Acid fumigation of soils to remove carbonates prior to total organic carbon or CARBON‐13 isotopic analysis

Abstract

The use of 13 C natural abundance (δ 13 C) to follow C input to soil has gained widespread acceptance. However, inorganic C present in the soil as carbonates will interfere with the measurement of soil organic 13 C unless removed or excluded from measurement. We report a simple and convenient HCl‐fumigation method to remove inorganic C from soil. Soil samples are weighed in Ag‐foil capsules, arranged on a microtiter plate, wetted with water to approximately field capacity, and placed in a desiccator containing a beaker with concentrated (12 M ) HCl. The carbonates are released as CO 2 by the acid treatment in 6 to 8 h. The soil samples are then dried at 60°C prior to isotope determination. The advantages of the HCl‐fumigation method to remove inorganic C from the soil are that: (i) no water soluble C will be lost from the soil; (ii) a large number of samples can be processed simultaneously; (iii) the removal of inorganic C is rapid and complete; and (iv) the method could also be used to determine both organic and inorganic C content in the soil. A potential disadvantage, however, is that the HCl fumigation changed the 15 N natural abundance of soil N.