ASPECTS OF THE SULPHUR STATUS OF THREE QUEBEC SOILS

Total sulphur, easily soluble sulphur, and the amounts of sulphur extracted by strongly acidic and strongly alkaline solutions were determined on samples from three Quebec soils, two podsols and one brown forest soil.Total sulphur was determined, following oxidation in the Parr oxygen bomb, by the colorimetric methylene blue method. The results obtained by this procedure were markedly higher than those obtained by the gravimetric method following bomb oxidation or oxidative fusion with sodium peroxide and sodium carbonate.Evidence was obtained suggestive of the existence of sulphate-sulphur in association with the organic fraction of these soils.