Sorption capacity of phosphate in mineral soils: II Dependence of sorption capacity on soil properties

The dependence of the indicator of phosphate sorption capacity on extractable Al and Fe and other soil properties was studied in a material consisting of 102 mineral soil samples. The sum of P adsorbed on soil during two days from a solution containing P 5 mmol/l and P extracted by 0.02 M EDTA (pH 5.3) as an estimate of the initial P content in the soil was used as the indicator of P sorption capacity. In clay and silt soils (n = 51), the Al and Fe extracted by 0.05 M oxalate (pH 2.9) together with the organic C content explained 85 %, the Al and Fe extracted by 0.05 M K4P2O7 (pH 10) together with the clay content 87 %, the Al and Fe extracted by 0.02 M EDTA (pH 5.3) 91 %, and the Al extracted by 1 M CH3COONH4 (pH 4.8) together with the organic C and clay contents 78 % of the variation of the indicator of phosphate sorption capacity. In coarse soils (n = 51), the variation of the indicator was explained well only by oxalate-extractable metals, which together with soil pH and clay content explained 80 % of the variation. Extractable Al was generally the most important explainer of variation. The results suggest that forms of extractable Al and Fe explaining the variation of the indicator of P sorption capacity in clay and silt soils are partially different from those in coarse soils.