The aim of this study was to quantify the organic carbon and humic fractions of the surface horizons of soil profiles in three topolito-sequences from the Mar de Morros environment in the town of Pinheiral, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The topolito-sequences selected were: T1 (basalt), T2 (muscovite-biotite-gneiss), and T3 (gabbro). The surface horizons of 14 soil profiles under pasture (T1 and T3), and unmanaged mixed pasture and leguminous plants (shrub/vegetation) (T2), were marked out and collected for chemical and physical analysis, and evaluation of the carbon content of the humic fractions. The organic-carbon content varied according to the source material, decreasing in the order: T3 > T1 > T2. The organic-carbon content increased from the highest point to the lowlands in T1, with the opposite occurring in T3, and no definite pattern being seen in T2. The humin fraction predominated in all the topolito-sequence soil profiles, being followed by the fulvic acid fraction in T1, and by the fulvic and humic acid fractions equally in T2 and T3. Considering the environments as being similar in terms of original vegetation and agricultural use, changes in the carbon and humic fractions of the soil may reflect interactions with mineral components and pedogenic processes, influenced by the original material and the landscape.
Pedogenesis; Humic fractions; Edaphic attributes
