Large areas of Plinthosols with ferruginous materials such as plinthite and/or petroplinthite are fairly common in the Brazilian Amazon basin. This work was carried out to investigate the chemical behavior, mineralogical composition and weathering stage of four representative soil profiles with plinthite and petroplinthite, in Iranduba, AM (Central Amazon). Three well-drained soil profiles at high elevations were studied (P1, Plinthic Vetic Ferralsol; P2 and P3, Vetic Endopetric Plinthosol) and a contrasting poorly drained soil (P4 Haplic Plinthosol), located at low […]

The efficiency of two nitrogen fertilizers, ammonium sulphate and urea, labelled with 15N, in two major Central-Amazonian soils (Yellow Latosol – an Oxisol and Red-Yellow Podzolic – an Ultisol), was studied in greenhouse experiments in Nancy, France, 1992. Italian rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum L.) was used as the test plant. Rye-grass nitrogen uptake of ammonium sulphate ranged from 44 to 49%, and of urea from 60 to 70%. Immobilization and losses of nitrogen were dependent on the fertilizer type. Microbial nitrogen […]

This study was carried out under laboratory conditions from September to December, 1992. The objective was to evaluate the mineralization of nitrogen in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) green manure, using 15N as tracer, in three major soils of Central Amazon: an Oxisol, an Ultisol and a Low-Humic Gley. The variation in amount and form of the mineral N from cowpea residues was related to the chemical characteristics of each soil. In the Oxisol and Ultisol the incorporation of green manure […]