Table 1 Mineralogical combinations and their related amount of aluminous clay (clay) and dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate-extractable Fe (Fed), and respective Fed to aluminous clay ratios (Fed/clay).

From: Iron oxides and aluminous clays selectively control soil carbon storage and stability in the humid tropics

Land use

Mineralogical combination

Depth (cm)

Clay(g kg‒1)

Fed (g kg‒1)

Fed/clay

Bulk OC

MAOC

Forest

Low aluminous clay‒

0‒5

149b (19)

21d (4)

0.15b,A (0.04)

76.0ab,A (27.4)

27.1a,A (2.9)

Low pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

181b (19)

38b (13)

0.21bc,A (0.09)

34.1a,A (6.2)

23.2ab,A (5.5)

Forest

Low aluminous clay‒

0‒5

182b (38)

78a (14)

0.45a,A (0.12)

57.3b,A (14.4)

36.0a,A (4.9)

High pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

174b (42)

77a (4)

047a,A (0.13)

37.2a,A (6.6)

28.3a,B (5.3)

Forest

High aluminous clay‒

0‒5

298a (41)

36c (5)

0.12b (0.01)

43.2b (6.1)

24.5a (1.1)

Low pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

374a (24)

44b (7)

0.12c (0.02

23.0b (5.0)

14.6c (0.8)

Forest

High aluminous clay‒

0‒5

318a (41)

67b (5)

0.22b,A (0.03)

95.1a,A (31.1)

36.1a,A (15.7)

High pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

349a (40)

81a (6)

0.23b,A (0.02)

34.9a,A (4.5)

22.6b,A (2.6)

Cropland

Low aluminous clay‒

0‒5

227b (6)

30c (2)

0.13b,A (0.01)

18.7c,B (0.2)

10.5c,B (2.7)

Low pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

213b (24)

29c (4)

0.14b,A (0.03)

18.8c,B (1.3)

13.7c,B (0.2)

Cropland

Low aluminous clay‒

0‒5

198b (29)

101a (4)

0.51a,A (0.06)

47.1a,A (0.9)

38.2a,A (4.7)

High pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

215b (23)

100a (5)

0.47a,A (0.07)

48.1a,A (4.8)

36.7a,A (1.3)

Cropland

High aluminous clay‒

0‒5

434a (18)

63b (3)

0.15b,B (0.01)

33.7b,B (1.2)

20.0b,A (0.9)

High pedogenic Fe oxides

5‒10

438a (17)

66b (4)

0.15b,B (0.01)

28.9b,A (2.9)

18.8b,A (3.0)

  1. Organic carbon contents are given for bulk soil (Bulk OC) and the heavy fraction (MAOC). Aluminous clay represents the weight sum of kaolinite and gibbsite present in the < 2-µm fraction. Lower case letter denote significant differences within a certain land use and soil depth; capital letters indicate significant differences between land-use types for a given mineralogical combination. Sample numbers for the combinations are as follows: ‛low clay‒low Fe’ under forest (n = 4), ‛low clay‒high Fe’ under forest (n = 4), ‛high clay‒low Fe’ under forest (n = 3), ‛high clay‒high Fe’ under forest (n = 7); all cropland combinations (n = 3); mean and standard deviation in parentheses.