Abstract:From the aspect of process, formation and transformation of humus are essentially microbebased biochemical processes, while from that of difference in energy level between the initial and final stages, these processes could also be considered as an issue of the thermodynamic stability. In the soil there are quite a number of factors affecting these processes, such as type and content of clays, vegetation, microorganisms, soil moisture, temperature, air composition, chemical composition and concentration of soil solution, acidity, status of redox, etc. But from the angle of thermodynamics, in order to calculate reaction equilibrium constant (logKR) and Gibbs energies (ΔGfθ) at a given temperature of 25℃, those soil conditions could be simplified into 3 parameters: water activity (H2O), oxygen partial pressure (PO2) and carbon dioxide partial pressure (PCO2), since all organic substances are composed of these three elements and would eventually be decomposed into H2O and CO2that contain these three elements. According to this new idea and principle mentioned above, this paper cited black soil as an example to explore approaches to the study on factors driving formation and transformation and thermodynamic stability of HA and FA, and to the calculation ofΔGfθ, logKR and range of thermodynamic stability of HA and FA with “the elemental compositionsoil condition parameter method”. Meanwhile, a simulated incubation in the lab of soil with organic matter was conducted to study effect of mono-environmental factors like O2 and CO2 on accumulation of HA and FA. Results show that the molecular formula of HA and FA is nC21H21O9N and nC24H33O17N, respectively. In soils low in O2, high in moisture and high in CO2 concentration, FA was relatively stable whereas HA was on the contrary. In the incubation experiment, high CO2 concentration and low O2concentration would result in higher FA/HA ratio. This method and the findings in this study could help explain and speculate the rule of spatial variability of the composition of soil humus, and provide guidance to regulation of soil fertility and soil carbon sequestration.