Skip to main content
Log in

Studies on decomposition of humus in clay-humus complexes

  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Decomposition studies with humic acids (HAs) present in HA-clay complexes revealed that such decomposition decreases at higher clay concentrations. At high clay concentration, moreover, it has also been observed that smaller and more flexible humic molecules are less susceptible to the said decomposition as compared to larger and more rigid structures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Allison F E 1973 Soil Organic Matter and its Role in Crop Production. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 437 p.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Black C A 1965 Methods of soil analysis. Am. Soc. Agron., Madison, Part 1: 545–577 p., Part 2: 891–900 p., 952–1034 p.

  3. Flaig W, Beutelspacher H and Rietz E 1975 Chemical composition and physical properties of humic substances.In Soil components. Vol. 1. Ed. J E Gieseking. Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 1–211 p.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ghosh K, Biswas N K, Mandal B and Chattopadhyay A 1977 Adsorption, cation exchange and viscosity behaviours of montmorillonite-humic acid complexes. Agrokem. Talajt. 26, 251–256.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Salle A J 1967 Fundamental Principles of Bacteriology. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 197 p.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Schnitzer M and Kodama H 1967 Reactions between a podzol fulvic acid and Na-montmorillonite. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 31, 632–636.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sen B C 1960 Adsorption of humic acids on H-clays and the role of metal cations in humus adsorption. J. Indian Chem. Soc. 37, 793–797.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sen B C 1961 Bacterial decomposition of humic acid in clay-humus mixtures. J. Indian Chem. Soc. 38, 737–740.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Varadachari C, Barman A K, Chattopadhyay A and Ghosh K 1982 Sterilisation of soil without affecting the humic components. Plant and Soil 64, 427–429.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Varadachari, C., Biswas, N.K. & Ghosh, K. Studies on decomposition of humus in clay-humus complexes. Plant Soil 78, 295–300 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02450363

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02450363

Key words

Navigation