Total Carbon, Organic Carbon, and Organic Matter

Total C in soils is the sum of both organic and inorganic C. Organic C is present in the soil

organic matter fraction, whereas inorganic C is largely found in carbonate minerals. Not all soils contain

inorganic C because of dissolution during soil formation of carbonate minerals originally present in

parent material. However, organic C is present in all agricultural soils. In soils formed from cal careous

parent material under arid conditions, it is not unusual for the inorganic C concentration to exceed the

amount of organic C present.

Organic C is contained in the soil organic fraction, which consists of the cells of

microorganisms, plant and animal residues at various stages of decom position, stable "humus"

synthesized from residues, and highly carbonized com pounds such as charcoal, graphite and coal

(elemental forms of C). Organic C in soil may be estimated as the difference between total C and

inorganic C. Organic C can be determined directly by total C procedures after removal of inorganic C

or by rapid dichromate, oxidation-titration techniques. In the absence of inor ganic C, a total C analysis

can be used to determine organic C and recover all forms of organic C in soils. However, organic C

methods based on dichromate oxidation recover variable proportions of elemental C (e.g., charcoal)

and, in some procedures, variable amounts of organic C contained in "humus."

Soil organic matter has been defmed as the organic fraction of soil, includ ing plant, animal,

and microbial residues, fresh and at all stages of decomposi tion, and the relatively resistant soil humus

(SSSA, 1979). Soil organic matter is normally restricted to only those organic materials that accompany

soil particles through a 2-mm sieve. It is difficult to quantitatively estimate the amount of organic matter

present in a soil. Procedures used in the past involve determina tion of the change in weight of a soil

sample resulting from destruction of organ ic compounds by H202 treatment or by ignition at high

temperature. Both tech niques are subject to error. The H202 method does not quantitatively remove

organic matter and the ignition method gives an overestimate because both inor ganic and organic

constituents in soils during ignition can be minimized by removing aluminosilicates with hydrofluoric

acid (HF)/hydrochloric acid (HCI) prior to heating or ignition at temperatures that decompose organic

matter with out appreciable dehydroxylation of inorganic materials. Alternatively, the organ ic matter

content of a soil may be estimated by multiplying the organic C con centration by a constant factor
based on the percentage of C in organic matter. Published organic C-organic matter conversion factors

for surface soils have var ied from 1.724 to 2.0.

Sentences Patterns

Pharagraph 1

1. Total C in soils is the sum of both organic and inorganic C. (SVOC)

2. Organic C is present in the soil organic matter fraction, (SVOC noun)

3. whereas inorganic C is largely found in carbonate minerals. (SVOC noun)

4. Not all soils contain inorganic C because of dissolution during soil formation of carbonate

minerals originally present in parent material. (SVOC)

5. organic C is present in all agricultural soils (SVOC)

6. In soils formed from cal careous parent material under arid conditions (SVOC)

7. it is not unusual or the inorganic C concentration to exceed the amount of organic C present.

(SVOC adj)

Pharagraph 2

1. Organic C is contained in the soil organic fraction (SVOC noun)

2. which consists of the cells of microorganisms, plant and animal residues at various stages of

decom position, stable "humus" synthesized from residues, and highly carbonized com pounds

such as charcoal, graphite and coal (elemental forms of C) (SVOC)

3. Organic C in soil may be estimated as the difference between total C and inorganic C. (SVOC

noun)

4. Organic C can be determined directly by total C procedures after removal of inorganic C or by

rapid dichromate, oxidation-titration techniques. (SVO adj)

5. In the absence of inor ganic C, a total C analysis can be used to determine organic C and recover

all forms of organic C in soils. (SVOC adv)

6. However, organic C methods based on dichromate oxidation recover variable proportions of

elemental C (e.g., charcoal) and, in some procedures, variable amounts of organic C contained

in "humus." (SVOC adj)

Pharagraph 3

1. Soil organic matter has been defmed as the organic fraction of soil, includ ing plant, animal,

and microbial residues, fresh and at all stages of decomposi tion, and the relatively resistant

soil humus (SSSA, 1979). (SVO)

2. Soil organic matter is normally restricted to only those organic materials that accompany soil

particles through a 2-mm sieve (SVOC)

3. It is difficult to quantitatively estimate the amount of organic matter present in a soil (SVOC)

4. Procedures used in the past involve determina tion of the change in weight of a soil sample

resulting from destruction of organic compounds by H202 treatment or by ignition at high

temperature (SVO)

5. Both tech niques are subject to error (SVC)

6. The H202 method does not quantitatively remove organic matter and the ignition method gives

an overestimate (SVO)