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Last week, we led you through the process of chromatography: a method developed by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer over fifty years ago using capillary action to separate out the components of soil in an effort to gain a more unified understanding of its vigor. This week, we'll take you through some rough guidelines on interpreting what your chromatograms have to tell you.
It is important to note that the guidelines we offer are more like rules of thumb. Soil can be understood as an organism if we have the eyes to see it. This might mean decolonizing our vision  from the analytics of quantitative science, and touching into our aesthetic intuition and holistic understanding of the whole that we so frequently deconstruct in order to assess. Apart from this qualifier, it is also important to note that chromatography can be performed on diverse sorts of samples including vegetation, flours, vitamins, milk, and countless other substances. The process for these substances differs from that for soils.
Ultimately, what we look for in chromatograms includes the colors present, how well-formed the features and zones are, the 'harmonious' qualities, and the presence of patterns. Chromas illustrate the relationships that exist in soil, that you will see here denoted by separate zones demarcated by differently hued concentric circles which radiate throughout and between each other, offering information on the interactions between the soil's structure, minerals, organic matter, proteins, and enzymes.
The most central zone, also called the zone of aeration, is where all the elements of the sample can commingle. Most often this zone does not exist in soils with heavy compaction, where structure has been destroyed by chemicals and over-machination. In such soils, the zone will either be nonexistent, or will look an ashy grey color or pure white. Pure white indicates an excess of nitrogenous fertilizers. In healthy soils with no compaction, good structure, organic matter, and activity from microbiology and enzymes, the central zone will be an off-white, creamy tone that softly blends into the next zones.
The internal zone, or mineral zone, is where the presence  of "feathers" will become visible. These feathers often tie together the various zones of the chromas, culminating in a spike formation in the outer and peripheral zones. When assessing these radiations, we're looking for a harmonious pattern. The coloration of the internal zone should additionally integrate smoothly, without any abruptly defined delineations. Any violet or lilac coloration here may connote excessive mineralization, and can be seen in composts that have been sitting too long or dead soils.
The intermediate zone is also known as the protein or the organic matter zone. This is the area where spikes culminate in an often darker brown range of hues than the previous zones. A blocked, scant and unintegrated zone suggest a  dearth of biological activity, most often caused by overuse of chemicals. An intensely dark ring may indicate high amounts of raw organic matter in the process of breaking down, yet-unintegrated. Even if  it seems as though this zone is missing, organic matter is still indicated, though reveals a highly mechanized, compacted, and destroyed soil. What we want here is a well integrated ring that smoothly fades in from the interior zones, as in the following...
The external zone, also known as the enzyme zone, constitutes the spaces between the spikes at the outermost edge of the chromatogram. Stains between these teeth, and dark brown halos around the points from the protein zone are seen as positive signs of nutritional availability and permanent humus. Diversity between the sizes and depths of the teeth signify diverse minerals. Lack of an external zone denotes poor humus formation, whereas well defined spikes or teeth in this area suggests the opposite. However, excessively pointy and uniform spikes in combination with homogeneously integrated inner zones may point to poor soils structure and compaction.
Itching to have a look at your soils, but not enough time to dedicate to experimenting with a new discipline? Well, you're in luck! The Know Your Roots team is offering chromatography services. Contact us at mike@knowyouroots.com with inquiries, and we'll process your soil samples, offering our own analysis and interpretation.
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