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Soil properties and phosphate sorption
Author(s) -
Williams E. G.,
Scott N. M.,
McDonald Margaret J.
Publication year - 1958
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740090905
Subject(s) - sorption , chemistry , soil water , oxalate , aluminium hydroxide , organic matter , phosphate , aluminium , inorganic chemistry , environmental chemistry , silt , mineralogy , soil science , adsorption , geology , organic chemistry , paleontology
Relationships between phosphate sorption and soil properties have been examined for ten soils from each of four parent‐material groups in N.E. Scotland. Aluminium extracted by the Tamm acid‐oxalate method gives highly significant correlations in all groups, and except for the granite soils, where the highest correlation is with loss on ignition, it is the best single criterion of sorption. Acid‐oxalate‐soluble iron also gives significant correlations, but in no case does addition of a term for iron significantly improve the estimate of sorption given by aluminium alone. Iron extracted by dithionite‐0.05N‐HCl treatment gives very poor relationships, but again the aluminium extracted gives highly significant correlations, as does aluminium extracted with 2.5% acetic acid. Sorption in all groups is highly correlated with loss on ignition and organic carbon, indicating that the active iron and aluminium are closely associated with organic matter. Clay and silt values, unconnected for organic matter, iron and aluminium lost in the normal treatment with H 2 O 2 and HCl, are useless as criteria of sorption, and residues from the Tamm extraction sorb only about 10% as much phosphate as the original soils, indicating that apart from associated soluble iron and aluminium, clay minerals play a relatively minor rôle. The differences between soil groups are mainly quantitative, and the basic igneous and slate soils have relatively high sorption capacities and high iron and aluminium contents.