Monitoring of soil carbon storage may indicate possible effects of climate change on the terrestrial environment and it is therefore necessary to understand the influence of redox potential and chemical characteristics of humic substances (HS) of Antarctic soil. Five soils from King George Island were used. HS were extracted, quantified and characterized by potentiometry and the content of total carbon and nitrogen determined. HS of these soils had greater aliphatic character, low content of phenolic groups, lower acidity and lower formal standard electrode potential, compared to HS of soils from other regions, suggesting they are more likely to be oxidized.Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais Departamento de Ciências Exatas e da TerraUniversidade Federal do Espírito Santo Departamento de Produção VegetalUniversidade Estadual PaulistaUniversidade Federal de Viçosa Departamento de QuímicaUniversidade Federal de Viçosa Departamento de SolosUniversidade Estadual Paulista