Soluble and colloidal translocation of Al, Fe, Si and Mn in an artificially drained French Retisol

Abstract Soil evolution results from both solute and colloid/particle translocation, but their relative importance in terms of soil formation is still under debate. The genesis of albic material in Retisols represents an ideal case to quantify the relative contribution of these two forms of transport in soil evolution since it results from i) clay eluviation, ii) reductive solubilisation of Fe oxides, and possibly iii) silicate hydrolysis. This issue seems particularly challenging in cultivated Retisols in which detailed analysis of the soil solid phases has demonstrated that artificial drainage and liming alter the genetic pathway of albic material both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the present study, we characterised the chemistry (pH, Eh, Al, Si, Fe and Mn) and dynamics of soil water and its evolution with increasing distance from the drain. Rainfall water, soil solution at water saturation in the EB ii) reductive solubilisation of Fe and Mn oxides still occurred, in spite of the artificial drainage; iii) processes such as wet and dry deposition, dissolution of quartz or ferrolysis also contribute to element budgets in Retisols, at least at some microsites and in some years.