THE DEOXY-SUGARS AND OTHER NEUTRAL MONOSACCHARIDES DERIVED FROM RIVERTON, MANITOBA ORGANIC SOIL PROFILES

The distribution of eight neutral monosaccharides in the 19 horizons of three organic soil profiles from the Riverton Peatland, Manitoba has been studied. The amounts of the monosaccharides have been found to be related to several characteristic physical, chemical and morphological properties of the horizons. Some horizons afforded appreciable amounts of deoxy-sugars relative to glucose, the predominant monosaccharide. This finding suggested that monosaccharides other than glucose may be useful chemical markers with which to differentiate peats.