The destruction of organic matter from widely different soils was evaluated by using hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite oxidation procedures. The amounts of extractable Si, Mn, Al, and Fe were determined on the residues following treatment with the oxidizing agents by using acid ammonium oxalate and 0.5N NaOH extraction procedures. In addition, the amount of Si, Mn, Fe, and Al in the extracting solutions was determined. It was found that NaOCl extracted more organic matter with less destruction of the oxides than procedures employing H2O2. This was substantiated statistically using the t-test as applied to paired values. Three treatments with NaOCl were concluded to be satisfactory for destruction of organic matter with minimum removal of Si, Mn, Fe, and Al. |
