The Release of Fixed Ammonium from Soils by Sodium as Affected by Small Amounts of Potassium or Ammonium1
- G. E. Leggett and
- C. D. Moodie2
The release of fixed NH4 from soils by Na was studied. Data are presented to show that when no K was added to NH4-saturated air-dried soils, 86 to 98% of the fixed NH4 was released during alkaline aeration or distillation. When small amounts of K were added to the alkalizing agents, the release was markedly decreased. When the K/Na ratio of the alkalizing agents was increased to 0.005, only 14 to 35% of the fixed NH4 was released. Similar effects were noted when small amounts of NH4 were allowed to accumulate in the system during equilibration of NH4-saturated soils in various volumes and concentrations of NaCl solutions.
The rate of release of fixed NH4 was studied by aerating NH4-saturated soils in the presence of Na2CO3 solution. The data obtained indicate that release is slow, even under conditions which favor removal of the released NH4 from the system. A linear relationship was obtained when the logarithm of rate of release was plotted against time. Thus, it was concluded that the release of fixed NH4 was similar to the release of fixed K from vermiculite and the later stages of K release from biotite noted by others.Please view the pdf by using the Full Text (PDF) link under 'View' to the left.
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