HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Harter, R. D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Harter, R. D. Agricola Articles by Harter, R. D.

Adsorption of Copper and Lead by Ap and B2 Horizons of Several Northeastern United States Soils¹

ABSTRACT

Adsorption of Cu and Pb by surface and subsurface samples of fifteen soils was ascertained. Soil adsorption maxima were derived from the reciprocal of the slope obtained by a least squares fit of "Langmuir" plots for each soil. The adsorption maxima were then regressed against various chemical and mineralogical properties of the soils in an attempt to deduce mechanisms of adsorption as well as to determine whether any commonly measured soil quantity could serve as a predictor of adsorption. The best predictor of adsorption by all samples was sum of bases, which explained 84 and 76% of the variation in Cu and Pb adsorption, respectively. In the subsurface horizons, the adsorption of both Cu and Pb was significantly related to vermiculite content (r² = 0.78 and 0.85, respectively), but sum of bases was still a better prediction for these horizons alone (r² = 0.83 and 0.92, respectively). Organic matter content had no significant relationship to adsorption by surface horizons.

¹ Published with approval of the Director of the N. H. Agric. Exp. Stn. as Scientific Contribution no. 939. Presented before Div. S-2 of the Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Houston, Texas, Nov. 1976. This work was a part of Regional Research Project NE-96, "Soil Properties Affecting Sorption of Heavy Metals from Wastes."

² Associate Professor of Soil Chemistry, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.

Received for publication November 11, 1978. Accepted for publication March 13, 1979.