Sorption and desorption of organic matter in soils as affected by phosphate

The contribution of different adsorption processes to soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization and the consequences of the intensification of land use on the adsorption of SOM are not yet fully understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the adsorption of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soils as well as desorption of organic carbon (OC) caused by phosphate addition. We conducted desorption and sorption experiments with DOC, phosphate (Na2HPO4), and chloride (KCl) in topsoil and subsoil samples from a Ferralsol, an Andosol, and a Podzol. Furthermore, we quantified the size of DOC by size-exclusion chromatography.We found that phosphate addition caused a strong increase in the DOC concentration in all soils. The DOC concentration was elevated by up to a factor of 4.5 compared to a control (water only) within five minutes after phosphate addition and kept increasing further with time, particularly in the Ferralsol. After 10 days, the DOC concentrations in the P addition treatment were between 5.5 and 18.0 times higher than in the control treatment. In contrast, chloride addition did not lead to increased DOC concentrations compared to the control (water only). Phosphate addition led mostly to desorption of organic matter of medium molecular size (10-100 and 100-1000 kDa) in the Ferralsol and the Andosol and of large molecular size (>1000 kDa) in the Podzol. In contrast, potassium chloride addition shifted the size distribution of DOC in the soil solution towards small compounds (