Most of the intensely cultivated soils of South Brazil are Brown and Red Ferric Latosols developed from basalt. Typical profiles of these two classes have brown and red hues, respectively, but polychromatic profiles with brown hues in the surface horizons and reddish hues in the subsurface horizons (formerly denominated Brown/Reddish Latosols) also occur. Exact color parameters that separate Brown and Red Latosols are not yet defined in the Brazilian Soil Classification System. All these soils are clayey and have high iron oxide contents, which explains their high phosphorus (P) sorption capacity. It was hypothesized that this capacity depends on the hematite/(hematite + goethite) ratio. However, the organic matter can mask the effect of individual oxides on the P sorption capacity. The objectives of this work were: (a) to test the utility of spectral data obtained by diffuse reflectance for the identification and quantification of hematite (Fe2O3) and goethite (FeOOH)); (b) to characterize, by chemical fractionation, the different pools of phosphorus in these soils; (c) to evaluate the effect of iron oxide types and hematite/goethite ratio on the P sorption capacity, as well the organic matter effect in the reduction of this sorption capacity. Six soil profiles were selected for study purposes in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states: two Brown typic Latosols, two Red ferric Latosols, and two Brown Latosols with red subsurface hues, provisionally designated Brown/Red Ferric Latosols. These profiles were characterized physically, chemically, and mineralogically, and four horizons of each were selected for more detailed studies. Iron oxide identification and quantification were successfully performed using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Hue 4 YR, in natural moist samples, corresponds to similar quantities of hematite and goethite in the soils, and this hue was proposed as a separation limit between the Brown and the Red Latosols and between the Red and the Haplic Nitosols. The total phosphorus content was higher than 1,000 mg kg-1 for most soil samples. Occluded P was the dominant P form, followed by organic P, P adsorbed to iron oxide surfaces and P associated with poorly ordered iron compounds. The value for the A constant of a modified Freundlich equation was higher in the brown than in the red soils. The A value, however, was inversely correlated with the organic matter content of the soil. Thus, organic matter plays an important role in the reduction of the P adsorption capacity of the studied Latosols.
Latosols; diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; iron oxides; P fractionation; hematite; goethite
