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This contribution is focused on utilization of a sequential chemical fractionation method for determination of organic matter content and its distribution in soil. Subsequently, this fractionation procedure was used to characterize the possible use of lignite as a soil conditioner in agriculture. For these purposes the optimized chemical fractionation procedure was used to describe the effect of lignite application on content and distribution of organic matter in a model soil. For these purposes, there were three source matrices of organic matter (lignite, soil and annual soil extraction after lignite application) fractionated by sequential chemical analysis. In parallel, these samples were also fractionated by classic alkaline extraction to obtain the so-called extractable fraction of organic matter (NOM). Individual fractions from sequential chemical fractionation as well as NOM samples were characterized by methods of elemental analysis (determination of organic elements content), thermogravimetry (contents of ash, organic matter and moisture) and FTIR spectrometry (structural analysis). The results showed that the method of sequential chemical fractionation gives higher yields of organic matter compared to classical alkaline extraction. Moreover, the obtained fractions divided according to solubility and strength of binding to soil inorganics can be better characterized by physical-chemical methods, which provides more detailed information about soil organic matter. The results of the work also indicated that the effect of lignite on soil organic matter must be considered in a larger time scale to be able to get more complex description of such a complex system.
Keywords: Soil, lignite, organic matter, chemical fractionation, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR spectrometry© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.