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Adsorption of Phosphorus by Lake Sediment¹

ABSTRACT

The sediment of an eutrophic lake is capable of adsorbing a large amount of phosphorus from the water. To study the sorption mechanism, between 0 and 2.2 mg P was added to 0.1-g sediment samples (1:50 sediment-solution ratio). After equilibrium had been established, P remaining in solution was determined, and adsorbed P was extracted with 0.5N NH₄F and 0.1N NaOH. Whereas all P adsorbed into the NaOH-extractable fraction appeared to occur as an iron phosphate, NH₄F apparently extracted P bonded by two different mechanisms. When less than about 0.1 mg P was added, NH₄F extracted a tightly bonded form of P, probably occurring as an aluminum phosphate. When more than 0.1 mg P was added, additional P in a more loosely bonded form was adsorbed into the NH₄F-extractable fraction. The loosely bonded P appeared to be independent of Al content of the sediment, and could be removed by successive water extraction. The capability of the sediment to adsorb considerable loosely bonded P means that large influxes of P into the lake may be held temporarily and subsequently released to growing plants and algae.

¹ Contribution from The Connecticut Agr. Exp. Sta., New Haven. Presented before Div. S-2, Soil Science Society of America, at Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 1967.

² Assistant Soil Scientist.

Received for publication January 19, 1968. Accepted for publication March 26, 1968.