Effect of liming and phosphate additions on sulphate leaching in soils

Abstract

SUMMARY The effect of lime (CaCO 3 ) and phosphate additions on surface charge characteristics and their effect on the leaching of sulphate were examined for two soils (Patua loam and Tokomaru silt loam) which differed in their adsorption capacities for sulphate. Incubation of soils with either CaCO 3 (0–600 mmol kg −1 ) or phosphate (0‐208 mmol kg −1 ) resulted in a two‐ to five‐fold increase in the net negative charge and a similar decrease in the adsorption of sulphate. The effect of either lime or phosphate addition on both the surface charge and sulphate adsorption was more pronounced for the allophanic Patua soil than for the Tokomaru soil containing mainly vermiculite. In a column experiment, liming induced the leaching of sulphur either by the desorp‐tion of adsorbed sulphate or by the mineralization of organic sulphur. During a miscible displacement study, addition of either CaCO 3 or phosphate resulted in an early breakthrough of sulphate in the leachate. In a pulse experiment, in which soils were incubated with sulphate (3.12 mmol kg −1 ) for 1 week and subsequently leached with water, more added sulphate was lost in the leachate of the soils previously incubated with either CaCO 3 or phosphate.