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Leaching of Adsorbed Potassium from Humid Tropical Soils
Author(s) -
Bower C. A.
Publication year - 1975
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/sssaj1975.03615995003900030058x
Subject(s) - gibbsite , soil water , leaching (pedology) , langmuir , adsorption , allophane , montmorillonite , langmuir adsorption model , kaolinite , chemistry , goethite , clay minerals , soil science , mineralogy , environmental chemistry , geology , organic chemistry
Equilibrium between solution and adsorbed K in humid tropical soils leached by rainfall was found to be described by the Langmuir adsorption equation. The product of the two constants in the Langmuir equation k 1 and k 2 , which is equal to the reciprocal of the intercept of the Langmuir isotherm, is a direct measure of the tendency of soil to retain adsorbed K against leaching. Retentivity was greatest in soil containing montmorillonite clay and least in soils derived from volcanic ash having clay dominated by amorphous silicates. Soils whose clay consisted of goethite, gibbsite, and kaolinite were intermediate in retentivity. As a consequence of the applicability of the Langmuir equation, it has also been found that the concentrations of solution and adsorbed K at any depth in the soil as a function of depth of water passing the depth during leaching can be satisfactorily predicted by simplified, approximate solutions of equations derived by Thomas, and Hiester and Vermeulen.