Soil solution pH measurements using in-line chambers with tension lysimeters

During soil water extraction, pH can change as a result of atmospheric gas exchange. The pH change is important for monitoring soil acidification and determination of mineralogic controls on the solution composition. As part of a global change programme in Greenland for monitoring long-term changes in Arctic soil solutions we observed that the pH of extracted soil solutions increased in the order of a half pH unit during traditional sampling and handling of the soil solution. CO 2 degassing is often considered the most important factor causing such a pH increase. Thus, traditional as well as in-line pH measurements were performed during the summers 1997 and 1998. The in-line method was designed to eliminate atmospheric contact with soil solutions prior to pH measurements. The time-dependent pH error was quantified based on laboratory experiments with soil solution under controlled temperatures and CO 2 partial pressures. Equilibrium speciation modelling was used to predict pH values observed in the field and in the laboratory and the model was found to reproduce the observations well. We conclude that traditional pH measurements on extracted soil solutions in the pH range from 5 to 7 are not appropriate for detailed pH measurements due to errors associated with CO 2 degassing. In-line measurements provide more accurate measurement necessary for detailed studies on soil acidification dynamics.