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Adsorption and translocation of sulfur in some tropical acid soils
Author(s) -
Biswas Hrittick,
Rattan R.K.,
Datta S.P.,
Singh A.K.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200320245
Subject(s) - soil water , adsorption , sulfur , sulfate , gypsum , chemistry , environmental chemistry , freundlich equation , potassium , mineralogy , soil science , environmental science , geology , organic chemistry , paleontology
In view of growing concern about sulfur (S) deficiency, we attempted to study the effect of soil characteristics on the adsorption and translocation of S in soils. Laboratory experiments were conducted with five surface soils collected from three regions in the state of Orissa (Eastern India). In an adsorption study, all the soils were equilibrated with graded doses of potassium sulfate (K 2 SO 4 ). Freundlich adsorption isotherms provided good fit to S adsorption data. Free Fe 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 in the soils were primarily responsible for retaining added S in soils. Further, studies on the movement of sulfate‐S in 30‐cm plexiglass columns, where radio‐labeled S along with water (5 cm) was applied as gypsum and K 2 SO 4 , showed that K 2 SO 4 ‐S migrated deeper than gypsum‐S. Sulfur moved deeper in case of initially water‐saturated soils than in initially air‐dry soils.