Soil solution chemistry of an Adirondack Spodosol: lysimetry and N dynamics

Solutes were monitored from the soil of a beech-maple forest and an adjacent lake at the Huntington Forest in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The predominant ions were Ca²⁺ and SO₄ ^2-. For soil solutions collected by lysimeters, the highest concentrations of most ions (H⁺, K⁺, NH₄ ⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and NO₃ ^-) occurred in O horizon leachates, and the lowest concentrations beneath the spodic B horizon. However, Al and SO₄ ^2- concentrations were highest beneath the B horizon. Concentrations of NO₃ ^- showed distinct seasonal variation. Values reached 60 μequiv. L^-1 in the spring and decreased to near zero late in the growing season. Coefficients of variation (CV) differed among horizons. The E horizon was generally most variable (CV, 17 to 199%) and the B horizon the least (CV 19 to 166%). -from Authors