Using Thermal Analysis Techniques to Assess Soil Organic Matter Quality
Presenter - Dr. Alain Plante, Assistant Professor of Biogeochemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Monday, November 24, 2008 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Abstract: Soil organic matter (SOM) is highly dynamic and consists of a “quality continuum” ranging from highly labile microbial and root exudates with turnover times of days to months, to humified
materials and charcoals that may persist for centuries or millennia. This research seeks to achieve a meaningful quantification of this quality continuum through the application of thermal analysis
techniques. The potential for the application of thermal analysis technology is the state-of-the-art development of a relatively rapid, inexpensive, information-rich fingerprint for the relative
stability of SOM, which could be used as a tool in soil quality assessments.
