Surface charge is a function of organic carbon content and mineralogical compositions of soil

Abstract

A study of the distribution of the electric charges in the surface horizons of two highlyweathered soils Fluvaquent and Haplaquept of West Bengal, India was made by directmeasurement of adsorption of ions in the presence of varying concentration ofelectrolyte. The objective of this study was to evaluate charge properties of two highlyweathered soil of India. The results show that pH0 varies with soil according to thevariation in organic carbon and sesquioxide/allophone content. Organic carbon stronglyaffects the variation of negative charge with pH, but sesquioxide/allophone isresponsible for positive charge variation. Results used the difference between the soil pHvalues measured in 1M KCl and in water for estimating the point zero charge of the soiland ΔpH values estimating the net surface charge character. Surface charges is a functionof organic carbon, clay content, composition of clay and amount of Fe, Al and thereoxides.