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The Effect of pH on Potassium Fixed by an Irreversible Adsorption Process
Author(s) -
Page A. L.,
Ganje T. J.
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1964.03615995002800020021x
Subject(s) - vermiculite , adsorption , chemistry , soil water , potassium , cation exchange capacity , inorganic chemistry , leaching (pedology) , illite , clay minerals , mineralogy , geology , organic chemistry , soil science , paleontology
The irreversible adsorption of K by soils, vermiculite, and illite under moist conditions was studied over a range of pH 3 to 8. The amounts of K irreversibly adsorbed by the vermiculite and soils that contained biotite‐weathering products were independent of the soil‐ or clay‐solution equilibrium pH as long as the concentration of Al in the systems was kept low. The results were interpreted to indicate that K, which is fixed by irreversible adsorption, is associated only with the permanent charge component of the exchange complex. Acid‐leaching the soils destroyed their capacity to irreversibly adsorb K from KCl solution at pH 3 and markedly reduced their exchange capacities at the same pH. The acid‐leached soils contained relatively large concentrations of base‐titratable Al, which were nonreplaceable with either 1.0 N NaCl or 1.0 N KCL. Therefore, the results indicate that difficultly replaceable Al on the exchange sites of the acid‐leached soils prevented the adsorption of K on sites which were capable of irreversibly adsorbing it.