New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

To have a better understanding of the amounts and types of humate present in New Mexico, a reliable quantitative method of analysis is needed. Unfortunately, there is no standard method due to the difficulty in developing a procedure for sUbstances that do not have a definite composition.

Generally, procedures for determining humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) in soils start with an alkaline leach followed by acidification.

The concentration of alkali, length of digestion and the addition of an acid pretreatment are some of the more significant variations in the procedures. Experiments were conducted to determine the best conditions of extraction. Humate samples used in these experiments were obtained from the Menefee Formation near Regina, New Mexico.