Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-771
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-771
14 Mar 2025
 | 14 Mar 2025

The incubation history of soil samples strongly affects the occlusion of particulate organic matter

Frederick Büks, Sabine Dumke, and Julia König

Abstract. Soil structure is a key proxy for carbon and nutrient storage, stable pore space, erosion stability and rootability. It is often quantified based on the degree of aggregation or the mechanical stability of soil aggregates. This work compares two methods representing basic principles of aggregate measurement. Undisturbed soil samples of loamy sand, clayey silt and silty loam were analyzed by ultrasonication/density fractionation (USD) to quantify different soil organic carbon (SOC) pools and by wet-sieving to measure the amount of water stable aggregates (%WSA). The measurements were carried out on field-fresh soil as well as samples that were air-dried, reset to field capacity (pF 1.8) by capillary action and incubated for 0, 1 and 4 weeks. Our results show, that the strength of POM occlusion sharply decreases after rewetting and is not fully recovered within the following four weeks. In contrast, the amount of water stable aggregates (%WSA) remains largely stable except in clayey silt. In consequence, field-fresh measurements are highly recommended to avoid overestimation of free and weakly bound SOM fractions or erosion stability.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

15 Sep 2025
The incubation history of soil samples strongly affects the occlusion of particulate organic matter
Frederick Büks, Sabine Dumke, and Julia König
Biogeosciences, 22, 4679–4687, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4679-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4679-2025, 2025
Short summary
Frederick Büks, Sabine Dumke, and Julia König

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-771', Anonymous Referee #1, 18 Apr 2025
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Frederick Büks, 16 Jun 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-771', Anonymous Referee #2, 19 May 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Frederick Büks, 16 Jun 2025

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-771', Anonymous Referee #1, 18 Apr 2025
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Frederick Büks, 16 Jun 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-771', Anonymous Referee #2, 19 May 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Frederick Büks, 16 Jun 2025

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (18 Jun 2025) by Bertrand Guenet
AR by Frederick Büks on behalf of the Authors (19 Jun 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (24 Jun 2025) by Bertrand Guenet
AR by Frederick Büks on behalf of the Authors (26 Jun 2025)

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

15 Sep 2025
The incubation history of soil samples strongly affects the occlusion of particulate organic matter
Frederick Büks, Sabine Dumke, and Julia König
Biogeosciences, 22, 4679–4687, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4679-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4679-2025, 2025
Short summary
Frederick Büks, Sabine Dumke, and Julia König
Frederick Büks, Sabine Dumke, and Julia König

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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.

Short summary
Ultrasonication followed by density fractionation is a frequently used method to determine soil structural stability and the amount of occluded particulate organic matter. Our analyses of three sandy, silty and loamy soils showed that air-drying and gentle rewetting changes SOM fractions depending on the subsequent time of reincubation compared to field-fresh samples. This is important, since e.g. the measurement of archived soils require the handling of air-dried samples.
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