pleistocene to cooler and drier in the late Pleistocene. Upsection trends toward higher (orthoclase + plagioclase)/quartz ratios [(Or + Pl)/Q] and magnetic susceptibility values (χlf) support this inference, which accords with global climate trends at that time. However, higher-frequency climatic subcycles observed in loess sections of northern China are not evident in the Jiujiang records, indicating a relatively lower climate sensitivity of the red earth sediments in southern China.