Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Geoderma
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / g e o d e r m a

Properties of organic and acid sulfate soils and water of a ‘reclaimed’ tidal
backswamp in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Markus Anda ⁎, A.B. Siswanto, R.E. Subandiono
Center for Agricultural Land Resource Research and Development, Bogor 16123, Indonesia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Construction of a network of canals to reclaim a large area of tidal backswamp for wetland rice development
Received 11 June 2008 in Central Kalimantan has raised a serious concern to many parties about its negative impact on soil
Received in revised form 15 November 2008 properties, water quality and sustainable production. The objective of this study was to investigate alteration
Accepted 17 November 2008
in soil properties after ‘reclamation’ and the associated dynamic water quality. The soils were sampled from
Available online 14 December 2008
each horizon of profiles and classified before and after ‘reclamation’. The water was sampled from inlets and
Keywords:
primary and secondary canals for laboratory analyses. The results showed that after ‘reclamation’ of mineral
Backswamp soils, the peat surface layer became thinner (i.e., from 20–40 cm to 13–21 cm) or even disappeared and that
Pyrite soil ripeness increased in oxidised and reduced layers of profiles. ‘Reclamation’ decreased soil pH values,
Reclamation increased Al3+ and Al saturation and promoted cation leaching. Pyrite concentration in reduced layers of
Sulfate soil profiles considerably decreased from 2.6–5.2% before ‘reclamation’ to 0.3–1.9% after ‘reclamation’, suggesting
Soil classification pyrite was being oxidized. Similar morphology (8–25 cm surface loss) and chemical alterations occurred in
Water quality organic soils accompanied by increasing decomposition stage as revealed by fibre content, which decreased
from 60–73% to 13–27%. The quality of water considerably decreased due to leaching of pyrite oxidation
products from rice fields as indicated by the trends of decreasing pH values and of increasing values in EC and
concentrations of cations and anions from inlets (as a control) to a primary canal and secondary canals. An
implication of the study is that the ground water table should be kept over the pyrite position (approximately
60 cm from the soil surface) or oxidation products and associated acidity should be leached out from the
arable land by rainfall or tidal flushing to allow crop development.
© 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
An intrinsic property of acid sulfate soils is the presence of either a
sulfuric horizon or sulfidic material, which limits their usefulness for
agricultural development. According to Soil Survey Staff (1999) the
sulfuric horizon is indicated by a pH value of 3.5 or less caused by
sulfuric acid. In addition, the sulfidic material is indicated by the
oxidisable sulfide, which can form sulfuric acid. In practice, the
presence of sulfidic materials or pyrite is indicated by a sharp drop in
pH value if soil is drained or exposed to aerobic conditions (Dent,
1986; Jansen et al., 1992; Tuong, 1993; Van Breemen, 1993). The
presence of Fe3+ and O2 is responsible for pyrite oxidation (Brown and
Jurinak, 1989).
The interpretation and characterization of acid sulfate soils are
frustrating due to the dynamic nature of their properties (Jansen et al.,
1992). Tides, seasons, and drainage systems correspond to daily,
annual and longer term dynamics, respectively. Water management
plays a key role in controlling various dynamic processes such as
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: markusanda@yahoo.com (M. Anda).
aeration, ripening and acidification of the soils (Dent, 1986; Tuong,
1993).
In Indonesia, due to increasing population pressure, highly suitable
land for lowland rice has been gradually changed to industrial areas,
road construction and settlements. This is mainly true on Java island,
which has 60% of the 225 million Indonesian population. Conse-
quently, the production of rice as a staple and strategic food no longer
relies on Java island. In order to achieve rice self-sufficiency, the
government has tried to compensate the loss of highly productive rice
fields, which have been and are being changed to other development
sectors, by looking for alternative areas. Therefore in 1996, the
government started a mega project of 1 million ha in the backswamp
area of Central Kalimantan province for new rice field cultivation.
According to Andriesse (1993) the soils in the backswamp areas
consist mostly of acid sulfate soils, which have problems such as
waterlogging, tidal flooding, low bearing capacity and the presence of
pyrite.
In Central Kalimantan, the backswamp area is waterlogged in the
natural state. Hence, ‘reclamation’ that involved construction of
primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary canals was initiated as a
prerequisite to allow land clearing for rice crop development. The
supply canals and drainage canals were designed separately to

0016-7061/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2008.11.021
 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65 55

facilitate the supply of good quality water and to get rid of poor quality
water. In addition, the drainage system was also designed for
‘reclamation’ of the soils and improvement of the irrigation system
to supply water in the dry season. In fact, an adverse impact of
drainage arose due to the ground water level becoming deeper during
the dry season, which promoted pyrite oxidation resulting in severe
acidification of soil and water (Dent, 1986, Van Breemen, 1993) and
formation of substances toxic to most plants (Moore et al., 1990;
Konsten et al., 1994; Soil Survey Staff, 1999). On the other hand in the
rainy season, waterlogging makes some of the areas unsuitable for rice
cultivation. Another problem that limits suitability of acid sulfate soil
for lowland rice cultivation, according to Konsten et al. (1994), is low
pH associated with high levels of Al and Fe. Currently, the negative
impact of the construction network of canals has raised a serious
concern to many soil scientists, farmers, and environmentalists about
its influence on soil properties, water quality and sustainable
production.
A detailed soil survey at a scale of 1:25,000 covering an area of
20,155 ha was carried out in Dadahup and Palangkau areas (Tim
Peneliti Puslittanak, 2000) as an integral part of the mega project area.
It was considered that the construction of various canal types
(primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary canals), referred to as
the post-‘reclamation’ period, could result in a new environment
having different soil properties and water quality to the natural
condition (prior to ‘reclamation’). Therefore, the objective of the study
was to investigate changes in properties of post-reclaimed soil and the

Fig. 1. Location of the study area.

56 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65
associated dynamic water quality as a result of the constructed
network canal systems in Dadahup and Palangkau backswamp areas,
Central Kalimantan.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of the study area
The location of the study area is given in Fig. 1. Dadahup and
Palangkau areas are the backswamp of the Barito, Kapuas Murung and
Mengkatip rivers in Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia. Accord-
ing to Heryanto and Sanyoto (1994) the sediments of the area consist
of young and old alluvium. Materials of the young alluvium consist of
peat, sand and clay, while the old alluvium is comprised of kaolinite
clay and silt interstratified with sand, pebbles and gravel. After
‘reclamation’, the backswamp looks like a basin because it is
surrounded by a constructed outer dike with a width of 2.5 m and a
height of 3 m over the initial soil surface. The dike was designed to
prevent flow of tidal water from the Barito, Kapuas Murung and
Mengkatip rivers onto the reclaimed lands; otherwise the area could
not be used to grow food crops, especially rice, because of water-
logging due to tidal water that may reach a 1.5 m height in the rainy
season. The network of constructed canals consists of primary,
secondary, tertiary, quaternary and collector canals (Fig. 2). The
primary canal is located in the center of the study area and divides the
areas into Palangkau to the east and Dadahup to the west. It was
expected to supply water for the Dadahup and Palangkau areas
through secondary supply canals. Besides an inlet of the primary canal
in the north, there are two other inlets: one in the east from the Barito
river and the other one in the west from the Mengkatip river. These
two inlets were connected to secondary canals through a collector
canal. The water flowing through inlets from the Barito and Mengkatip
rivers to the cultivated areas was controlled by installing stoplog gates.
Furthermore, a collector canal in the east and the west could
accommodate all acidification products which were flushed out
from rice fields through a sequence of canals from quaternary to
tertiary to secondary canals to finally dump into the outlet in the
Kapuas Murung river (a tributary of the Barito river).
Fig. 2. A schematic representation of the network canal system and water sampling sites in Dadahup and Palangkau backswamp areas, Central Kalimantan.
The secondary canals are perpendicular to a primary canal or to the
river. Similarly, the tertiary canals are perpendicular to the secondary
canals and this pattern is applied for further smaller canals that are
usually perpendicular to larger canals in the network. Land is allocated
for each household in strips 100 m wide and 200 m long for a rice field
and homeyard. The rice field is managed in a long raised bed system of
5 m width and 0.5 m height, whereas the furrow is 25 m wide.
Generally, the raised bed is planted to horticultural crops and the
furrow to rice. This system is popularly known as “surjan” in
Indonesia. The climate in the area is characterized by a dry season
(precipitation b100 mm mo− 1) from July to August or September
followed by a wet season (precipitation N200 mm mo− 1) from
November to April with total annual rainfall approximately 2000 mm.
2.2. Soil and water analyses
Prior to soil ‘reclamation’, four mineral soil (MB1, MB2, MB4 and
MB6) and three organic soil (OB1, OB2, OB5) profiles were sampled to
investigate soil properties in a natural condition. After three years of
soil ‘reclamation’, six mineral soil (MA1, MA2, MA3, MA4, MA5 and
MA6) and 5 organic soil (OA1, OA2, OA3, OA4 and OA5) profiles were
sampled again to investigate the present soil properties. For easy
comparison, the soil profiles have been designated as MB and MA for
mineral soils and OB and OA for organic soils before and after
‘reclamation’, respectively. The corresponding profiles before and after
‘reclamation’ have been given a similar number. The soils before and
after ‘reclamations’ were classified according to keys to Soil Taxonomy
(Soil Survey Staff, 2006).
According to Jansen et al. (1992) the best sampling time for proper
soil classification of acid sulfate soil is the end of the dry season (the
period in which soil pH is the lowest). Therefore, the soil sampling was
carried out in the dry season. The soils were sampled approximately
1 kg from each layer of profile pits and immediately put into black
polyethylene plastic bags. To prevent pyrite oxidation (or at least to
minimize it) during transportation from the field to the laboratory, the
air was removed from samples by pressing and kneading the sample
bags prior to tying them up tightly. In the field, soil pH was measured
using pH indicator strips (Merck KGaA, 64271 Darmstadt, Germany)
 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65 57

with narrow range paper (e.g. 0–3 and 3–6). Experience from pulau
Petak indicated that the pH measured with pH indicator strips on
average was only 0.1 unit higher than the pH measured (in 1:2.5 soil
and water ratio) in the laboratory (Jansen et al., 1992). Therefore, field
pH measurement could represent an actual field condition. The
assessment of sulfuric horizon was referred to pH value of 3.5 or less.
Sulfidic materials were determined after treatment with H2O2 (30%)
and the soil pH value drops to 2.5 or less. Soil ripeness was determined
by hand squeezing as described by Pons and Zonneveld (1965), who
divided soil ripeness into ripe, nearly ripe, half ripe, practically unripe
and unripe. In the laboratory, as soon as the samples were received
from the field, they were dried rapidly in an oven prior to grinding and
passing through a 2 mm sieve. The samples were stored in plastic
bottles and analyzed within 24 h.
Particle size analysis was determined by the pipette method (Soil
Survey Laboratory Staff, 1992). Soil pH in water was measured using
1:2.5 soil solution ratio. The Walkley and Black wet oxidation method
was used to determine organic C content (Soil Survey Laboratory Staff,
1992). The N content was measured by the Kjeldhal method (Bremner
and Mulvaney, 1982). Exchangeable acidity (Al3+ and H3+) was
extracted with 1 M KCl (Barnhisel and Bertsch, 1982) and exchange-
able bases with 1 M NH4Oac. The cations were measured using atomic
absorption spectrophotometry (Soil Survey Laboratory Staff, 1992).
The CEC was measured in 1 M NH4Oac (buffered at pH 7.0) (Soil Survey
Laboratory Staff, 1992) after extraction of NH+4 by NaCl. The CEC was
also measured in NH4Cl without buffering to represent the natural CEC
value. In Soil Taxonomy, the sulfidic material was determined after
incubation of 8 weeks and a soil pH value drop to 3.5. According to
Konsten et al. (1988) this method is time consuming, impractical for a
large number of samples and the results is qualitative only. Hence,
they proposed total actual acidity (TAA) and total sulfidic acidity (TSA)
measurements to assess the presence of a sulfuric horizon and sulfidic
material, respectively. They reported that this method is semi-
quantitative. The TAA was determined by titration of the soil
suspension in 2 mol L− 1 NaCl solution with 0.5 M NaOH to pH 5.5.
The TAA value was calculated from the amount of NaOH added. The
total potential acidity (TPA) was determined by a means similar to TAA
measurement, except the soil was treated with H2O2 (30%) to force an
oxidation process prior to titration with NaOH. The total sulfidic
acidity (TSA) value was calculated as the difference between the two
(TPA–TAA). This method was applied for some profiles as a
comparison. Ash content was measured by dry combustion of the
peat at 550 °C over 2.5 h. Fibre content was determined on a volume
basis after rubbing and passing through a 100-mesh sieve.
Organic C of fulvic and humic acids was measured using a method
described by Kononova (1966). Pyrite measurement was carried out
by oxidation using nitric acid prior to extraction with HCl as described
by Jansen et al. (1992). The extraction for amorphous bound Al and Fe
(referred as Alo and Feo) was performed using acid ammonium oxalate
and that for organically bound Al and Fe (referred as Alp and Fep) used
sodium pyrophosphate (Soil Survey Laboratory Staff, 1992).
The quality of water after ‘reclamation’ was studied by selecting
fourteen representative water sampling sites, two at inlets, four in a
primary canal, four in secondary canals of Dadahup and four in
secondary canals of Palangkau areas (Fig. 2). In the primary canal, the
water sampling sites were P1, P2, P3 and P4 with the sequence starting
from the north, at the boundary of the study area, to the south (outlet).
In secondary canals of Palangkau area, the water was sampled at C3,
C1, A6, and A7 sites. In Dadahup, the water was sampled at B1, B2, A1
and A5 sites. In the inlets, the water was sampled at I1 next to Barito
river and at I2 next to Mengkatib river. The cations and anions of
−1
suspension were determined by AAS, except for SO2− 4 and Cl , which
were determined by turbidimetry and titration, respectively. To study
leaching of solutes from rice fields, the water elemental composition
in inlets, a primary canal and secondary canals was compared. The
water was not sampled in the tertiary and quaternary canals because
the canals were dry when the study was carried out.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Properties of mineral soils
Prior to canal construction, mineral soils in Dadahup and
Palangkau areas consisted of mucky mineral soils (Table 1). The
morphology of mucky mineral soils exhibited three different features:
first, a mucky mineral soil layer (20–40 cm) with very dark gray color
and decomposition stage of hemic to sapric; second, subsurface
oxidized layers (mostly within 20–73 cm from the soil surface) with

Table 1
Properties of mineral soils prior to reclamation

Profile/ Depth Color Particle size pH C N Pyrite Ripeness Exchangeable cations CEC Al Al
Horizon (cm) Sand Silt Clay Lab Field H2Oa2 Ca Mg K Na pH7 Sat

g kg− 1 g kg− 1 (%) cmolc kg− 1 (%)

MB1 Histic Sulfaquent
Oa 0–29 10YR2/2 na na na 3.4 4.5 nc 237 15 0.4 Spb 1.5 1.5 0.3 0.2 74.2 11.0 76
Cg1 29–73 10YR6/2 0 360 640 4.2 4.5 nc 37 2 0.0 hr 1.1 1.7 0.3 0.1 27.4 14.6 82
2Cg2 73–137 10YR6/1 0 320 680 3.0 6.0 1.5 56 1 2.6 hr 1.4 7.9 0.1 0.2 28.3 7.4 44

MB2 Typic Hydraquent

Oa 0–20 10YR2/1 na na na 4.2 5.0 nc 132 12 0.3 Spb 1.8 2.0 0.3 0.4 42.9 7.7 63
Cg1 20–70 10YR4/2 0 230 770 4.4 5.0 nc 82 3 0.3 hr 2.2 4.4 0.2 0.1 26.1 7.7 53
2Cg2 70–90 2.5Y6/1 0 510 490 4.4 5.0 nc 38 2 0.2 hr 2.9 6.1 0.2 0.1 21.5 5.4 37
2Cg3 90–120 5Y5/1 40 630 330 3.6 6.5 1.5 33 1 0.2 pu 2.4 5.5 0.2 0.2 16.8 4.8 37

MB4 Histic Sulfaquent

Oe 0–40 7.5YR3/2 na na na 3.9 4.5 nc 234 10 nd Hm⁎ 1.0 0.6 0.1 0.2 70.1 9.3 83
Cg1 40–68 10YR5/2 0 210 790 4.5 4.5 nc 66 2 0.2 hr 1.2 2.4 0.1 0.2 36.1 10.8 73
Cg2 68–118 10YR6/2 0 290 710 3.8 5.0 1.0 33 1 0.4 hr 1.2 5.3 0.1 0.3 27.0 11.2 62
2Cg3 118–140 10YR5/2 0 310 690 3.6 6.5 1.5 33 1 0.6 hr 1.4 6.4 0.2 0.3 25.1 11.3 58

MB6 Histic Sulfaquent

Oa 0–26 5YR3.5/1 na na na 4.0 4.5 nc 201 5 0.0 Spb 0.9 1.2 0.2 0.1 47.4 7.7 76
Cg1 26–55 10YR4/2 0 330 670 3.8 4.5 nc 48 2 0.6 hr 1.1 3.8 0.2 0.1 31.3 11.8 69
2Cg2 55–93 10YR5/1 0 295 705 3.0 6.5 1.5 98 2 4.8 hr 1.4 8.3 0.1 0.2 34.7 11.0 52
2Cg3 93–124 N4/0 0 300 700 3.0 6.5 1.5 75 2 5.2 ur 1.6 11.7 0.1 0.5 31.0 15.5 53

sp = sapric, hm = hemic; nc = no pH change after peroxide treatment; na = not applied, Al sat = Al saturation, ur = unripe, hr = half ripe, pu = practically unripe.
a
pH measured in the field after peroxide treatment; borganic matter decomposition stage.
58 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65

Table 2
Soil color, pH, exchangeable acidity, Al and Fe forms, and pyrite content of mineral soils after reclamation

Profile/ Depth Color pH OM 1 M KCl Al Sat Feo Fep Fet Alo Alp Pyrite
horizon (cm) Lab Field H2O2a C N Al3+ H+
g kg− 1 cmolc kg− 1 %
MA1 Typic Sulfaquent
Oa 0–13 10 YR3/1 3.8 4.0 4.0 303.0 11.2 9.45 0.80 75 nd nd nd nd nd nd
Cg1 13–44 2.5Y 6/2 4.2 4.0 1.5 22.6 1.2 12.81 0.88 81 0.16 0.02 1.22 0.36 0.16 0.09
2Cg1 44–81 2.5Y5/2 4.4 4.5 1.5 63.0 1.5 12.85 4.28 70 0.35 0.05 1.41 0.32 0.23 0.62
2Cg2 81–135 2.5Y5/1 3.6 4.5 1.0 53.8 1.3 8.50 9.78 48 1.01 0.08 2.55 0.17 0.27 1.20

MA2 Typic Sulfaquent

Oe 0–10/18 7.5YR3/2 4.5 5.0 5.0 121.0 5.5 4.61 0.76 43 nd nd nd nd nd nd
Cg1 10/18–45 7.5YR6/2 3.7 4.0 4.0 54.4 1.8 15.84 1.22 83 0.60 0.04 1.32 0.45 0.17 0.32
Cg2 45–65 10YR6/1 3.5 4.0 1.5 68.3 1.9 18.95 1.51 85 0.36 0.03 1.50 0.34 0.18 0.64
2Cg1 65–110 5Y6/1 2.6 4.0 1.5 106.0 1.9 34.14 24.26 89 0.94 0.11 1.15 0.34 0.25 1.91
2Cg2 110–150 5Y6/1 3.6 4.0 1.5 65.0 1.5 6.48 6.42 29 0.96 0.07 1.86 0.22 0.16 0.88

MA3 Histic Sulfaquent

Oa 0–35 10YR3/1 4.6 4.5 4.5 102.0 11.4 3.36 0.76 73 nd nd nd nd nd nd
Cg1 35–60 2.5Y6/2 4.4 4.5 4.5 43.5 1.1 13.20 1.50 81 0.15 0.01 0.54 0.35 0.18 0.21
2Cg2 60–95 5Y5/1 3.2 4.0 1.5 59.6 1.6 11.81 8.27 55 0.35 0.04 1.01 0.31 0.24 0.79
2Cg2 95–150 5Y5/1 3.5 4.0 1.5 58.7 1.5 7.85 9.95 38 0.98 0.09 0.89 0.16 0.27 0.71

MA4 Histic Humaquept or Sulfic Humaqueptb

Oa 0–21 7.5YR3/1 4.1 4.0 4.0 225.0 14.9 8.82 1.11 79 nd nd nd nd nd nd
Bg1 21–52 7.5YR5/2 4.3 4.0 4.0 34.4 1.9 12.96 1.08 88 0.86 0.07 0.74 0.74 0.32 0.17
Bg2 52–88 5YR5/2 4.3 4.0 1.5 44.5 2.0 12.91 1.15 82 0.23 0.03 1.16 0.41 0.31 0.21
2Cg1 88–140 N5/0 3.3 4.5 1.5 71.2 2.1 10.32 6.48 51 0.70 0.08 1.71 0.24 0.20 1.20

MA5 Sulfic Endoaquept

Ap 0–8 10YR3/1 4.2 5.0 5.0 55.0 4.2 10.57 1.12 70 0.86 0.06 0.85 0.40 0.19 0.22
Bg1 8–30 7.5YR6/2 4.0 5.0 5.0 26.0 1.5 15.51 1.13 84 0.62 0.03 1.02 0.38 0.17 0.15
Bg2 30–60 10YR6/2 3.9 4.0 4.0 27.3 1.5 14.99 1.19 80 0.32 0.03 1.28 0.36 0.24 0.17
2Cg1 60–90 5Y6/1 3.0 4.0 2.0 62.8 1.9 23.77 7.52 84 0.37 0.03 1.11 0.79 0.24 0.34
2Cg2 90–120 5Y5/1 2.8 4.0 1.5 64.7 1.8 20.00 13.93 66 0.31 0.07 2.14 0.26 0.14 1.61

MA6 Typic Sulfaquept

Ap 0–16 10YR3/1 3.8 3.5 3.6 71.0 5.0 16.00 1.09 86 nd nd nd nd nd 0.32
Bg1 16–38 10YR5/2 3.4 3.5 3.1 23.2 1.4 17.21 2.22 94 nd nd nd nd nd 0.22
Bg2 38–82 10YR6/2 3.3 4.0 1.5 38.2 1.7 18.59 1.41 85 nd nd nd nd nd 0.44
2Cg1 82–120 2.5Y5/1 3.0 4.0 1.5 61.4 1.7 18.07 9.25 70 nd nd nd nd nd 1.61

nd = not determined; Feo and Alo = Fe and Al measured in acid oxalate; Fep and Alp = Fe and Al measured in sodium pyrophosphate; Al sat = Al saturation.
a
pH measured in the field after peroxide treatment.
b
An introduced new subgroup.

dark grayish brown to light brownish gray color and ripeness of half
ripe; and third, reduced layers (having upper limit varied between 55
and 73 cm from the soil surface) with gray color and ripeness of unripe
to half ripe. For further presentation, the first two layers will be
referred to as the upper compartment and third layer as the lower
compartment.
The morphology of mucky mineral soils after canal construction
exhibited similar features to their initial state (before canal construc-
tion) (Table 2). However, there are differences in thickness of mucky
mineral soil layers and in ripeness of subsurface minerals. Following
canal construction, the mucky mineral soils of surface layers become
thinner or disappear (i.e., from 20–40 cm to 0–21 cm). This is due not
only to the increase of decomposition stage but also to the burning
practices during land preparation for food crops. Consequently,
underneath oxidized layers become closer or exposed to the soil
surface, which in turn, is followed by reduced underlying layers. The
burning practice during land preparation should be avoided to
preserve the organic surface layer. Another soil property change
after drainage construction was the increased degree of soil ripeness
from half ripe to ripe for oxidized layers and from half ripe to nearly
ripe for reduced layers.
The alteration of mucky mineral soils (MB6, Table 1) to non-mucky
mineral soil (MA6, Table 2) after canal construction was due to the loss
of an organic layer at the soil surface as a result of burning and soil
tillage during land preparation for agricultural crops and rapid
decomposition stage in an aerobic condition. This alteration was
also shown by the MA5 profile which could be compared to the MB6
profile since they occurred in a similar mapping unit. The remaining
surface mucky mineral soils after canal construction were due to a
thick surface peat layer or no burning during land preparation (MB2
and MB4, Table 1 vs MA2 and MA4, Table 2).
Surface organic layers designated by O horizons overlain with
mineral layers after canal construction contain ash between 370 to
750 g kg− 1 (Table 3). The high ash content was due to some mineral
mixture as a result of puddling during land preparation prior to rice
planting. The presence of organic surface layers was advantageous
environmentally because they play a role as a source of nutrients,
reduce evaporation and maintain reduced conditions to prevent pyrite
oxidation in the dry season (Konsten et al., 1990). For mineral soils, the
texture of the surface horizons was clay, whereas the subsurface
horizons were mostly heavy clay (N60%).
Exchangeable cations at soil surfaces showed the order of cations
was Mg2+ or Ca2+ followed by K+ or Na2+ before ‘reclamation’, whereas
after ‘reclamation’ the order of cations was mostly Ca2+ N Mg2+ N K+ or
Na+ for mucky mineral soils. In non-mucky mineral soil after
‘reclamation’, the order of cations was Mg2+ N Ca2+ N K+ N Na+. The
dominance of Ca2+ at surface layers of mucky mineral soils was due to
application of lime (CaCO3) as an ameliorant to reduce soil acidity. This
may indicate that the loss of Ca2+ through leaching could be restored
using lime. Furthermore, mineral subsurface horizons of all profiles
 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65 59

Table 3
Particle size, ripeness, exchangeable cations and CEC of mineral soils after reclamation

Profile/ Depth (cm) Particle size Ripe Exchangeable cations Sumcat CEC ANRcec
horizon Sand Silt Clay ness Ca Mg K Na pH7 pHn
g kg− 1 cmolc kg− 1
MA1 Typic Sulfaquent
Oa 0–13 370a na na spb 1.26 1.19 0.39 0.37 3.21 53.92 14.8 2.64
Cg1 13–44 0 280 720 hr 0.69 2.07 0.18 0.05 2.99 25.06 18.3 0.37
2Cg1 44–81 0 250 750 hr 0.59 4.53 0.26 0.14 5.52 31.39 21.7 0.45
2Cg2 81–135 1 280 710 hr 0.27 8.53 0.22 0.12 9.14 33.18 22.2 0.50

MA2 Typic Sulfaquent

Oe 0–10/18 710a na na hmb 3.63 1.95 0.28 0.32 6.18 44.84 10.0 3.54
Cg1 10/18–45 0 290 710 hr 0.58 2.33 0.24 0.12 3.27 32.47 19.4 0.68
Cg2 45–65 0 250 750 hr 0.63 2.45 0.21 0.17 3.46 37.78 18.6 1.03
2Cg1 65–110 1 250 740 hr 0.45 3.73 0.06 0.08 4.32 35.56 20.3 0.76
2Cg2 110–150 0 310 690 hr 1.31 13.46 0.20 0.68 15.70 30.51 12.3 1.49

MA3 Histic Sulfaquent

Oa 0–35 750a na Na spb 0.50 0.14 0.32 0.29 1.25 41.90 8.2 4.09
Cg1 35–60 0 340 660 hr 0.68 1.73 0.14 0.46 3.01 22.50 17.4 0.29
2Cg2 60–95 0 380 620 hr 0.81 8.13 0.17 0.50 9.61 34.59 20.2 0.72
2Cg2 95–150 0 370 630 hr 0.94 10.48 0.20 0.93 12.60 33.58 21.2 0.58

MA4 Histic Humaquept or Sulfic Humaqueptc

Oa 0–21 570§ na Na spb 1.43 0.62 0.13 0.13 2.31 76.95 17.6 3.38
Bg1 21–52 0 250 750 r 0.37 1.23 0.16 0.09 1.85 29.74 15.2 0.96
Bg2 52–88 1 110 880 r 0.59 2.07 0.17 0.11 2.94 34.37 20.1 0.71
2Cg1 88–140 0 390 610 r 1.32 8.09 0.22 0.31 9.94 34.36 17.8 0.94

MA5 Sulfic Endoaquept

Ap 0–8 20 450 530 r 1.64 2.21 0.35 0.26 4.46 33.44 13.3 1.52
Bg1 8–30 0 310 690 r 0.42 2.22 0.20 0.12 2.96 26.15 17.9 0.46
Bg2 30–60 0 280 720 r 0.43 2.85 0.21 0.17 3.66 28.75 17.7 0.62
2Cg1 60–90 1 290 700 r 0.45 3.70 0.17 0.13 4.45 34.09 19.0 0.79
2Cg2 90–120 0 440 560 nr 0.96 9.01 0.16 0.20 10.30 36.83 19.0 0.94

MA6 Typic Sulfaquept

Ap 0–16 20 440 540 r 0.34 2.07 0.16 0.07 2.64 31.48 nd nd
Bg1 16–38 0 230 770 r 0.16 0.66 0.18 0.06 1.06 38.67 nd nd
Bg2 38–82 0 250 750 r 0.42 2.61 0.17 0.13 3.33 33.91 nd nd
2Cg1 82–120 10 310 680 nr 0.95 6.48 0.17 0.13 7.73 27.59 nd nd

sp = sapric; hm = hemic; r = ripe; hr = half ripe; nr = nearly ripe; na = not applied;CECpH7 = CEC measured in NH4Oac buffered at pH7; CECpHn = CEC measured in NH4Cl without buffering;
ANRcec = artificial and natural ratio of CEC, i.e., (CECpH7–CECpHn)/CECpHn;nd = not determined.
a
ash content of organic matter.
b
decomposition stage of organic matter.
c
an introduced new subgroup.

before and after ‘reclamation’ showed a similar order of cations i.e.
Mg2+ N Ca2+ N K+ or Na+ but cation concentrations (Mg2+ and Ca2+) were
higher in the natural condition (before ‘reclamation’, Table 1) than
after ‘reclamation’ (Table 3), indicating leaching of cations from soil
profiles as water drained out to a canal. On the other hand, the Al3+
and Al saturation were lower in the natural condition than after
‘reclamations’ suggesting increased acidity due to pyrite oxidation
which releases more Al from mineral surfaces in acid conditions.
Interestingly, there is a trend of Mg2+ concentration to increase
with increasing depth even quite sharply in the reduced layers (lower
compartment) of the profiles. This could indicate that the material was
derived from marine sediment and not from fluvial sediment. In the
oxidized layers (fluvial sediment) of profiles, however, Mg2+ was still
dominant. This is probably due to equilibration of solute concentration
between upper and lower compartments of profiles.
Before and after ‘reclamation’, if both base cations and exchange-
able acidity (Al3+) present on adsorption complex were taken into
account, it was readily shown that Al3+ was the predominant cation
followed by Mg2+ and Ca2+, respectively (Tables 1 and 2). After
‘reclamation’, Al saturation increased within oxidized and reduced
layers, whereas at the soil surface (mucky layer) there was no clear
trend. Al saturation increased from 53–70% to 80–94% for oxidized
layers and from 37–53% to 38–89% for reduced layers. In Hoa An,
Mekong Delta, Vietnam, Sterk (1993) found that about 70% of
extractable acidity from raised beds consisted of Al3+. In a similar
location, the concentration of soluble Al in sulfuric horizon was 14.7 to
57.1 me L− 1 (Bakker, 1990 cited by Hanhart and Van Ni, 1993).
After ‘reclamation’, CEC values were determined both in NH4OAc
buffered at pH7 and in NH4Cl without buffering referred to as CECpH7
and CECpH7n, respectively (Table 3). The CECpH7 was interpreted as an
artificial CEC value because it was measured by increasing the natural
soil pH (b4.5) to 7 that is believed to promote deprotonisation of
carboxyl groups of organic matter and of OH on clay mineral edges
resulting in higher CEC values than in the natural condition. On the
other hand, the CECpHn is considered to represent the CEC of natural
conditions because it is measured at natural soil pH. To obtain a
comparison of artificially created negative charge of soils and the
natural negative charge contributing to the CEC value, the artificial
and natural CEC ratio (ANRcec) is made. The ANRcec value is derived by
subtracting the CECpHn value from the CECpH7 value and then dividing
by CECpHn or clearly the ANRcec = (CECpH7–CECpHn)/CECpHn. The higher
the ANRcec value the more the CECpH7 value deviates from natural soil
CEC values and the less meaningful the interpretation of CEC value for
management purposes.
The CECpH7 values ranged from 42 to 77 cmolc kg− 1 for organic
surface layers and from 31 to 33 cmolc kg− 1 for mineral surface layers.
The high CECpH7 values of organic surface layers compared to
underlying layers were not necessarily the case for CECpHn values in
60 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65
which the CECpHn values were mostly lower at surface peat layers
compared to the underlying mineral layers. This may indicate the
creation of negative charge when increasing natural soil pH to pH 7.
Consequently, interpretation of the soil's ability to retain cations based
on CECpH7 values could be misleading for organic and acid sulfate soils,
since the natural pH values were mostly less than 4.5 at least in the
studied areas, and pH 7 could probably never be achieved in natural
conditions of acid sulfate soils.
The ANRcec values for surface layers were 2.6 to 4.1 for the organic
layers and 1.5 for corresponding mineral layers. This suggests a higher
deviation of CEC value from the CEC natural condition in the organic
layers than in the mineral layer. The higher CECpH7 values for organic
soil compared to mineral soils may indicate that the negative charge
development due to deprotonisation on organic soil colloids (e.g.
carboxyl and phenolic groups) is greater than on mineral soils (mostly
on octahedral sheets, Al–OH), although some contribution from
organic matter may occur as well in mineral soil horizons.
In the subsurface layers, the ANRcec values were much lower than
in the surface layers. This is due to less organic C content in subsurface
horizons. Hence, it is considered that for soil management purposes,
the CEC measured in NH4Cl may be more representative of the natural
state and the interpretation of soil capability to retain cations based on
CECpHn value is advisable for acid sulfate soils. This is beneficial in
avoiding fertilizer inefficiency such as KCl fertilizer because the
amount of fertilizer that should be applied is based on natural soil
capability to retain cations. Alternatively, the fertiliser could be
applied periodically based on crop requirement for each growth
phase.
Comparison of pH field measurements showed that pH values
before ‘reclamation’ were mostly 0.5–1.0 unit higher for oxidised
layers and 1.0–2.0 units higher for reduced layers than corresponding
layers after ‘reclamation’. The field pH measurement after peroxide
treatment showed values similar (pH 1.5) before and after ‘reclama-
tion’, suggesting pyrite concentration was still high after ‘reclamation’.
The high pH values before ‘reclamation’ compared to after ‘reclama-
tion’ may indicate increased acidity due to canal construction that
may have drained the water, which in turn, produced oxidising
conditions for pyrite. In addition, acidity as oxidation products of
pyrite could accumulate because of lack of water resulting in low pH,
whereas before canal construction, the dilution effect on pyrite
oxidation products resulted a higher pH value.
Field pH measurement of all soils showed that pH values were
between 4.5 and 6.5 suggesting no sulfuric horizons were present
before ‘reclamation’. After ‘reclamation’ however, pH values of 3.5
were observed in the uppermost two horizons of the profile MA6. This
suggests that the reduced sulphide has been oxidized to form sulfuric
acid and according to Soil Survey Staff (1999) this profile has satisfied
the sulfuric horizon, leading to be classified as a Sulfaquept. This soil
was classified as a Sulfaquent before ‘reclamation’ because it has sulfi-
dic material within 50 cm from the mineral soil surface. Following
canal construction, the soil changed from potential acid sulfate soil to
actual acid sulfate soil due to oxidation of pyrite in the dry season. This
is consistent with Van Mensvoort and Dent (1998) who stated that if
the land is drained or sulfidic material is excavated then the potential
acid sulfate soils become actual acid sulfate soils. Konsten et al. (1994)
reported that oxidation of pyrite lowers the pH value, wherever the
ground water level drops below the position of pyrite within soils in
the dry season. The pH value may drop to about 3 in all pyritic horizons
that are exposed to air. The low pH value could be explained by
oxidation of pyrite as shown by the following reaction (Brown and
Jurinak, 1989):
FeS2 þ 7=2O2 þ H2 O→Fe2þ þ 2SO2−
4 þ 2H
þ
ð1Þ
This reaction indicates that the oxidation of every one mol pyrite
generates sulfuric acid that dissociates to release 2 mol H+ and is
responsible for the steep drop in pH. In addition, according to Konsten
et al. (1994) the large amount of protons could derive from (i) free
acidity present, (ii) hydrolysis of exchangeable Al and (iii) desorption
of adsorbed SO2− 4 producing soluble Fe(II)SO4.
The pyritic concentration in oxidized mineral layers of profiles
before and after ‘reclamation’ was similar (0.2–0.6 vs 0.1–0.6%). On the
other hand, the pyrite concentration of profiles in reduced layers was
much higher before ‘reclamation’ than after ‘reclamation’ (2.6–5.2% vs
0.3–1.9%). The similarity of pyrite concentration in oxidized layers
before and after ‘reclamation’ could be due to much of the pyrite
having been oxidized. In the reduced layers, the higher pyrite
concentration before ‘reclamation’ than after ‘reclamation’ may be
due to pyrite being stable in reducing conditions, whereas ‘reclama-
tion’ (canal construction) to drain water out could promote some
pyrite oxidation causing less remaining pyrite. The highest pyrite
content, i.e., 8% was reported in Pulau Petak, South Kalimantan
(Konsten and Sarwani, 1990). The difference of pyrite content between
the present study and data from Pulau Petak is probably due to the
position of the former in the hinterland backswamp, whereas the
latter is in a coastal area having high pyrite.
The most valuable quick clue to indicate the presence of pyrite
within soil horizons is a strong effervescence, a smell of SO2, yellow
color foam and a sharp drop in pH of the foam to pH 2 or less following
peroxide treatment. In addition, we observed matrix colors of 2.5 Y 5/1
or greyer, upon exposure to the air, which changed rapidly into dark
grey (value 4 and chroma 2) during profile descriptions. A pyrite layer
generally starts at the base of a brown layer or at the top of the gray
layer. Similar evidence has been reported in Pulau Petak, the southern
part of the study site (Jansen et al., 1992).
Based on H2O2 testing in the field (approximately 1200 observa-
tions) after ‘reclamation’, the position of pyrite within profiles ranged
from 40 to 100 cm from the soil surface, but more frequently between
60 and 90 cm depending on microtopographic position of the site. In
lower lying rice fields, the fluvial sediment is thinner, which leads to
closer pyritic marine sediment and a shallower pyrite position
compared to higher lying rice fields. According to Dent (1986)
pHb 2.5 or 3 after H2O2 treatment would indicate severe sulfate acidity.
The drop in pH value was due to pyrite oxidation producing Fe2+, SO2− 4
and H+. This pyrite oxidation by H2O2 can be described as follows
(Singer and Stumm, 1970):
FeS2 þ 7H2 O2 →Fe2þ þ 2SO2− þ
4 þ 2H þ 6H2 O ð2Þ
The sulfuric horizon has been qualitatively set at a pH value of 3.5
and that sulfidic material was indicated by the drop of pH value to 3.5
after incubation of 8 weeks (Soil Survey Staff, 1999). This method is
time consuming making it impractical for use to many soil samples.
Hence, a semiquantitative method using total actual acidity (TAA) and
total sulfidic acidity (TSA) values has been tested through extensive
study in a backswamp area of South Kalimantan by Jansen et al.
(1992), confirming that TAA and TSA values are useful means to
indicate the presence of sulfuric horizon and sulfidic material,
respectively.
The limit between sulfuric and nonsulfuric horizons had been set at a
TAA value of 26 mmol H+(100 g)− 1 soil and the limit between pyritic and
non pyritic horizons at a TSA value, calculated as (TPA–TAA), of more
than 32 mmol H+(100 g)− 1 (Jansen et al., 1992). The TAA and total
potential acidity (TPA) values of mineral soils after ‘reclamation’,
represented by MA1 and MA2 profiles, varied between 12 and
50 cmolc kg− 1 and between 13 and 263 cmolc kg− 1, respectively
(Fig. 3). The high TPA value suggests a high pyrite content that may
release large amounts of protons during oxidation. There is a trend for
TPA values to increase greatly in reduced layers (the gray color). By
applying a TSA value of 32 mmol H+(100 g)− 1 to indicate a pyritic zone, it
is obvious that soils studied meet the criteria to be classified as a sulfidic
horizon starting at approximately 45 cm from the soil surface (Fig. 3).
 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65 61

The classification of mineral soil profiles using keys to Soil Taxonomy

(Soil Survey Staff, 2006) could not accommodate soil properties of all
mineral soils studied in Dadahup and Palangkau areas. Hence, a new
subgroup is proposed to accommodate the present mineral properties,
which are not available in the present Soil Taxonomy. Profile MA4 is
classified into a Humaquept great group category. This profile has sul-
fidic material at 52 to 140 cm from the soil surface. The presence of
sulfidic material within 150 cm from the soil surface is used as a
differential property to distinguish Sulfic Endoaquept from Typic
Endoaquept. In a similar way, it is considered that the presence of sul-
fidic material within 150 cm could influence soil properties and
management of Humaquept, therefore, the sulfic property is introduced
to distinguish Sulfic Humaquept from Typic Humaquept, otherwise the
Humaquepts, with and without sulfidic material within 150 cm from
soil surface will be classified into a similar subgroup. We observed a
large distribution of Sulfic Humaquept in this study.
Fig. 3. Total actual acidity (TAA) and total sulfidic acidity (TSA) of MA1 and MA2 mineral
soil profiles after reclamation.
3.2. Properties of organic soils

Field evidence supports this as shown by quick and strong efferves-
cence after H2O2 treatment with pH values between 1.5 and 2.0.
Total Fe content in the oxidised layers of mineral soils was between
0.5 and 1.3%, which was considerably lower than the reduced layers
(1.0–2.3%) (Table 2).This trend was similar to total Fe content reported
by Konsten et al. (1994) in Pulau Petak. They reported total Fe at
shallower depth (oxidised layers, b65 cm depth) was distinctly lower
(1–3%) than in unoxidised highly pyritic soils (4 and 8%). However, the
magnitude of total Fe content in the present study was considerably
lower compared to data of Konsten et al. (1994) at Barambai Dalam,
probably because the position of Barambai Dalam is much closer to the
coastal land that contains more pyrite than the present study site
located further into the inland backswamp.
The contents of Feo and Fep (excluding organic surface layers) show
that Feo was much higher than Fep indicating more amorphous bound
Fe than organically bound Fe (Table 2). A similar trend was observed
for Alo and Alp. The higher amorphous bound Al and Fe than
organically bound Fe and Al is possibly due to more amorphous
minerals being present because the clay minerals are unstable in a
strong acid condition (pH b 4.5 in this study).
The decomposition stage of organic matter showed a significant
increase after ‘reclamation’ as revealed by fibre content which
decreased from about 60–73% (by volume) before ‘reclamation’
(Table 4) to 13–27% after ‘reclamation’ (Table 6). This is parallel to
the decrease in C:N ratios from mostly 36–75 before ‘reclamation’ to
29–67 after ‘reclamation’ at subsurface layers (Table 5). Some of the
soils still had high C:N ratios at subsurface soil after ‘reclamation’
probably due to their position in concave microrelief causing
fluctuation of the water table and creating reduced conditions to
slow down the decomposition rate.
The trend of organic soil chemical properties shows a similar trend
to mineral soils, where soil pH values, Mg2+ and Ca2+ contents
decrease and Al3+ and Al saturation increase after ‘reclamation’. The
pH values of field measurements decrease about 0.5–1.0 unit after
‘reclamation’ (Table 4 vs Table 5). Similar results were found for
laboratory measurements, but the magnitude of pH value decrease is
about 0.2–0.3 unit after ‘reclamation’. This indicates that canal
construction results in increasing acidity probably due to the soil
being drained, which may promote organic matter decomposition
stage to release more protons causing soil pH to decrease. After

Table 4
Properties of organic soils prior to reclamation

Profile/ Depth Color Fibre pH C N Pyrite DS Exchangeable cations Sumcat CEC Al Al

Horizon (cm) Lab Field H2O2b Ca Mg K Na pH7 Sat

% g kg− 1 % cmolc kg− 1 %

OB1 Typic Haplohemist
Oe1 0–14 7.5YR 2/1 60 4.0 4.5 nc 502 23 1.2 hm 3.6 3.5 0.3 0.3 7.7 108.2 4.9 39
Oe2 14–31 10YR2/1 73 3.8 4.5 nc 503 14 1.1 hm 1.8 2.1 0.2 0.2 4.3 100.6 3.6 46
Oe3 31–56 10YR3/2 67 4.0 4.5 nc 451 6 1.1 hm 1.3 1.7 0.2 0.1 3.3 84.3 2.8 46
Oe4 56–168 10YR2/2 67 3.5 4.5 nc 430 8 2.8 hm 2.0 3.2 0.2 0.2 5.6 103.5 17.8 76

OB2 Terric Haplohemist or Substratic-terric Haplohemistc

Oe1 0–12 10YR2/2 73 4.0 5.0 nc 470 25 0.1 hm 4.3 3.3 0.4 0.6 8.6 113.0 8.3 49
Oe2 12–43 10YR2/1 73 3.8 5.0 nc 502 18 0.1 hm 1.6 1.9 0.2 0.3 4.0 114.5 10.4 72
Oe3 43–56 10YR3/2 73 4.2 5.0 nc 504 8 1.0 hm 0.8 1.0 0.1 0.2 2.1 94.9 5.3 72
Oe4 56–78 10YR2/1 73 3.8 5.0 nc 502 9 1.5 hm 0.9 1.6 0.1 0.2 2.8 113.1 12.1 81
Cg1 78–110 10YR4/1 0 3.5 5.5 nc 126 3 0.7 hr 0.6 3.7 0.1 0.2 4.6 45.8 19.3 81
Cg2 110–150 5GYR5/1 0 3.1 6.0 1.5 134 2 9.4 hr 0.8 17.6 0.2 1.6 20.2 42.8 14.1 41

OB5 Terric Sulfihemist or Substratic-terric Sulfihemistc

Oe1 0–15 7.5YR3/1 67 3.8 4.0 nc 516 24 1.0 hm 2.2 3.5 0.3 0.4 6.4 105.6 7.7 55
Oe2 15–64 10YR2/2 67 3.8 3.5 nc 445 10 0.4 hm 0.7 1.1 0.1 0.2 2.1 60.5 7.2 77
Cg1 64–96 5Y5/1 680a 3.6 5.0 1.0 46 2 0.1 hr 0.6 1.6 0.2 0.8 3.2 32.0 16.7 84
Cg2 96–140 2.5Y5/3 750a 3.3 4.5 2.0 42 1 0.7 hr 0.5 4.0 0.2 0.4 5.1 29.0 23.0 82

nc = no pH change after peroxide treatment; DS = decomposition stage; hm = hemic; na = not applied; Sum cat = sum of cations; Al sat = aluminium saturation.
a
clay fraction (g kg− 1).
b
pH measured in the field after peroxide treatment.
c
an introduced new subgroup.
62 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65

Table 5
pH, EC, organic matter, acidity, amorphous and organically bound Fe and Al, organic C of humic and fulfic acid of organic soils after reclamation

Profile/ Depth Color pH EC C N C:N Al3+ H+ Feo Fep Alo Alp Organic C CHA:CFA
horizon (cm) Lab Field ratio HA FA ratio

dS m− 1 g kg− 1 cmolc kg− 1 %

OA1 Typic Sulfihemist
Oe1 0–33 10YR2.5/1 4.0 4.0 0.10 507 23 22 7.89 2.68 0.39 0.05 0.53 0.10 8.50 3.67 2.32
Oe2 33–143 10YR3/1 3.8 4.0 0.16 365 13 29 7.2 1.13 0.23 0.03 0.55 0.09 8.62 3.50 2.46
Cg1 143–183 5Y5/1 3.5 4.5 1.91 184 3 61 14.6 5.54 0.56 0.07 0.48 0.23 1.52 0.67 2.27

OA2 Terric Sulfihemist or Substratic-terric Sulfihemista

Oe1 0–33 7.5YR2.5/2 3.7 4.0 0.27 434 24 18 9.8 1.47 0.45 0.04 0.66 0.09 6.09 1.83 3.33
Oe2 33–70 7.5YR3/2 3.5 4.0 0.44 384 6 64 11.7 1.12 0.15 0.02 0.79 0.18 2.31 1.26 1.83
Cg1 70–82 7.5YR5/2 3.9 4.0 0.26 79 2 40 15.3 1.22 0.13 0.03 0.43 0.26 nd nd nd
2Cg2 82–140 25YR4/1 3.5 4.5 0.92 6.9 2 35 10.7 5.29 0.36 0.06 0.20 0.22 nd nd nd

OA3 Terric Sulfihemist

Oe1 0–20 10YR2/1 3.6 4.0 0.74 406 18 23 10.3 1.31 0.51 0.05 0.70 0.12 5.42 1.50 3.61
Cg1 20–53 10YR4/2 3.7 4.0 0.23 87 2 44 15.3 1.24 0.09 0.02 0.54 0.26 nd nd nd
Oe2 53–92 10YR2/2 2.7 4.0 3.76 268 4 67 48.1 24.39 1.24 0.16 0.69 0.19 2.19 0.57 3.84
2Cg2 92–150 5Y5/1 3.2 4.0 1.81 63 1 63 8.2 9.10 0.74 0.09 0.13 0.19 nd nd nd

OA4 Typic Sulfisaprist or Fluvaquentic Sulfisaprista

Oa1 0–72 10YR2/1 4.1 4.0 0.17 399 10 40 7.0 0.75 0.25 0.02 0.76 0.11 3.29 1.99 1.65
Cg1 72–84 2.5YR6/1 4.1 4.0 0.18 85 3 28 11.4 1.21 0.19 0.02 0.49 0.16 nd nd nd
Oa2 84–101 10YR2/1 3.9 4.0 0.68 97 2 49 6.4 1.04 0.53 0.05 0.27 0.17 0.77 0.29 2.66

OA5 Typic Haplosaprist

Oa1 0–24 7.5YR3/1 3.7 4.0 0.20 549 14 39 11.7 1.4 nd nd nd nd nd nd nd
Oa2 24–67 7.5YR2/1 3.6 4.0 0.25 423 8 52 15.7 1.4 nd nd nd nd nd nd nd

HA = humic acid; FA = fulvic acid; EC = electric conductivity; Feo and Alo = extractable acid oxalate Fe and Al; nd = not determined; CHA and CFA = organic C of humic and fulvic acids; Fep
and Alp = extractable sodium pyrophosphate Fe and Al; nd = not determined.
a
an introduced new subgroup.

‘reclamation’, the concentration of Ca2+ increased significantly and (before ‘reclamation’, Table 4) than after ‘reclamation’, indicated
dominated exchange complexes of surface layers due to application of leaching of cations from soil profiles as water drained out to a canal
lime (CaCO3) as an ameliorant to reduce soil acidity. Furthermore, the (Table 6). On the other hand, the Al3+ was lower in natural conditions
higher cation concentrations (Mg2+ and Ca2+) in natural condition than after ‘reclamation’ suggesting an increase in acidity.

Table 6
Ash and fibre content, exchangeable cations, and CEC of organic soils after reclamation

Profile/ Depth Ash Fibre Clay Exchangeable cations Sum CEC ANRcec
horizon (cm) Ca Mg K Na cat pH7 pHn
g kg− 1 % g kg− 1 cmolc kg− 1 cmolc kg− 1
OA1 Typic Sulfihemist
Oe1 0–33 122 20 na 8.12 3.31 0.31 0.46 12.30 104.14 37.56 1.8
Oe2 33–143 75 20 na 1.65 1.16 0.30 0.21 3.32 49.60 12.20 3.1
2Cg1 143–183 698 na na 0.81 13.20 0.17 1.54 15.72 48.31 22.46 1.2

OA2 Terric Sulfihemist or Substratic-terric Sulfihemista

Oe1 0–33 158 20 na 3.94 2.78 0.26 0.29 7.27 73.11 15.91 3.6
Oe2 33–70 397 20 na 1.02 1.64 0.19 0.12 2.97 54.52 11.88 3.6
Cg1 70–82 na na 710 0.82 2.34 0.28 0.13 3.57 35.06 19.89 0.8
2Cg2 82–140 na na 940 0.47 8.61 0.19 0.37 9.64 31.68 18.04 0.8

OA3 Terric Sulfihemist

Oe1 0–20 299 26 na 5.37 6.92 0.36 0.40 13.05 77.10 18.89 3.1
Cg1 20–53 na na 650 0.83 2.06 0.26 0.13 3.28 37.40 17.73 1.1
Oe2 53–92 508 27 na 1.40 4.98 0.10 0.76 7.24 64.42 19.25 2.3
2Cg2 92–150 na na 770 0.65 12.80 0.15 0.70 14.33 33.13 19.32 0.7

OA4 Typic Sulfisaprist or Fluvaquentic Sulfisaprista

Oa1 0–72 173 16 na 3.56 2.15 0.45 0.18 6.34 57.90 10.36 4.6
Cg1 72–84 na na 680 0.55 12.10 0.15 0.46 13.26 37.92 16.27 1.3
Oa2 84–101 821 10 na 0.47 4.39 0.28 0.14 5.28 38.94 19.74 1.0

OA5 Typic Haplosaprist

Oa1 0–24 157 13 na 1.17 1.26 0.32 0.37 3.12 82.85 nd nd
Oa2 24–67 207 13 na 0.60 1.63 0.21 0.59 3.04 61.81 nd nd

na = not applied; nd = not determined; ANRcec = artificial and natural ratio of CEC, i.e,(CECpH7–CECpHn)/CECpHn;CECpH7 = CEC measured in NH4Oac buffered at pH7; CECpHn = CEC
measured in NH4Cl without buffering.
a
an introduced new subgroup.
 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65 63

The humic acid (HA) and fulfic acid (FA) determinations were Table 7
performed for organic soil materials only and not for any mineral layer EC, pH, TDS and cation and anion compositions of water in inlets and the primary canal

in organic profiles because our interest is peat layers. According to Parameter Inlet Sampling site in the primary
data of Steelink (1985) the organic C contents of humic and fulvic acids canal
were 54–59% and 41–51%, respectively. The organic C ratio of HA and Dadahup (I2) Palangkau (I1) P1 P2 P3 P4
FA acids from those values was 1.2–1.3. In the present study, the pH 3.70 6.30 3.30 3.70 3.20 3.30
organic C ratios of HA and FA acids ranged from 1.7 to 3.8 (Table 5) EC(dS m− 1) 25 °C 0.14 0.05 0.39 0.23 0.43 0.40
suggesting the HA was higher than FA in all horizons. The organic C NH+4 (me L− 1) 0.02 0.00 0.07 0.02 0.08 0.09
K+(me L− 1) 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.06
may be present in the form of organo-metal complex as indicated by Ca2+(me L− 1) 0.21 0.24 0.41 0.37 0.44 0.42
Alp and Fep, which were extracted using sodium pyrophosphate. The Mg2+(me L− 1) 0.21 0.10 0.70 0.61 0.73 0.76
value of Fep and Alp was 0.16 and 0.19%, respectively. Na+(me L− 1) 0.07 0.09 0.12 0.15 0.13 0.15
There were different magnitudes in CECpH7 and CECpHn values as Fe3+(me L− 1) 0.01 0.04 0.01 0.06 0.01 0.01
Al3+(me L− 1) 0.24 0.01 1.10 0.76 1.01 0.88
indicated by ANRcec values of 1.8 to 4.6. This suggests that deviations
Mn2+(me L− 1) 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.02
of CEC were about 1.8 to 4.6 times from the natural state. These ANRcec NO−3 (me L− 1) 0.02 0.03 0.01 nd nd nd
values were practically similar to ANRcec values of surface organic PO43− (me L− 1) nd nd nd nd nd nd
−1
layers of mineral soils. For mineral horizons within each organic soil SO2−
4 (me L ) 0.84 0.21 1.89 2.00 2.17 2.08
profile, ANRcec values were about 0.7 to 1.3. The increased ANRcec Cl− (me L− 1) 0.11 0.13 0.10 0.13 1.26 0.16
HCO−3 (me L− 1) nd 0.14 nd nd nd nd
values suggest the artificial creation of negative charge through CO2− −1
3 (me L ) nd nd nd nd nd nd
deprotonisation of hydroxyl groups (e.g. carboxyl and phenolic TDS (mg L−1) 50.00 12.00 30.00 7.00 1.00 5.00
groups) in organic soils as natural soil pH was raised to pH 7. This
TDS = total dissolved solid as mud; nd = not detected.
evidence may suggest the limited usefulness of CECpH7 measurement
for organic soils.
Total actual acidity (TAA) and total potential acidity (TPA) of
organic soils ranged from 9 to 50 cmolc kg− 1 and from 29 to 307 cmolc which are not available in present Soil Taxonomy. The reason
kg− 1, respectively (Fig. 4). The TSA (TPA–TAA) value was smaller in the underlying this property is that there is a need to distinguish between
uppermost horizon of each profile, but was much higher in the Histosols having a continuous mineral layer (referred to as a substra-
remaining subsurface horizons. Except for the OA2 profile, the TAA tic-terric property) and Histosols having interstratified mineral layers
and TSA values in uppermost horizons were insufficient to meet sul- i.e. not continuous mineral (referred to as a terric property) within a
furic horizon and sulfidic material, respectively. However, in remaining subsurface tier and bottom tier control sections. From a soil manage-
subsurface horizons, the TSA values were high and exceeded the limit ment viewpoint, the Histosols having continuous mineral should have
criterion of a sulfidic horizon. Based on TAA and TSA values, the different management practices compared to Histosols having inter-
organic soils have no sulfuric layers but have sulfidic material within stratified mineral layers. If substratic-terric is not introduced then both
50 cm from the soil surface. By ratioing TPA and TAA values, it was Histosols having continuous mineral layers or interstratified mineral
readily shown that once the sulfidic materials are exposed to air as a layers within subsurface tier and bottom tier control sections will be
result of uncontrolled drainage system depth i.e., below the pyrite classified into a similar subgroup (e.g. Terric Sulfisaprist). In this study,
position, the total sulfuric acid to be formed is about 3.1 to 7.9 times we observed much evidence for Histosols having continuous mineral
greater than the present condition. Hence, the crucial management layers or interstratified mineral layers. A further reason is that after
practices for acid sulfate soils are water management and soil ‘reclamation’ the classification of Histosols underlain by a continuous
nutritional aspects (Xuan, 1993). These are aimed at preventing pyrite mineral layer may change into mineral soils, once the thickness of the
oxidation by keeping the soils in a reducing condition. surface organic material decreases to less than 40 cm for hemic and
Classification of organic soils faced a similar problem to mineral sapric materials. On the other hand, Histosols having interstratified
soils, where keys to Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2006) could not mineral layers (two or more organic materials interstratified with two
accommodate properties of all organic soils found. Hence, “substratic- or more organic layers), the Histosol can still be classified into
terric” property is introduced to accommodate the present properties Histosols having terric properties (e.g. Terric Sulfisaprist) although the
thickness of surface organic material decreases or it disappears
altogether.
Another proposed new subgroup is Fluvaquentic Sulfisaprist for an
OA4 profile. This subgroup is introduced to distinguish between Sul-
fisaprists that have, within organic materials, either one mineral layer
5 cm or more thick, or two or more mineral layers of any thickness, in
the control section below the surface tier, from Sulfisaprists that have
no mineral layers in the control section below the surface tier (i.e.
Typic Sulfisaprists). Fluvaquentic property has been used in a subgroup
of Haplohemists and Haplosaprists. By a similar token, it is considered
that the Fluvaquentic property is needed for Sulfisaprists.
Using the present keys to Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2006),
the organic soil profiles were classified as Terric Haplohemist for OB2
and Terric Sulfihemist for OB5, OA3, and OA2. By introducing a Sub-
stratic-terric property at a subgroup category, only the OA3 profile
could be classified into Terric Sulfihemist (unchanged), whereas OB2
profile could be classified into Substratic-terric Haplohemist and OB5
and OA2 profiles into Substratic-terric Sulfihemists.
The soil properties reported in the present study may represent the
area of about 20,000 ha in Dadahup and Palangkau areas, based on
Fig. 4. Total actual acidity (TAA) and total sulfidic acidity (TSA) of OA1, OA2 and OA3 results of detailed soil survey (Tim Peneliti Puslittanak, 2000). In
organic soil profiles after reclamation. Kalimantan Island, the backswamp areas may occupy 4 million ha,
64 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65

Table 8 The comparison of water chemical properties between the two

EC, pH, TDS and cation and anion composition of water in secondary canals inlets indicated that the pH value was considerably lower in the inlet
Parameter Sampling site of Dadahup Sampling site of Palangkau of Dadahup than in the inlet of Palangkau. The reverse is true for EC
B1 B2 A1 A5 C3 C1 A6 A7 values (Table 7). The difference in pH values of inlets should be due to
pH 2.90 3.10 2.90 3.30 3.40 2.90 3.10 3.10 the nature of water and soil properties along the levee of the
EC(dS/m) 25 °o C 1.24 0.59 1.15 0.41 0.34 0.84 0.66 0.68 Mengkatip and Barito rivers. The Mengkatip river receives much water
NH+4 (me L− 1) 0.14 0.08 0.14 0.12 0.06 0.19 0.27 0.24 from the peat dome and soils along the levee that contain a pyritic
K+(me L− 1) 0.10 0.09 0.11 0.05 0.04 0.12 0.16 0.12 layer within 50 cm from the soil surface layer. Hence, acidity from the
Ca2+(me L− 1) 0.84 0.37 0.74 0.52 0.60 0.76 0.64 0.81
Mg2+(me L− 1) 2.30 0.97 2.55 0.81 0.64 1.49 1.48 1.45
peat dome and the soil pyrite oxidation products in the dry season
Na+(me L− 1) 0.44 0.31 0.44 0.15 0.12 0.22 0.31 0.29 may be responsible for the lower pH value in the inlet of Dadahup. The
Fe3+(me L− 1) 0.12 0.03 0.24 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.04 0.02 pyrite oxidation is confirmed by the higher Al3+ and SO2− 4 contents in
Al3+(me L− 1) 3.15 1.80 2.33 1.13 1.04 2.62 1.73 1.54 the water. On the other hand, the high pH value and low EC value in
Mn2+(me L− 1) 0.04 0.02 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03
the inlet of Palangkau were due to the water from the Barito river,
NO−3 (me L− 1) 0.03 0.02 0.02 nd nd 0.01 0.01 nd
PO3−
4 (me L )
−1
nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd which is derived from the hinterland and the pyrite of soils along the
SO42− (me L− 1) 11.40 3.54 10.23 2.39 2.05 8.15 4.48 4.36 levee which is kept in a reducing condition to prevent pyrite
Cl− (me L− 1) 0.16 2.80 0.31 0.13 0.10 1.79 2.52 2.24 oxidation. Pyrite is stable under severely reducing conditions but
HCO−3 (me L− 1) nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd oxidation, following drainage, generates sulfuric acid and mobile Fe2+
−1
CO2−
3 (me L ) nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd
TDS (mg L− 1) 56.00 36.00 17.00 6.00 15.00 14.00 2.00 10.00
(Van Breemen, 1993; Dent and Pons, 1995).
The lowest pH value and the highest solute concentrations in water
TDS = total dissolved solid as mud; nd = not detected.
in the dry season may indicate maximum pyrite oxidation, which in
A1, A5, A6, A7, B1, B2, C3, C1 = units of transmigration settlement.
turn is released into drainage water. This may occur due to high
permeability, which facilitates very fast water movement for mass
where the soil consists of minerals and organics with the presence of transport of acidic solutes such as H+, Fe2+, Al3+, and SO2− to reach the
pyrite at various depths. water table level. The high permeability could be inferred from farmers'
experience pumping water from quaternary canals to their rice fields
3.3. Water chemical dynamics with ponded surface of about 10 cm, but this could disappear in one
night only, leaving the rice fields dry. This is due to the presence of many
Analyses of chemical properties of water after ‘reclamation’ in two rotten root holes of Macaranga gigantifolia and Melaleuca leucadendron
inlets, a primary canal and secondary canals, showed a clear trend for L, native trees that were cut during land ‘reclamation’.
EC values and concentrations of cations and anions to consistently Based on the high pyrite oxidation products in water of the primary
increase from the inlet to a primary and to secondary canals (Tables 7 and secondary canals, the management practice strategy to avoid
and 8). In addition, the reverse trend is true for pH values. All these pyrite oxidation is a key to success in acid sulfate soils of tidal back
findings indicate degradation of water quality, from best to worst, in swamp. Pyrite oxidation could be avoided, or at least minimized, by
the inlets to the primary and to secondary canals. The worst water keeping the ground water table over the pyritic zone, i.e., 60 cm from
quality in secondary canals is due to leaching of pyrite oxidation the soil surface in this study, if tidal irrigation or pumping irrigation is
products and acidity from nearby cultivated rice fields. As mentioned possible in the dry season. Currently, the dead-end supply canals at
previously, the Al3+ and Mg2+ were dominant on adsorption tertiary levels and some secondary canals cause slack water conditions
complexes of cultivated soils. These two cations were also observed and this is responsible in part for the high acidity in canals. The one-
to be dominant in water of the primary and secondary canals, but not way flow system for leaching may be adopted to avoid slack water
in inlets (as a control), which may confirm the leaching of cations from conditions. Another water management practice is leaching of pyrite
rice fields through interflow and the net outflow of ground water into oxidation products and associated acidity from the arable land by
adjoining secondary canals. Aluminium becomes toxic for agricultural rainfall or tidal flushing. Experience in the integrated swamp
crops at concentrations as low as 2 ppm in solution (Dent, 1986). If this development project (ISDP) in Sumatra has proved that leaching by
is true, then Al concentrations in the primary and all secondary canals rainfall alone could be sufficient to wash out pyrite oxidation products
were over the toxic limit. and reasonable crop yields are possible in a sustainable way (van
−
Furthermore, the dominance of SO2− 4 and Cl in water of the Eelaart, personal communication).
primary and secondary canals indicates leaching of pyrite oxidation
products from rice fields. The increased pH values and decreased 4. Conclusions
concentrations of cations and anions in the primary canal compared to
water from secondary canals should be due to dilution effects of water. ‘Reclaimed’ backswamp area of Dadahup and Palangkau consisted
Hanhart and Van Ni (1993) assessed the toxic elements leached into of mucky mineral soils and organic soils. The morphology of mucky
drainage canals by comparing the water quality of irrigation canals mineral soils, before ‘reclamation’, exhibited three different features: a
and drainage canals on acid sulfate soils at 41 and 85 d after sowing mucky surface layer underlain by an oxidized layer and a reduced
rice in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. They reported that the quality of layer, respectively. Following canal construction, the mucky surface
water was worse in drainage canals than in irrigation canals as layers became thinner (from 20–40 cm to 13–21 cm) or disappeared;
indicated by pH values of 2.6–2.9, soluble aluminium of 57–148 ppm, oxidized layers and reduced layers became closer to the soil surface.
and total acidity of 11–26 mol L− 1 compared to pH 6.3–6.8, soluble ‘Reclamation’ decreased soil pH values, increased Al3+ and Al
aluminium of 1.3–7.2 ppm, and total acidity of 0.15–0.56 mol L− 1 in the saturation and promoted cation leaching as revealed by the decrease
irrigation canals. in Mg2+ and Ca2+ contents in mineral soils. Similar chemical alterations
Comparison of chemical properties of water at each site in the occurred in organic soils accompanied by an increasing decomposition
primary canal, a sequence from the north to the south, showed that stage as indicated by decreasing fibre content from 60–73% to 13–27%.
the pH, EC, cation and anion concentrations were relatively similar in The pyrite concentration in oxidized layers of mineral profiles was
all sampling sites (Table 7). This is probably due to dilution effects of similar before and after ‘reclamation’ (0.2–0.6% vs 0.1–0.6%), while in
water to achieve equilibrium in the primary canal. The pH values were reduced layers pyrite concentration was much higher before ‘reclama-
strongly acid (3.2–3.7) and the EC values were between 0.23 and tion’ (2.6–5.2%) than after ‘reclamation’ (0.3–1.9%). The high pyrite
0.43 dS m− 1. content in reduced layers agrees well with the high TSA values
 M. Anda et al. / Geoderma 149 (2009) 54–65
(N32 cmol kg− 1) and field evidence of strong effervescence and steep
drop in pH (pH 2) after H2O2 treatment.
Water quality has decreased considerably after ‘reclamation’ as
revealed by decreasing pH values and increasing values in EC and
concentrations of cations and anions from inlets to the primary canal
and to secondary canals. The cations in water were dominated by Al3+
−
followed by Mg2+ and Ca2+, whereas of anions by SO2− 4 followed by Cl .
Concentrations of other cations and anions were very low.
The main implication of the study is that pyrite oxidation may be
avoided by keeping the ground water table at the pyrite position (i.e.
60 cm from the soil surface in this study) if tidal irrigation or pumping
irrigation is possible in the dry season. Alternatively, pyrite oxidation
products and associated acidity should be leached out from the arable
land by rainfall or tidal flushing to allow crop development.
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Dr. D.R. Stoltz, Bogor Raya School, for the English
corrections of the manuscript. We also thank a survey team of the
Center for Soil and Agroclimate Research, Bogor, for the assistance in
soil and water samplings. We very gratefully thank Dr. D.S. Fanning
and an anonymous reviewer for their comments, corrections and
suggestions to help us to improve the manuscript.
References
Andriesse, W., 1993. Acid sulphate soils: diagnosing the illness. In: Dent, D.L., Van
Mensvoort, M.E.F. (Eds.), Selected Papers of the Ho Chi Minh City Symposium on Acid
Sulphate Soils, vol. 53. ILRI Publication, Wageningen, The Netherlands, pp. 11–29.
Bakker, N., 1990. Water management on acid sulphate soils, experiment E-73. Technical
report no. 4, VH-10 project. Internal VH-10 publication, Wageningen Agriculture
University, the Netherlands.
Barnhisel, R., Bertsch, P.M., 1982. Aluminum. In: Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R.,
(Eds.), Methods of Soil Analyses, Part 2. Chemical and Mineralogical properties.
Monograph vol. 9, 2nd ed. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society
of America, Madison, WI, USA. pp. 275–300.
Bremner, J.M., Mulvaney, C.S., 1982. Nitrogen-total. In: Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R.,
(Eds.), Methods of Soil Analyses, Part 2. Chemical and Mineralogical properties.
Monograph No.9, 2nd Edition. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science
Society of America, Madison, WI, USA. pp. 595–624.
Brown, A.D., Jurinak, J.J., 1989. Mechanism of pyrite oxidation in aqueous mixtures.
J. Environ. Qual. 18, 545–550.
Dent, D.L., 1986. Acid Sulphate Soils: A Baseline for Research and Development, vol. 39.
ILRI Publication, Wageningen.
Dent, D.L., Pons, L.J., 1995. A world perspective on acid sulphate soils. Geoderma 67,
263–276.
Hanhart, K., Van Ni, D., 1993. Water management on rice fields at Hoa An in the Mekong
Delta. In: Dent, D.L., Van Mensvoort, M.E.F. (Eds.), Selected Papers of the Ho Chi
Minh City Symposium on Acid Sulphate Soils, vol. 53. ILRI Publication, Wageningen,
The Netherlands, pp. 161–175.
Heryanto, R., Sanyoto, P., 1994. Laporan geologi lembar Amuntai, Kalimantan Selatan skala
1:250.000. Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan Geologi Bandung (in Indonesia).
Jansen, J.A.M., Andriesse, W., Prasetyo, H., Bregt, A.K., 1992. Guidelines for soil survey in
acid Sulphate Soils in the Humid Tropics; The Main Problems Considered. AARD and
LAWOO. ILRI, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
65
Kononova, M.M., 1966. Soil Organic Matter, its Nature, its Role in Soil Formation and in
Soil Fertility. Pergamon Press, New York.
Konsten, C.J.M., Sarwani, M., 1990. Actual and potential acidity and related chemical
characteristics of acid sulphate soils in pulau Petak, Kalimantan. Papers workshop
on acid sulphate soils in the humic tropics. AARD and LAWOO, Bogor, Indonesia,
pp. 30–50.
Konsten, C.J.M., Brinkman, R., Andriesse, W., 1988. A field laboratory method to
determine total potential and actual acidity in acid sulfate soils. In: Dost, H. (Ed.),
Selected papers of the Dakar symposium on acid sulfate soils, Dakar, Senegal. Jan.
1986. IILRI Publ. 44 Int. Inst. Land Reclam. Improve., Wageningen, the Netherlands,
pp. 106–134.
Konsten, C.J.M., Suping, S., Aribawa, I.B., Widjaja-Adhi, I.P.G., 1990. Chemical
processes in acid sulphate soils in Pulau Petak, South and Central Kalimantan.
Papers workshop on acid sulphate soils in the humic tropics. AARD and LAWOO,
Bogor, Indonesia, pp. 109–135.
Konsten, C.J.M., Van Breemen, N., Suping, S., Aribawa, I.B., Groenberg, J.E., 1994. Effects of
flooding on pH of rice-producing, acid sulfate soils in Indonesia. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.
58, 871–883.
Moore, P.A., Attanandana, T., Patrick, W.H., 1990. Factors affecting rice growth on acid
sulfate soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 54, 1651–1656.
Pons, L.J., Zonneveld, I.S., 1965. Soil ripening and soil classification. Initial soil formation
in alluvial deposits and a classification of the resulting soils. Int. Inst. Land Reclam.
and Imp. Pub. 13. Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Singer, P.C., Stumm, W., 1970. Acid mine drainage: rate determining step. Science 167,
1121–1123.
Soil Survey Laboratory Staff, 1992. Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual. Soil Survey
Investigation Report No. 42, Version 2.0, USDA.
Soil Survey Staff, 1999. Soil taxonomy a basic system of soil classification for making and
interpreting soil surveys. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services. Agricul-
ture Handbook, vol. 436. Washington, DC.
Soil Survey Staff, 2006. Keys to Soil Taxononomy, 10th ed. USDA-Natural Resources
Conservation Service, Washington, DC.
Steelink, C.A., 1985. Implications of elemental characteristics of humic substances. In:
Aiken, G.R., McKnight, D.M., Wershaw, R.L., MacCarthy, P. (Eds.), Humic Substances
in Soil, Sediment, and Water: Geochemistry, Isolation and Characterization. Wiley-
Intersciences, New York, pp. 457–476.
Sterk, G., 1993. Leaching of acid from the topsoil of raised beds on acid sulphate soils in
the Mekong delta Vietnam. In: Dent, D.L., Van Mensvoort, M.E.F. (Eds.), Selected
Papers of the Ho Chi Minh City Symposium on Acid Sulphate Soils, vol. 53. ILRI
Publication, pp. 241–246. Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Tim Peneliti Puslittanak, 2000. Deliniasi dan karakterisasi lahan banjir skala 1:25.000 di
Palangkau dan Dadahup, daerah kerja A. Proyek Pengembangan Lahan Gambut
Pertanian. Pusat Penelitian tanah dan Agroklimat. Badan Penelitian dan Pengem-
bangan Pertanian (in Indonesia).
Tuong, T.P., 1993. An overview of water management of acid sulphate soils. In: Dent, D.L.,
Van Mensvoort, M.E.F. (Eds.), Selected Papers of the Ho Chi Minh City Symposium
on Acid Sulphate Soils, vol. 53. ILRI Publication, Wageningen, The Netherlands, pp.
265–279.
Van Breemen, N., 1993. Environmental aspects of acid sulphate soils. In: Dent, D.L.,
Van Mensvoort, M.E.F. (Eds.), Selected Papers of the Ho Chi Minh City Symposium
on Acid Sulphate Soils, vol. 53. ILRI Publication, Wageningen, The Netherlands,
pp. 391–401.
Van Mensvoort, M.E.F., Dent, D.L., 1998. Acid sulfate soils. In: Lai, R., Blum, W.H.,
Valentine, C., Stewart, B.A. (Eds.), Advances in Soil Sciences: Methods for
Assessment of Soil Degradation. CRC Press, New York, pp. 301–335.
Xuan, V., 1993. Recent advances in integrated land uses on acid sulphate soils. In: Dent, D.L.,
Van Mensvoort, M.E.F. (Eds.), Selected Papers of the Ho Chi Minh City Symposium on
Acid Sulphate Soils. ILRI, Wageningen, The Netherlands, pp. 129–136.