Effects of pH, soluble phosphate and organic matter on zinc fixation by soil

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to verify the effects of some properties of the soil as pH, and the content of soluble phosphate and organic matter on the soil capacity to fix zinc. Ten grams each of 30 samples of different soils were placed in a 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask and 4 ml of solution containing 100 mg of inert zinc and 0.7 mcof radioactive 65Zn were added. After 20 days of incubation, Zn was extracted with 20 ml of 0.01 M EDTA solution made 1M respect to (NH4)2CO3. An aliquot of 5 ml of the extract was transferred to a test tub and radioactivity of 65 Zn in it was measured with a scintillation counter. Quantity of zinc fixed by the different soils was calculated from the data obtained and county made on the standard solution. It was concluded that the amount of zinc fixed by the soil was positively correlated with pH, soluble phosphate and organic matter content of the soils.