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1.
Chemical and mineralogical properties of a soil chronosequence in the high mountain zone between 3857 m and 4120 m a.s.l. in Central Nepal (Langtang valley) are presented. The soils have been developed in moraine deposits which consist of acid gneisses. They were classified as Entisols, and Spodosols. XRD analyses of the clay and fine silt fraction show increasing changes with distance from the recent Lirung glacier, depending on the time of deposition, resp. soil age. Alteration of illite to interstratified minerals and to hydroxy-Al interlayered minerals or pedogenic chlorite with increasing soil development could be observed. The interstratified minerals could be identified as random and regular illite-interlayered vermiculite mixed-layer minerals. Intensification of the X-ray signals of the fine silt fraction is given compared to the clay. With increasing soil development differences between the clay and fine silt fraction seem to increase. Indications are given of interstratification of the mica-pedogenic chlorite and chloriteinterlayered vermiculite type in the more intensively weathered soils. 相似文献
2.
The mineralogies of ‘Tirs’ (Typic Pelloxererts), and ‘Debs’ (Typic Haploxerolls and Typic Xerochrepts) soils of the Gharb plain in north-western Morocco are investigated, with special attention given to the determination of the nature of the smectitic phase using the lithium test (Li test) and the alkylammonium method. The sand and silt mineralogy of Tirs soils is dominated by quartz with small amounts of feldspars and kaolinite. The sand and silt fractions of Dehs soils also contain significant amounts of mica, chlorite, and interstratified phyllosilicates. The clay minerals of Tirs soils are predominantly a high-charge smectite. The estimated interlayer charge for this phase is 0.61 mol(c)/O10(OH)2 and the fraction of tetrahedral charge varies from 38 to 44%. Although the percentage tetrahedral charge is less than 50%, the smectitic phase behaves as beidellite with the Li test. Dehs clays are more heterogeneous, consisting of smectite, vermiculite, illite, kaolinite, chlorite, and interstratified illite/smectite and illite/vermiculite. The Li test and the alkylammonium method demonstrate that a high-charge smectite or vermiculite is interstratified with illite. A low-charge montmorillonite is also present both in Tirs and in Dehs soils. The high-charge beidellitic phase is believed to be a transformation product of mica, whilst the low charge montmorillonite is thought to be inherited from the parent material. 相似文献
3.
Yu Zhan Zhang Yangzhu Sheng Hao Zhang Liang Zhou Qing Yan Xiong 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2020,20(3):1558-1570
Purpose
The aims of this study were to investigate the composition of clay minerals in soils derived from different parent materials and to elucidate how parent materials and pedogenic environment affect the distribution of clay minerals and reveal the implications for pedogenetics and taxonomy in Stagnic Anthrosols.
Materials and methodsClay mineralogy and physicochemical properties of the Hydragric horizon of Stagnic Anthrosols derived from granite (GR), plate shale (PS), quaternary red clays (QRC), limestone (LS), purple sandy shale (PSS) and fluvial-lacustrine deposit (FLD) located in Hunan Province of China were analysed to explore the relationships between the conditions influencing the formation of the soil and the composition of clay minerals.
Results and discussionResults indicated that the composition of clay minerals is closely related to both parent material and type of Stagnic Anthrosols: the soils derived from GR, PS and QRC, which are mostly classified as Fe-accumulic-Stagnic Anthrosols, are dominantly 1:1 type kaolinite and vermiculite and illite/vermiculite mixed layer minerals of widespread distribution. However, soils derived from LS, PSS and FLD were mainly classified as Hapli-Stagnic Anthrosols and are mainly composed of 2:1 type illite/smectite mixed layer minerals, where chlorite is commonly found. Illite is widely distributed and its content varies the least among different parent materials. An extremely significant relationship between pH and kaolinite, chlorite and mixed layer minerals was noted, and the two kinds of mixed layer minerals showed highly significant negative correlation.
ConclusionsThis study revealed that the types and quantities of clay minerals in the soil are closely related to the types of parent material. This reflected better direction and degree of development in Stagnic Anthrosols, which is related to the physicochemical properties of parent material and can be used as one of the bases for the classification of soil groups and subgroups within the soil family for Stagnic Anthrosols in Chinese Soil Taxonomy.
相似文献4.
The mineralogical composition of agrogray, dark gray, and agro-dark gray soils (Luvic Greyzemic Retic Phaeozems); agro-dark gray residual-calcareous soils (Calcaric Cambic Phaeozems); clay-illuvial agrochernozems (Luvic Chernic Phaeozems); and agrochernozems with migrational–mycelial carbonates (Haplic Chernozems) developed in the forest-steppe of Central Siberia within the Irkutsk Depression has been studied. The clay (<1 μm) fraction separated from these soils consists of mixed-layer minerals with alternating layers of hydromica, smectite, vermiculite, and chlorite; the proportions between them change within the soil profiles. The clay fraction also contains hydromicas, kaolinite, chlorite, and some admixture of the fine-dispersed quartz. Each type of the soils is characterized by its own distribution pattern of clay material with specific alternation of layers in the mixed-layer formations. Mixed-layer minerals of the chlorite–vermiculite type predominate in the upper horizons of texture-differentiated soils. Down the soil profile, the content of mixed-layer mica–smectitic minerals increases. In the clay fraction of arable dark gray-humus soils with residual carbonates, the distribution of the clay fraction and major mineral phases in the soil profile is relatively even. An increased content of well-crystallized kaolinite is typical of these soils. The parent material of agrochernozems has a layered character: the upper horizons are generally depleted of clay, and the middle-profile and lower horizons are characterized by the considerable kaolinite content. In general, the clay material of soils of the Tulun–Irkutsk forest-steppe differs considerably from the clay material of foreststeppe soils developed from loesslike and mantle loams in the European part of Russia. In particular, this difference is seen in the proportions between major mineral phases and between biotitic and muscovitic components, as well as in the degree of crystallinity and behavior of kaolinite and chlorite. 相似文献
5.
西藏高原突起于我国西南,绝大部分地面的海拔高度在4000米以上,为世界上最高的大高原。它大致在第三纪开始形成,后来曾受第四纪冰川的深刻作用,高山顶部至今仍是冰川的活动场所[1,2]。高原为昆仑山、唐古拉山、喜马拉雅山和横断山等大山脉所盘踞。 相似文献
6.
Edson Campanhola Bortoluzzi Diovane Freire Moterle Danilo dos Santos Rheinheimer Carlos Alberto Casali George W. Melo Gustavo Brunetto 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2012,12(6):854-862
Purpose
Inadequate soil use and management practices promote commonly negative impacts on the soil constituents and their properties, with consequences to ecosystems. As the soil mineralogy can be permanently altered due to soil use, this approach can be used as a tool to monitor the anthropogenic pressure. The objective of the present study was to assess the mineralogical alterations of a Brazilian regosol used for grape production for 40?years in comparison with a soil under natural vegetation (forest), aiming to discuss anthropogenic pressure on soils.Material and methods
Soil samples were collected at depths of 0?C0.20 and 0.20?C0.40?m from vineyard production and natural vegetation sites. Physical and chemical parameters were analysed by classic approaches. Mineralogical analyses were carried out on <2?mm, silt and clay fractions. Clay minerals were estimated by the relative percentage of peak surface area of the X-ray patterns.Results and discussion
Grape production reduced the organic matter content by 28?% and the clay content by 23?% resulting in a decreasing cation exchange capacity. A similar clay fraction was observed in both soils, containing kaolinite, illite/mica and vermiculite with hydroxy-Al polymers interlayered. Neither gibbsite nor chlorite was found. However, in the soil under native vegetation, the proportion of illite (79?%) was higher than vermiculite (21?%). Whereas, in the soil used for grape production during 40?years, the formation of vermiculite was promoted.Conclusions
Grape production alters the proportions of soil constituents of the regosol, reducing clay fraction and organic matter contents, as well as promoting changes in the soil clay minerals with the formation of vermiculite to the detriment of illite, which suggests weathering acceleration and susceptibility to anthropogenic pressure.Recommendations and perspectives
Ecosystems in tropical and subtropical climates can be more easily and permanently altered due to anthropogenic pressure, mainly as a consequence of a great magnitude of phenomena such as temperature amplitude and rainfall that occurs in these regions. This is more worrying when soils are located on steep grades with a high anthropogenic pressure, like regosols in Southern Brazil. Thus, this study suggests that changes in soil mineralogy can be used as an important tool to assess anthropogenic pressure in ecosystems and that soil quality maintenance should be a priority in sensible landscapes to maintain the ecosystem quality. 相似文献7.
This paper presents the results of a study of clay mineralogy and Pb, Zn, Cu, Rb, Sr, Y and Zr analyses of soils and stream sediments of the Schwarzach watershed, a drainage system located in a secluded rural region of eastern Bavaria, far removed from major industrial installations.Clay fractions of soils and stream sediments differ significantly in their mineralogy. The soils average 50% secondary chlorite and 40% illite, whereas recent stream sediments average 20% chlorite and 70% illite. These assemblages are possibly interconvertible under the influence, or on withdrawal, of Schwarzach water. Proportions of clay minerals in fossil stream sediments average approximately 30% chlorite, 50% illite, and 20% kaolinite with up to 10% of 10–14 Å interstratified minerals.Surface soil layers have been enriched in Pb, as have recent stream sediments. The latter have also been enriched in Zn and Cu. The increased amounts of Pb plus its close association with organic C indicate atmospheric deposition of Pb and incipient eutrophication of the Schwarzach River. 相似文献
8.
The formation of partially interlayered vermiculite (PIV) was studied in six Dystrochrepts derived from Tertiary sediments. Mineralogy of silt and clay fractions of gravel and fine earth separated from surface and subsurface samples were determined by X-ray diffraction. PIV, mica, vermiculite and regularly interstratified 1:1 PIV/chlorite (PIV/Ch(l:l)) were the dominant clay minerals. The contents of these minerals were compared between the specific particle-size fractions of gravel and fine earth for each sample and the difference was interpreted in terms of mineral transformation associated with soil formation. PIV was formed from mica and PIV/Ch(l:l) in soils with a pH(KCl) of 3.5 to 4.0 and little organic matter. Vermiculite was formed from mica in surface soils with a low pH (pH(KCl) 3.5) and abundant organic matter. PIV would form directly from mica without an intermediary phase of vermiculite and form from PIV/Ch(l:l) by partial dissolution of interlayers in chlorite layers. 相似文献
9.
Structural characterization of soil clay minerals often remains limited despite their key influence on soil properties. In soils, complex clay parageneses result from the coexistence of clay species with contrasting particle sizes and crystal chemistry and from the profusion of mixed layers with variable compositions. The present study aimed to characterize the mineralogy and crystal chemistry of the <2 μm fraction along a profile typical of soils from Western Europe and North America (Neo Luvisol). X‐ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were interpreted using: (i) the combination of XRD pattern decomposition and indirect identification from peak positions commonly applied in soil science; and (ii) the multi‐specimen method. This latter approach implies direct XRD profile fitting and has recently led to significant improvements in the structural characterization of clay minerals in diagenetic and hydrothermal environments. In contrast to the usual approach, the multi‐specimen method allowed the complete structural characterization of complex clay parageneses encountered in soils together with the quantitative analysis of their mineralogy. Throughout the profile, the clay paragenesis of the studied Neo Luvisol systematically includes discrete smectite, illite and kaolinite in addition to randomly interstratified illite‐smectite and chlorite‐smectite. Structural characteristics of the different clay minerals, including the composition of mixed layers, did not vary significantly with depth and are thus indicative of the parent material. The relative proportion of the <2 μm fraction increased with increasing depth simultaneously with smectite relative proportion. These results are consistent with the leaching process described for Luvisols in the literature. 相似文献
10.
Makiko Watanabe Takashi Kado Hiroyuki Ohta Nobuhide Fujitake 《Soil Science and Plant Nutrition》2013,59(4):569-575
Granulometric and clay mineralogical analyses were performed on soil types differing in their genesis which had been formed on the raised coral limestone terraces and plateaux under the perhumid subtropical maritime climate of the Ryukyu Islands. The amount of clay fraction in Rendzina-like soil on the lower terrace was relatively small (8-34%) and decreased with depth, while those in Terra fusca-like soils on the middle terraces and in Terra rossa-like soil on the plateau were very large (45–78%) suggesting the occurrence of clay migration. Rendzina-like soil mainly contained illite and metahalloysite with a moderate amount of mixed layered mineral consisting of illite and vermiculite, and a small amount of vermiculite, Al-vermiculite, goethite, and quartz. Clay mineral composition of Terra fusca-like and Mottled Terra fusca-like soils was similar to that of Rendzina-like soil except that the content of illite was lower in these soils. Terra rossa-like soil, on the other hand, mainly contained Al-vermiculite, metahalloysite, and gibbsite, indicating a highly advanced stage of hydroxyaluminium interlayering. Differences in clay mineral composition from that of Rendzina, Terra fusca, and Terra rossa soils in the European countries were recognized, in that mont-morillonite was absent and hydroxyaluminium interlayering actively proceeded in the soils studied here. This finding is considered to reflect the rapid alteration and intense hydroxyaluminium interlayering of clay minerals under the perhumid subtropical conditions. 相似文献
11.
Laurent Caner Emmanuel Joussein Sébastien Salvador‐Blanes Fabien Hubert Jean‐Frédéric Schlicht Nelly Duigou 《植物养料与土壤学杂志》2010,173(4):591-600
Major weathering sequences in soils are well established; however, knowledge on rates of mineral transformations remains unknown, because it is often difficult to date precisely soil processes. This work was carried out on soils developed on recent (< 188 y) sand dunes on the W coast of Oléron Island (France). The coast has been protected against marine and wind erosion by constructing five consecutives barriers close to the coastline since 1820 (1820, 1864, 1876, 1889, 1948) defining the maximum age of the soil parent material, as before the areas between the barriers were under water. Soils on the older dunes have low clay content (> 94% of sand) and exhibit a bleached E horizon that overlies a yellowish brown B horizon. The process responsible for their formation is podzolization promoted by the high permeability of the material and complexing organic matter produced by coniferous vegetation. Initial mineralogy of C horizons is homogenous and constituted of chlorite, illite, illite/smectite mixed‐layer minerals, and kaolinite, quartz, calcite (≈ 8% related to shell fragments), and feldspars. The initial clay‐mineral assemblage of the E horizons is dominated by illite (well‐crystallized WCI and poorly crystallized PCI) and chlorite. With progressive podzolization, poorly crystallized illite is first transformed to illite/smectite mixed‐layer minerals and in a further step into smectite. In addition, transformation of well‐crystallized illite leads to formation of ordered illite/smectite mixed‐layer minerals in the E horizons, which is not commonly described in soils. In the B horizons, illite/smectite mixed‐layer minerals are present with traces of smectite, as well as Al and Fe oxi‐hydroxides as revealed by DCB and oxalate chemical extractions. This chronosequence illustrates that over short distances and short time (< 188 y) intense mineral weathering and soil development occur. Major clay‐mineral changes occur between 132 and 188 y in agreement with development of the pine forest producing acidic litter. 相似文献
12.
A. E. FADL 《European Journal of Soil Science》1971,22(1):129-135
Examination of the clay fraction of the Gezira and Kenana soils of the Sudan revealed montmorillonite as the dominant clay mineral, accompanied by kaolinite. The presence of illite and vermiculite is questionable. Quartz was found as an accessory mineral. Most of the kaolinite is concentrated in the ‘coarse clay’ (2–0.2 μm), whereas more than 90 per cent of the ‘fine clay’ consists of montmorillonite. 相似文献
13.
E. A. Niederbudde 《植物养料与土壤学杂志》1976,139(1):57-71
Transformation of three-layer silicates through K-release and K-uptake (A review). In soils formed from unconsilidated sediments with illite-vermiculite-smectite mixtures in their clay fractions the clay mineral transformation from illite to vermiculite and smectite between pH 5 and 7 cannot be considered so far as proven on the grounds of available analytical data. Studies of soil profiles showed that the formation of illite from expandable three layer silicates predominates over the formation of smectite from illite. Practically all samples of loess and calcareous tills of the areas discussed contain smectites. K loesses between pH 5 and 7 are probably very small, because K released during the formation of vermiculites from micas is immediately fixed by smectitic layers which are converted to illite. In those soils potential K fixation of the clay fraction (« 2 μ) is lower than in the corresponding parent sediments despite of vermiculite formation in the soils. Further analytical data (X-ray, interlattice-K, K-selectivity, specific surface) support the hypothesis of illitization of smectites during soil formation. 相似文献
14.
M. A. Bahmaniar 《Eurasian Soil Science》2008,41(1):87-92
The effect of different rice plantation periods on the properties of selected soils on an alluvial plain was studied. Soils
were sampled in fields cultivated for 6, 16, 26, and over forty years. In each rice cultivated and nonrice cultivated field,
three soil profiles and six nearby auger holes were studied. This study indicated that continuous rice cultivation changed
the soil moisture regime from xeric to aquic, the soil color from brown to grayish, and the surface horizons from mollic to
ochric epipedon. With increasing duration of cultivation, the abundance of redoximorphic features increased and the soil structure
changed from granular or blocky to massive. Therefore, the soil order changed from Mollisols to Inceptisols. No illuviation
and eluviation of clay minerals occurred as a consequence of the rice cultivation. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that
the clay minerals in the nonrice cultivated field were illite, vermiculite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, and chlorite, and,
in the rice field, they were illite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, and chlorite, respectively. However, with increasing the
period of cultivation, the amount of illite and vermiculite decreased while the amount of montmorillonite increased. The pH
values of the saturated soil surface during the middle stage of rice growth shifted toward neutrality. The Eh of the surface
horizons of the paddy soils under the field conditions were +40, −12, −84, and −122 mV, respectively, while the Eh in the
nonpaddy soils were close to +90 mV. The amounts of organic matter and available Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu increased, while the available
K decreased in the paddy soils.
Published in Russian in Pochvovedenie, 2008, No. 1, pp. 95–101.
The text was submitted by the author in English. 相似文献
15.
黏粒矿物影响着土壤理化性质，可指示成土因素特征和土壤发生发育过程/强度，也是中国土壤系统分类的基层单元土族矿物学类型划分的重要依据。本研究选择了广西不同纬度和成土母质的18个代表性水耕人为土的剖面，应用X射线衍射（XRD）方法分析了其典型水耕氧化还原层（Br层）的黏粒矿物组成及其空间分布特征，并确定了其中“黏质”剖面的土族控制层段矿物学类型。结果表明：（1）供试土壤的黏粒矿物主要包括高岭石、伊利石、三水铝石、1.42 nm过渡矿物、蒙脱石和蛭石等，依次分别出现在100%、88.9%、72.2%、61.1%、44.4%和38.9%的剖面中。（2）黏粒矿物组成在纬度空间分布上具有明显规律性特征。随着纬度降低，土壤黏粒中的高岭石增加，伊利石、蒙脱石、1.42nm过渡矿物逐渐减少；纬度＞23°N区域内，成土母质对黏粒矿物组成影响明显。（3）纬度23°N是黏粒矿物组成和土族矿物学类型分界线，＜23°N区域，黏粒矿物均以高岭石为主，是“黏质”剖面的土族控制层段的主要矿物学类型；＞23°N区域，黏粒矿物组成以高岭石、蒙脱石、伊利石或1.42 nm过渡矿物为主，因成土母质不同而异，“黏质”剖面的土族控制层段矿物学类型包括高岭石混合型、混合型和伊利石型。 相似文献
16.
太白山北坡土壤的粘土矿物 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
太白山位于陕西省西部,绝顶海拔近4000米,是秦岭山脉的主峰,属于我国西北中部地区最高名山之一。地理位置约为北纬33.9-34.15度,东经107.4-108.0度。由于秦岭的屏障使潮湿的海洋气团不易深入西北,同时也阻挡了北方的寒潮不致长驱南下,所以秦岭已成为自然地理上划分我国东部南北的重要界线。太白山的气候具有南温带的温和气候和北亚热带的温暖气候特点,属于温带和亚热带过渡性地带。 相似文献
17.
Na-Mg and Na-Ca exchange isotherms were determined at electrolyte concentrations of 500, 50, 5 and 1 meq per litre for illite, vermiculite and montmorillonite and for three soils containing illite and montmorillonite. This enabled comparisons to be made of clay swelling, dispersion and soil hydraulic conductivity changes between the Na-Mg and Na-Ca systems at known SAR, ESP and electrolyte concentration. Na-Mg montmoriUonite and a montmorillonitic soil behaved identically to the Na-Ca systems at the same ESP and electrolyte concentration: there was no specific effect. At the same SAR, the higher ESP in the Na-Mg system caused greater changes than in the Na-Ca systems. The Na-Mg vermiculite, illite, illitic soil and mixed illite-montmorillonitic soil showed greater changes than the Na-Ca systems at the same ESP, and there was a specific effect. At the same SAR, the higher ESP in all the Na-Mg systems apart from vermiculite increased the differences, but for vermiculite with a lower ESP, the differences were reduced. The lack of a specific effect for montmorillonite is probably related to the demixing of cations with the divalent ions concentrated on the non-swelling (internal) surfaces of the crystals. 相似文献
18.
中国土壤中粘粒矿物的分布规律 总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2
土壤粘粒部分的组成和性质在土壤发生学及土壤肥力特性的研究中都占很重要的位置。过去认为土壤粘粒中的无机物都是非晶形的,自从伦琴射线衍射应用到土壤学研究中后,大家都公认土壤粘粒部分含有晶形结构的矿物。 相似文献
19.
Zhang Zhi Yi Huang Li Liu Fan Wang Ming Kuang Ndzana Georges Martial Liu Zhi Jie 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2019,19(1):211-220
Purpose
Clay minerals significantly affect the physical, chemical, and biological processes of soils. They undergo spontaneous modification and transformation depending to the climatic conditions. Information concerning the compositions and transformation of clay minerals in nanoparticle colloids (NPs) (25–100 nm) is severely lacking. Studying clay mineral transformation is important approach to understand soil formation. This study was conducted to determine the transformation sequence of clay minerals in several zonal soil NPs.
Materials and methodsFour soils (Haplustalf, Alf-1; Hapludalf, Alf-2; Hapludults, Ult-1 and Ult-2) were collected from B horizons developed under three different climatic zones of China. Alf-1 (36° 05′ N and 117° 24′ E) was located under a warm temperate zone and Alf-2 (30° 38′ N and 115° 26′ E), Ult-1 (29° 13′ N and 113° 46′ E), and Ult-2 (19° 27′ N and 109° 17′ E) under a subtropical zone. The clay particles (<?2000 nm) (CPs) and nanoparticles (25–100 nm) (NPs) of tested soils were separated. The element composition of CPs and NPs was identified by microwave digestion method. The mineralogy and chemical bonding of clay minerals were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).
Results and discussionWith decreasing latitude, NPs and CPs showed that the molar ratio of SiO2 to Al2O3 trends to diminish, indicating the phenomenon of desilication and allitization in the tested soils. XRD analysis revealed that the main clay mineral of Alf-1 NPs was illite, followed by vermiculite, kaolinite, and kaolinite interstratified minerals (KIMs). The clay minerals of Alf-2, Ult-1, and Ult-2 NPs were dominated by kaolinite (and KIMs), followed by illite, with a little content of hydroxyl-interlayered vermiculite (HIV) in Ult-1 NPs and trace content of gibbsite in Ult-2 NPs. With decreasing latitude, vermiculite and HIV decreased in NPs. When compared to CPs, smectite as well as illite-vermiculite mix-layer mineral (I-V) and illite-HIV mix-layer mineral (I-HIV) were not detected in NPs. The analysis of d060 region by XRD showed that with decreasing latitude, the main clay minerals in NPs were dioctahedral minerals (e.g., illite or kaolinite). These clay minerals resulted from the transformation of trioctahedral minerals in CPs. The disappearance of 2:1 swelling minerals and trioctahedral minerals showed that the NPs were more susceptible to weathering than CPs.
ConclusionsWith decreasing latitude, the transformation of clay minerals followed the sequence of illite?→?HIV?→?kaolinite?→?gibbsite in tested NPs.
相似文献20.
LI De-Cheng B. VELDE LI Feng-Min ZHANG Gan-Lin ZHAO Ming-Song HUANG Lai-Ming 《土壤圈》2011,21(4):522-531
Alfalfa cropping has been considered an efficient method of increasing soil fertility.Usually nitrogen increase in root nodules is considered to be the major beneficial effect.A 21-year time series (five sampling periods) of alfalfa cultivation plots on a loess soil,initially containing illite and chlorite,in Lanzhou of northwestern China was selected to investigate the relationships among alfalfa cropping,soil potassium (K) content and soil clay minerals.The results indicated that soil K significantly accumulated after cropping,with a peak value at about 15 years,and decreased afterwards.The accumulated K was associated with the K increase in the well-crystallized illite,which was not extracted by the traditional laboratory K extraction methods in assessing bioavailability.The steep decline in soil K content after 15-year cropping was in accord with the observed fertility loss in the alfalfa soil.Plant biomass productivity peaked at near 9 years of culture,whereas soil K and clay minerals continued to increase until cropping for 15 years.This suggested that K increased in the topsoil came from the deep root zone.Thus alfalfa continued to store K in clays even after peak production occurred.Nitrogen did not follow these trends,showing a general decline compared with the native prairie soils that had not been cropped.Therefore,the traditional alfalfa cropping can increase K content in the topsoil. 相似文献