Solid activity coefficients of phosphate adsorbed by soil

Abstract

The data of 14 soils were used to compute the ion activity product (IAP), the ratio of the ion activity product and to the solubility product (Ksp) of the pure minerals (IAP/Ksp) and to estimate the solid activity coefficients (SAC) of the soil components. The value of IAP and SAC of AlPO4 differs from soil to soil and increases with increasing P added to soil in acid soils and for calcium phosphate in basic soils. Magnesium apparently did not cause P adsorption or precipitation in the soils studied. The SAC of aluminum phosphate ranged from 10 to 10000 in acid soils. The mole fraction of the total phosphate in soil seemed to be a more satisfactory basis for calculating the concentration of the solid phase than was measurements of the available phosphate.