Kinetics and Mechanisms of Potassium Release from Sandy Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain Soils
1987
Sadusky, M. C. | Sparks, D. L. | Noll, M. R. | Hendricks, G. J.
Kinetics of K release were investigated on a Kenansville loamy sand (loamy, siliceous, thermic Arenic Hapludults), a Rumford loamy sand (coarse-loamy, siliceous, thermic Typic Hapludults), and a Sassafras fine sandy loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludults) from the Delaware Coastal Plain. Previous field experiments had shown that corn (Zea mays L.) grown on these soils did not respond to K applications. The soils contained high levels of total K ranging from 22.5 to 46.5 cmol kg⁻¹. Most of the total K was in the mineral form, particularly feldspars, and was contained in the sand fractions of the soils. Kinetics of K release from the whole soils and from the coarse, medium, and fine sand fractions were studied using a H-saturated resin and 0.01 M oxalic acid. Potassium release from the whole soils, using the resin, ranged from 0.172 to 0.251 cmol kg⁻¹ over a 30-d period, and significantly more K was released with the resin than with oxalic acid. The K release that occurred from the sand fractions was attributed to the highly weathered nature of the K-feldspars in these soils as observed by electron microbeam analyses. The mechanism of K release from the soil feldspars appears to be a surface-controlled reaction.
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