1980•Communications in Soil Science and Plant AnalysisRequires access
Solubility relationships of silica in soils
Muhammad Sadiq, Bert E. Bledsoe, Carl G. Enfield
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Abstract
Twenty‐one mineral soils of different physicochemical properties were used in this study. Soil suspensions, 30 grams of soil in 150 ml of distilled water, were shaken for 96 hours at 200 rpm and 25±1°C. The activity of H4SiO4°, maintained in soil suspensions after shaking for 96 hours, was higher than quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite suggesting that comparatively more soluble forms of silica may be present in soils. All the soils, except Soil P and Soil Q, used in this study supported lower activity of Si than amorphous SiO2. The average activity of H4SiO4° was 10−3.08 M. It may be reasonable, for general purposes, to assume soil Si level as 10−3.1 M. The activity of H4SiO4° found in soil suspensions was independent of soil pH. None of the selected physicochemical properties of soils was significantly correlated (at 5% significance level) to the activity of H4SiO4° in soil suspensions.