Soil Science Society of America Journal 64:1951-1958 (2000)
© 2000 Soil Science Society of America
DIVISION S-2-SOIL CHEMISTRY
Changes in Partitioning of Cadmium-109 and Zinc-65 in Soil as Affected by Organic Matter Addition and Temperature
Å.R. Almåsa,
B. Salbub and
B.R. Singha
a Agricultural University of Norway, Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Post Box 5028, 1432 Aas, Norway
b Agricultural University of Norway, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Post Box 5026, 1432 Aas, Norway
asgeir.almas{at}ijvf.nlh.no
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ABSTRACT
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Soil collected from the A horizon of a soil developed from alum shale was added organic matter at the rate of 0 and 4% (w/w) and placed in temperature-controlled climate chambers at 9 and 21°C. After spiking the soil with 109Cd and 65Zn, sequential extraction of the tracers was performed on soil subsamples collected at time intervals ranging from 0.5 to 8760 h (1 yr). The activity concentrations of 109Cd and 65Zn determined in the seven extracts were used in a three-component model to calculate the kinetics of 109Cd and 65Zn transfer between the water-soluble, reversibly sorbed and irreversibly sorbed model components. The rates and the time-dependent distribution coefficient constants for 109Cd and 65Zn distribution among the three components were determined, and the impacts of organic matter addition and increasing temperature on these constants were assessed. The reversible sorption of the tracers occurred rapidly, within 0.5 h, while the transfer of reversibly sorbed 109Cd and 65Zn into the irreversibly sorbed fractions was a significantly slower process. The addition of organic matter reduced the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn transfer into the irreversibly sorbed fractions, whereas the transfer rate increased with increasing temperature. The interaction between organic matter and temperature affected both the rates and the pseudoequilibrium constants, and the temperature regimes and rate of organic matter addition may thus influence the potential mobility of the investigated metals.
Abbreviations: TOC, total organic C
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INTRODUCTION
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WHEN ANTHROPOGENIC trace metals enter the soil, information on their relocation and transformation within the affected soil system is required for assessing the short- and long-term environmental consequences. Among the soil environmental factors, soil temperature and organic matter are known to affect the trace metal transfer between soil phases (Almås et al., 1999; Barrow, 1992; Harter and Naidu, 1995). Organic substances are essentially a mixture of compounds with different molecular weights, and the total number of base-titratable functional groups is in the range of 1000 to 2000 cmol kg-1 C (Stumm and Morgan, 1996). Complexes with monodentate ligands are usually less stable than those with multidentate ligands; therefore, large soil organic molecules are more important for metal retention than low molecular weight organics. However, at higher soil pH levels, dissolved organics can increase the solubility of metal ions by formation of soluble organometallic complexes, which compete with the solid phases for metal ions (Almås et al., 1999; Harter and Naidu, 1995; Sauve et al., 1998). Since the metal reaction with a ligand is endothermic (Hodgson et al., 1964; Taylor et al., 1995), formation of metal complexes with organic and inorganic ligands are generally favored at higher temperatures, and the relationship between temperature and reaction rate, described by Arrhenius, indicates that the reaction rate increases with temperature.
Sorption of trace metals may or may not require a significant activation energy (McBride, 1989), and the activation energy (Ea) calculated from the Arrhenius equation is a measure of the magnitude of forces to be overcome during the reversible ion exchange process. It has also been suggested that low values of Ea indicate that the reacting material consists of major defects, which are facilitating metal diffusion (Barrow et al., 1989). This is in agreement with activation energies reported to be substantially lower for the trace metal transfer in soil (Barrow, 1986) than in goethite (Barrow et al., 1989) and magnesium oxide (Barr and Lidiard, 1970). On oxides like goethite, the potential for a strong redox reagent to reverse sorption of Ni2+, Zn2+, and Cd2+ diminishes with time, a fact that also has been attributed to slow diffusion into the solid phases (Gerth et al., 1993). The hypothesis is that the metals slowly may diffuse into extremely small pores of particle aggregates, a process that probably displays a high degree of apparent nonreversibility (Gerth et al., 1993; McBride, 1989). The rate and extent of metal sorption in soil increases with increasing temperature; however, the positive sorption effect of temperature is most likely to occur when soil pH is low (Barrow, 1992). Low values for activation energy, observed in many cases, indicate that diffusion-controlled exchange may contribute greatly to trace metal penetration in soil (Gerth et al., 1993; Sparks, 1986).
Although the composition of the reacting material may greatly influence the activation energy, chemisorption processes, such as polymerization, nucleation, precipitation, and crystallization of the metals applied, also may significantly contribute to the overall fixation, and the participating mechanisms may be difficult to describe individually. Trace metal interaction with soil particles has previously been reported to increase with temperature (Barrow, 1986; Barrow, 1992; Johnson, 1990; Pehlivan et al., 1995), and according to Barrow (1992), temperature also influences the metal affinity for surfaces. In support of this, Bergseth (1982) reported that increasing temperature not only increased the sorption of Cd2+ and Zn2+ by vermiculite, but it also increased the selectivity for Zn2+ over Cd2+.
It has previously been reported that diffusion is involved in the reaction of metals with soil components (Barrow et al., 1989; Barrow, 1992; Gerth and Tiller, 1988). It is suggested that the rapid surface sorption reactions are followed by a subsequent slow transfer of the metals into soil fractions with tendency towards irreversibility, or at least a desorption rate that is significant slower than the adsorption rate. The rate of metal reversible sorption and further transfer into the slowly reversibly sorbed, or irreversibly sorbed, soil fraction can be separated and estimated by an adequate model. Such a model provides valuable estimations on the mobility and retention of trace metals in the soil system. However, these calculations do not necessarily provide a unique identification of reaction mechanism.
The purpose of this study was to determine the kinetics of reactions related to the geochemical partitioning of Cd and Zn in soil. Tracers of Cd and Zn were used to identify the metals added from those naturally existing (109Cd and 65Zn do not exist in natural soils). The method is very precise and the gamma emission from the radioactive metals enables detection of extremely low metal concentrations (Salbu, 1987). In previous studies, subsamples were withdrawn from the alum shale soil at increasing contact time between 109Cd and 65Zn and the soil (Alm
s et al., 1999). These results showed that increasing contact time lead to an accumulation of 109Cd and 65Zn in the immobile soil fractions. Our study was therefore aimed at (i) using results from sequential extraction analysis to study the exchange kinetic of 109Cd and 65Zn partitioning in the soil, by using a simple three-component kinetic model, and (ii) investigating the effect of temperature and the addition of organic matter on the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn sorption and partitioning into irreversibly sorbed soil fractions.
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Materials and methods
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Soil and Soil Treatment
The A horizon of an alum shale soil was used for these investigations. This soil is classified as a Typic Cryoboroll (Soil Survey Staff, 1992), and was collected from an agricultural school farm at Jønsberg in southeastern Norway. The most important properties of the soil are presented in Table 1
, and the detailed description of this soil is reported elsewhere (Jeng and Bergseth, 1992; Singh et al., 1995). The collected alum shale soil was mixed with 0 and 4% of organic material (w/w), and the source of organic material was manure from pigs (Sus scrofa, Norwegian Landrace), mixed with wood shavings. The chemical composition of the organic matter source is also shown in Table 1. A tracer solution of 109Cd2+ (specific activity: 1.24 x 108 Bq mg-1) and 65Zn2+ (specific activity: 1.45 x 108 Bq mg-1) (DuPont, Mechelen, Belgium) was diluted with MilliQ-water (Millipore, Bedford, MA) to 25 mL, acidified to pH 2 to prevent adsorption of the tracers to the equipment surfaces, and mixed with the total soil volume of about 2.2 L (25002800 g, air-dry weight). This did not change the soil pH noticeably. The small spike solution volume was completely adsorbed by the dry soil, and immediately after spiking the soil was moistened to 60% of field capacity. The specific activities of 109Cd and 65Zn in soil were estimated to be 500 and 600 Bq g-1 soil, respectively. This soil was utilized for a pot experiment conducted in temperature-controlled climate chambers (phytotron) at 9 and 21°C to simulate the soil temperature range of the growth season in southern Norway. The moisture content of the soil in pots was maintained at 60% of field capacity throughout the experimental period.
Soil Sampling and Sequential Extractions
Drying and sieving the soil may change the number of exchange sites in contact with the extracting solution, and the properties of the investigated soil may therefore not be in agreement with the field conditions (Kennedy et al., 1997). Hence, 3-g moist subsamples of soil from the pot experiment at 9 and 21°C were collected for sequential extraction, but the data presented are corrected for dry weight (oven-dried at 105°C). Three parallel subsamples were withdrawn from the phytotron pots, and sequential extraction was performed after 0.5, 1, 3, 24,
168 (7 d),
720 (1 mo), and
8760 h (1 yr) of contact time between 109Cd and 65Zn and the soil. This was done to investigate the effect of temperature and organic matter addition on the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn interaction within soil fractions with time. Solid phase fractionations of 109Cd and 65Zn were done according to the procedure of Salbu et al. (1998), which is modified from that of Tessier et al. (1979). In accordance with Salbu et al. (1998), the reagents were used in the following order to differentiate between binding mechanisms: reversible physical sorption by extracting with H2O (F1) followed by 1 M NH4OAc at soil pH (F2); reversible electrostatic sorption using the pH effect by extracting with 1 M NH4OAc at pH 5 (lower than soil pH, F3); irreversible chemisorption by using redox reagents, which was provided sequentially by 0.04 M NH2OH·HCl in 25% HAc (F4), H2O2 in 1 M HNO3 (F5), and 7 M HNO3 (F6). It is expected, however, that the 1 M NH4OAc at soil pH (F2) will liberate not only the physically sorbed metals, but also metals that are reversibly sorbed due to electrostatic sorption (F3), and thus overlapping is likely to exist between F2 and F3. The reagent will release reversibly sorbed metals associated to either organic or inorganic surfaces. For slowly reversible electrostatic sorption, time is needed to dissolve metals. Due to the experimental conditions (limited time of extraction) this fraction is also included when redox reagents are applied (Salbu, 1998). Overlapping is also likely to occur between the F4 and F5 fraction, which are expected to dissolve 109Cd and 65Zn associated with oxides and residual organic matter, respectively. All extractions were carried out by shaking the samples in 50-mL centrifuge tubes with 20 mL of each extract in the following sequence (soil/solution ratio
1:8):- F1. H2O, pH 5.5, for 1 h at room temperature;
- F2. 1 M NH4OAc, soil pH, for 2 h at room temperature;
- F3. 1 M NH4OAc, pH 5, for 2 h at room temperature;
- F4. 0.04 M NH2OH·HCl in 25% HAc, for 6 h at 80°C;
- F5. 30% H2O2 at pH 2 (HNO3), for 5.5 h at 80°C, then added 3.2 M NH4OAc in 20% HNO3 for 0.5 h at room temperature;
- F6. 7 M HNO3 for 6 h at 80°C;
- F7. Residue.
After each extraction step, all the solid phases were shaken and washed with 10 mL of MilliQ-water. The supernatant was separated from the solid by high-speed centrifugation for 30 min at 11000 g, and evacuated for analysis. The concentrations of 109Cd and 65Zn recovered in the washing step were added to the extracted fraction prior to washing. A Packard Minaxi 3'' through hole NaI Gamma Counter, 5000 Series, (Packard Instrument Co., Downers Grove, IL) was used to determine the activity of 109Cd and 65Zn in the extracts and in the residue left after the 7 M HNO3 extraction step. The stabile Cd and Zn concentrations were also determined in the extracts by using a Perkin-Elmer graphite furnace AAS (Perkin-Elmer, Norwalk, CT) and a Thermo Jarrell Ash ICP (Thermo Jarrell Ash, Franklin, MA), respectively. All funnels and containers used were of polycarbonate and all the equipment was soaked in 10% HCl and thoroughly rinsed in MilliQ-water prior to use. A Shimadzu TOC-5000 analyzer (Shimadzu Scientific, Columbia, MD) provided the analysis of total organic C (TOC) in the water extracts.
The amount of acid-oxalate (Saunders, 1965) and dithionate-citrate-extractable Fe (Holmgen, 1967) in the soil was also determined, and the soil pH was measured in deionized water with solid/solution ratio at 1:2.5 (Table 1).
Other Soil Characterization Procedures
The particle-size distribution was determined by the method of Elonen (1971), whereas C (total C and TOC) and total N were determined by the use of a LECO CHN 1000 analyzer (Leco, St. Joseph, MI) as described by Nelson and Sommer (1996), and Bremner (1996), respectively.
Modeling the Rate of Metal Exchange between Fractions
The results from the different extractions were combined according to the three-component model described in Fig. 1
. The calculations, provided by ModelMaker 2.0 (SB Technology, 1994) are, in general, based on the relative distribution among the three components. Since plant uptake of metal ions occurs primarily through soil solution, the water soluble fraction (F1) is considered separately. Reversibly sorbed metals recovered in the extracts from the F2 and F3 steps in the sequence made up the second component of the model (reversibly sorbed). The apparent irreversibly sorbed fractions (F4, F5, F6, and F7) from where sorbed metals are released using redox agents, made up the third component of the model (irreversibly sorbed). Metals retained by slowly reversible electrostatic sorption are also mainly dissolved by the redox reagents used, because of reasons discussed above (limited time of extraction). However, for the reader's convenience, these metal fractions (which were dissolved by redox reagents) are referred to as irreversibly sorbed throughout the text and in the figures. It is expected that mechanisms of fixation include chemisorption, (co)precipitation, and solid-state diffusion of metals, or a combination thereof. Metals associated to these fractions show a high degree of irreversibility, since redox reagents are required to dissolve them. The model incorporates the calculated rate of 109Cd and 65Zn transfer among the three components as influenced by the organic matter content and temperature change. Ideally, the initial values used in the model should be 0% for the reversibly sorbed and the irreversibly sorbed components and 100% for the water-soluble component at the moment of spiking. Due to rapid reversible sorption of 109Cd and 65Zn, the initial values in the model refer to those obtained after the first withdrawal (0.5 h) in the extraction sequence. The results from the calculations are therefore valid only for the time span of 0.5 to 8760 h. As outlined below, the processed apparent rate constants k1, k2, k3, and k4 define the time-dependent distribution coefficients Kr and Ki (Bq kg-1 solid/Bq L-1 solution) between the phases. Rates of metal transfer between the phases followed a first-order reaction process kinetics, and according to Børretzen (1995), Eq. [2], [3], and [4] can be used to describe the metal flux among the three components shown in Eq. [1] and Fig. 1.
 | (1) |
 | (2) |
 | (3) |
 | (4) |
where Nw, Nr, and Ni denote the relative metal concentrations in the water, reversibly sorbed fractions, and irreversibly sorbed fractions, respectively. The k1, k2, k3, and k4 factors are treated as apparent rate constants (h-1), and they describe fluxes between components in the model. Ideally,
at equilibrium, and thus the pseudoequilibrium constants Kr and Ki (L kg-1) can be expressed in Eq. [5] and [6], respectively, by adjusting the k1/k2 and k3/k4 ratios for solution volume (V) and weight of soil (m). The V/m ratio in this investigation was
8.
 | (5) |
 | (6) |
The evolution of all sorption reactions is, however, affected by temperature (Barrow, 1992; Pehlivan et al., 1995), soil pH, soil organic matter (Christensen, 1984), Eh, nuclide concentration, pressure, mineralogy, and the solid/solution ratio (Domenico and Schwartz, 1990). The calculated rates and pseudoequilibrium constants may therefore disagree with the rates reported for similar reactions in other soilsolution systems.
The Arrhenius-postulated relationship between temperature and reaction rate shown in Eq. [7] can be used to estimate the activation energy (Ea).
 | (7) |
The k value is the rate constant, A is the frequency factor, R is the gas constant, T is the absolute temperature, and Ea is the activation energy. By taking the natural logarithm of both sides, we obtain
 | (8) |
This expression was used to compare the apparent rate constant value (k3) for 9 and 21°C in combination as shown in Eq. [9].
 | (9) |
We used Eq. [9] to calculate Ea for the transfer of 109Cd and 65Zn into the irreversibly sorbed fractions as a function of the apparent rate constant value (k3) at 9 and at 21°C.
Statistical Analysis and Graphical Presentations
The experiment is a two-factorial design with two levels of temperature (9 and 21°C) and two levels of organic matter addition (0 and 4%). The observations were hence treated as a 22 factorial design with two levels for each of the factors (high and low) and three replicates of each factor combination. Statistical analysis was done using JMP 3.1 for Windows (SAS Institute, 1995), and the level of significance is 95%, if not otherwise specified. Origin 5.0 (Microcal Software, 1997) was used for graphical presentations and curve fitting, whereas the apparent rates constants were calculated by ModelMaker 2.0 (SB Technology, 1994).
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Results and discussion
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Sorption of Cadmium-109 and Zinc-65
The spiked 109Cd and 65Zn were totally sorbed by the soil components within a short time after their application. Although adsorption of 109Cd and 65Zn was rapid, the transfer of 109Cd (Fig. 2)
and 65Zn (Fig. 3)
from the reversibly sorbed fractions to the irreversibly sorbed fractions increased with contact time, irrespective of organic matter and temperature levels. The amount of 109Cd and 65Zn recovered in the water fraction was <0.3% after 0.5 h of contact time, and <25 to 35% in the reversibly sorbed fractions (Fig. 2 and 3). Although not shown here, the accumulation of 109Cd and 65Zn with time occurred mainly in the F5 fraction (Alm
s et al., 1999). Equations [2], [3], and [4] satisfactorily described the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn transfer among the three components (Eq. [1]), (P < 0.001).

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Fig. 2 The observed (symbols) and calculated (lines) distribution of 109Cd with time among the water-soluble, reversibly sorbed, and irreversibly sorbed fractions as affected by temperature (9 and 21°C) and the addition of organic matter (OM) (4%). Each symbol represents the mean of

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Fig. 3 The observed (symbols) and calculated (lines) distribution of 65Zn with time among the water-soluble, reversibly sorbed, and irreversibly sorbed fractions as affected by temperature (9 and 21°C) and the addition of organic matter (OM) (4%). Each symbol represents the mean of

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The estimated apparent rate constants k1, k2, k3, and k4 together with the pseudoequilibrium constants Kr and Ki as influenced by temperature and organic matter are presented in Table 2
. It appears that reversible sorption was rapid, and pseudoequilibrium was established within 0.5 h. Thus, the rates k1 and k2 together with the respective Kr values are only briefly described in the following discussion. The observed and calculated distributions of 109Cd and 65Zn with time among the three components in the model are shown in Fig. 2 and 3, respectively. The apparent rate constants (Table 2) were tested statistically in a 22 factorial design. Both organic matter and temperature significantly affect the apparent rate constants for 109Cd and 65Zn (P < 0.05). The effects of temperature and organic matter were also statistically significant for the k3 and k4 constants; hence the effect from the organic matter application is dependent on temperature level. The levels of organic matter and temperature regime also affected the pseudoequilibrium constants (Kr and Ki); however, the effect is more pronounced for 65Zn than for 109Cd. The effects of organic matter and temperature on the pseudoequilibrium constant Ki for both metals are shown in Fig. 4
. Although the effect of organic matter appears to be more important for 65Zn than for 109Cd, the effect of temperature is important for both 109Cd and 65Zn.
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Table 2 Effect of temperature and addition of organic matter on the apparent rates constants (k1k4) and the pseudoequilibrium constants (Kr and Ki) for the 109Cd and 65Zn interactions in the soilwater system model
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Fig. 4 Effects of temperature and organic matter addition (OM) on the time-dependent distribution coefficient Ki (L kg-1) for 109Cd and 65Zn
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Reversible Sorption of Cadmium-109 and Zinc-65
Since the tracers were applied directly and mixed thoroughly with the soil, the transport time for 109Cd and 65Zn to the soil interfaces, which is considered to be the major sorption rate-controlling factor (Stumm and Morgan, 1996), was reduced substantially compared with field conditions. Although the model experiment was designed to separate the effect of time into the initial reversible sorption reaction and the subsequent transfer process, the initial value used (0.5 h of contact time) in the model is not satisfactory for describing the actual rate of rapid surface reversible sorption. However, the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn transfer from the reversibly sorbed into the irreversibly sorbed soil fractions (Fig. 2 and 3) is estimated satisfactorily by this model (r2 > 0.9, P < 0.001; Table 2). Similar to the results of this study, Barrow et al. (1989) reported that at pH 6.4, the concentration of adsorbed Zn fell rapidly with time, which they attributed to the penetration of a large proportion of the sorbed Zn into the goethite crystal. At lower pH (4.55.3), the concentration of adsorbed Zn remained nearly constant, because there was sufficient Zn in the solution to replace most of the adsorbed Zn that had penetrated into goethite.
Transfer of Cadmium-109 and Zinc-65 into the Irreversibly Sorbed Fractions
Based on the Arrhenius equation (Eq. [7]), the activation energy (Ea) was calculated by using Eq. [9] for the transfer of 109Cd and 65Zn into the irreversibly sorbed fractions (k3). Since the temperature-induced increase in the k3 values is moderate (68% increase) in the soil without organic matter addition, the calculated values for Ea are low (3.5 kJ mol-1 for 109Cd and 4.6 kJ mol-1 for 65Zn). These Ea values are much lower than the values previously reported by Bruemmer et al. (1988) (90 and 55 kJ mol-1 for Zn and Cd, respectively) and by Barrow et al. (1989) (91 and 103 kJ mol-1 for Zn and Cd, respectively) for the metal interaction with goethite, and the Ea values (66 kJ mol-1) reported for the interaction of Zn with a loamy sand soil (Barrow, 1986). When organic matter was added at a level of 4% to the soil in our study, the Ea values increased from 3.5 to 61 kJ mol-1 for 109Cd and from 4.6 to 42 kJ mol-1 for 65Zn. These differences suggest that the effect of temperature on the interaction between metals and soil solids is dependent on soil condition and composition. Sparks (1986) concluded that since pure chemical reactions (chemisorption in soils) have higher energies of activation, low values of Ea indicate that diffusion may be important for the metal penetration in soil. The metals may slowly diffuse into extremely small pores of particle aggregates (Gerth et al., 1993; McBride, 1989), and the composition of the reacting material may thus greatly influence the activation energy. Barrow et al. (1989) suggested that low values of Ea indicate that the reacting material consists of major defects, facilitating metal diffusion. Thus, the greater the amount of such major defects in the reacting soil material the lower the values of Ea.
The results from the sequential extraction scheme show that retention of 109Cd and 65Zn are mainly contributed to the F4 (4055%) and F5 (2030%) soil fractions (Alm
s et al., 1999). The amount of dithionate-citrate extractable Fe is high (3.3%, Table 1), and dithionate-citrate is a reducing agent that should dissolve both amorphous and redox sensitive phases. This may exhibit favorable properties for metal diffusion due to major pores and defects in reacting amorphous Fe-bearing minerals and in residual organic matters (oxidized by H2O2). Previous published results have shown that diffusion may be involved in trace metal interaction both with a sandy loam soil (Barrow, 1986) and crystalline materials (goethite) (Barrow et al., 1989). However, it is important to note that reactions such as polymerization, nucleation, precipitation, and crystallization also may significantly contribute to the overall fixation. Diffusion cannot be concluded unequivocally to be the principal mechanism at work in the slowly reversible and irreversible sorption process seen here.
Effect of Organic Matter on the Reaction Kinetics
The rate of transfer among the three components in the model is significantly affected by the addition of organic matter. The presented values for Ea emphasized how important the organic matter addition was for diminishing the 109Cd and 65Zn transfer into the irreversibly sorbed fractions. The Ea values increased from 3.5 to 61 kJ mol-1 for 109Cd and from 4.6 to 42 kJ mol-1 for 65Zn, when organic matter was added. The organic matter induced reduction of the reaction rate k3 was more pronounced for 109Cd than for 65Zn; hence, the organic matter induced increase of Ea was higher for 109Cd than for 65Zn. Since the forward reaction rate (k3) between Component II and III in the model (Fig. 1) was counteracted by the reverse reaction rate (k4, Table 2), the organic matter induced shift in Ki is hardly detectable for 109Cd (Fig. 4), and the Ki decrease of only 2 to 7% is not significant. It may be recalled that the equilibrium constants are based on the ratio of rate coefficients, as shown in Eq. [5] and [6]. The decrease in Ki is statistically significant for 65Zn, both at 9 and 21°C. This work indicates that the addition of organic matter also increased the potential mobility of 109Cd, although the effect on Ki was not found to be significant. Despite the element of uncertainty connected to the equilibrium constant Kr, a significant reduction of Kr in the organic matter treated soil indicates that dissolved organics may have increased the solubility of 109Cd, and also for 65Zn at 9°C, by formation of dissolved metalorganic complexes. The concentrations of 109Cd and 65Zn in the water extracts are significantly higher in the organic matter treated soil. Analysis of TOC in these water extracts showed that the TOC concentrations were significantly higher in the extracts of the organic matter treated soil than in the untreated soil during the whole experimental period (paired t test). Hence, the correlation between the concentrations of TOC and 109Cd and 65Zn in the water extracts is positive and significant
. This is treated as a corroborative evidence for suggesting that the potential mobility of the 109Cd and 65Zn is increased by formation of dissolved metalorganic complexes. Due to the decrease in Ki in the organic matter treated soil, mobile organic ligands may have diminished the fixation of metal ions by formation of soluble metalorganic complexes. The addition of organic matter thus increased the potential mobility of 109Cd and 65Zn (Fig. 2 and 3).
Effect of Temperature on the Reaction Kinetics
The effect of temperature on the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn transfer into the irreversibly sorbed fractions (k3) is statistically significant, as discussed in the section on activation energy. In addition to increasing the k3 values, the increased temperature also significantly shifted the Ki values to higher levels for both metals, irrespective of the organic matter addition (Table 2). Although the k3 values either remained the same or decreased with increasing temperature, the Ki value increased because the rate coefficient that describes the reverse reaction (k4) decreased even more. This resulted in increased concentrations of 109Cd and 65Zn in the irreversibly sorbed fractions at 21°C, and the corresponding decrease in the amount of reversibly sorbed metals and metals in the water fractions (Fig. 2 and 3). These observations agree well with previously published results showing increasing rates of metal reaction with soils (Barrow, 1986) and oxides (Gerth and Tiller, 1988) with time and temperature. It also appears from the Ki values that the effect of temperature is more pronounced for 65Zn than for 109Cd. The temperature-induced increase in the Ki values are 9 and 3% for 109Cd, and 23 and 19% for 65Zn, in the untreated and in the organic matter treated soils, respectively. Bergseth (1982) reported temperature-induced selectivity for Zn2+ to Cd2+ during the process of reversible sorption by vermiculite. He found that increasing temperature not only increased the sorption of Cd2+ and Zn2+ by vermiculite, but it also increased the selectivity for Zn2+ over Cd2+. As discussed above, the addition of organic matter may have mobilized the metals, but the effect is more pronounced at 9 than at 21°C. It can be seen in Fig. 4 that the values for Ki are lowest in the organic matter treated soil at 9°C. This implies that the organic matter induced mobilization of 109Cd and 65Zn is more efficient at the lower temperature. It is possible that the aggregation of suspended metalorganic complexes has increased with temperature, which would subsequently increase the solid phase fraction of 109Cd and 65Zn. Since complexation is more important for metal retention in soil than exchange sites on organic matter (Basta et al., 1993), it is likely that solid organic and inorganic matter increasingly chemisorbs labile metal ions associated with dissolved organics as temperature increases.
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Conclusions
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In this study, a soil was spiked with 109Cd and 65Zn to determine the kinetics of reactions affecting the geochemical partitioning of trace metals with time as influenced with by temperature and organic matter addition. The results show that the initial reversible sorption of 109Cd and 65Zn occurred rapidly (within 0.5 h), and therefore the estimated rate of this process is uncertain. This study showed, however, that 109Cd and 65Zn were subsequently transferred from the reversibly sorbed fractions into the irreversibly sorbed fractions with time. Temperature and the addition of organic matter affected the rate of transfer and the distribution at pseudoequilibrium condition. Because increasing temperature increases the rate of 109Cd and 65Zn interaction with the soil, the forward reaction rate (k3) is facilitated by temperature. This results in higher 109Cd and 65Zn concentrations in the irreversibly sorbed fractions, which is reflected by a temperature-induced increase of the pseudoequilibrium constant Ki. On the other hand, the k3 and the Ki values are reduced by the addition of organic matter. These results indicate that the potential mobility of 109Cd and 65Zn is reduced with increasing temperature, whereas it is increased with the addition of organic matter. The effect of these two treatment factors on the exchange rates and pseudoequilibrium constants for 109Cd and 65Zn distribution is hence antagonistic in the model used.Technology Ltd 1994
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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The Research Council of Norway supported this research through a fellowship to the senior author as well as through research funding, and this assistance is gratefully acknowledged. The first author wishes to thank Peer Børretzen at Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, for his valuable assistance during the model setup and its execution.
Received for publication July 1, 1999.
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