Chemical studies on upland peat in north wales

Abstract

Various layers from profiles from upland acid peat area containing both untouched and reclaimed sites were chemically examined for inorganic and organic changes as a result of treatments. Low phosphorus and high aluminium and lead contents were found and a layer of copper accumulation was noted in the undisturbed site. Lanthanum content was also found to be high. The amino‐acid distribution in hydrolysates of soil water, as well as pyrophosphate‐extracted humic acid and the pyrophosphate‐insoluble soil residue containing organic matter, was examined. The surface layers are characterised by the presence of non‐protein amino‐acids of plant and microbiological origin. The basic amino‐acids appeared to be in greater strength in the soil water samples from treated sites than those from untreated sites. The soil residue appears to be a reservoir of amino‐sugar‐containing compounds. The relative distribution of certain “non‐protein” amino‐acids found in small amounts in the humic acids isolated from samples from different depths in the profile, may possibly be explained if the humic acid is considered as a cation‐exchanger being eluted in the hydrogen cycle.

Burkholderiaceae Are Key Acetate Assimilators During Complete Denitrification in Acidic Cryoturbated Peat Circles of the Arctic Tundra

“…In contrast, the endogenous carbon appears to support N 2 O production by denitrification in situ and is provided by slightly to moderately decomposed peat (H4-5 on the Von Post Scale) at a rather low C/N ratio of 24 (Marushchak et al, 2011). Humified organic matter and plant remnants containing hard to degrade lignocellulose, hemicellulose, polysaccharides, covalently bound amino acids, and aromatic moieties occur in peat and might fuel denitrification after hydrolysis or pre-oxidation (Black et al, 1955;Coulson et al, 1959;Martin and Manu-Tawiah, 1989;Kuder and Kruge, 2001). Due to such hard-to-degrade organic carbon ("slow release electron donors"), it is not surprising that microbial biomass N is substantially lower in the upper peat circles than in adjacent vegetated tundra peat (Voigt et al, 2017a,b).…”