A soil with a high organic content, a calcaric phaeozem, has been imaged in a hydrated state using the
Stony Brook scanning transmission X-ray microscope at the NSLS, Brookhaven, USA. This experiment has been
performed at the carbon K absorption edge to determine the distribution of organic matter within this soil.
Spectromicroscopic methods using the known spectra of humics are helping to distinguish between different kinds of
carbon in the sample. In addition, a marsh soil from Northern Germany has been analyzed at the sulfur K-absorption
edge with the scanning X-ray microscope at the ESRF (ID 21), Grenoble, France. This soil contains a variety of
sulfur containing components, which are attached to the soil colloids. A major source of these components is the
microbial activity. In this soil it is possible to identify spectroscopically amino acids like methionin and cysteine and
proteins, which are built up from those molecules, and inorganic components like sulfates and sulfides
