Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2221
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2221
07 Nov 2023
 | 07 Nov 2023

The six rights of how and when to test for soil C saturation

Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude Raoul Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek

Abstract. The concept of soil organic carbon (SOC) saturation emerged a bit more than 2 decades ago as our mechanistic understanding of SOC stabilization increased. Recently, the further testing of the concept across a wide range of soil types and environments has led some people to challenge the fundamentals of soil C saturation. Here, we argue that to test the concept, one should pay attention to 6 fundamental principles or rights (R’s): the right measures, the right units, the right fractionation method, the right soil type, the right mineralogy, the right saturation level. Once we take care of those 6 rights across studies, we find a maximum of C stabilized by minerals and estimate based on current data available that this maximum stabilization is around 82 ± 4 g C kg-1 silt+clay for 2:1 clay dominated soils while most likely only around 46 ± 4 g C kg-1 silt+clay for 1:1 clay dominated soils. These estimates can be further improved using more data, especially for different mineralogies across varying environmental conditions. However, the bigger challenge is on how and which C sequestration strategies to implement in order to effectively reach this 82/46 g C kg-1 silt+clay in soils across the globe.

In recent years, several studies (e.g., Begill et al. 2023; Salonen et al. 2023) have questioned the concept of soil carbon (C) saturation, i.e., organic C stabilized by soil minerals (Hassink, 1997; Six et al. 2002). Here, we want to draw attention to six fundamentals that we think one should be cognizant about when “testing” and “questioning” soil C saturation.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

15 Apr 2024
| SOIL Letters
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The six rights of how and when to test for soil C saturation
Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude R. Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 275–279, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, 2024
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

This manuscript is published as SOIL Letters publication as it provides a timely and important...
Short summary
The sequestration of carbon (C) in soils is seen as a potential mitigation strategy. However,...
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