Phosphorus Sorption in Some Great Soil Groups of Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Volume 16 , Issue 1 , October 2014 , Pages 131-139

Authors

¹ Soil and Water Science Dept, Agricultural Sciences Faculty, Sulaimani University/Iraq

Phosphorus (P) sorption in soils is a key process governing its availability for

crops. There is scanty information on the P sorption characteristics of calcareous soils of

Kurdistan region of Iraq. P sorption characteristics were determined in seven soil

samples belonging to four agricultural soil great groups located in Sulaimani province.

(Xerorthents, Haploxererts, Haploxerolls and Calcixerolls). Total equivalent CaCO3

contents ranged from (33.80 to 350.65 g kg-1). Active CaCO3 contents ranged from

(20.00 to 150.00 g kg-1). The amount of available P contents ranged from (4.49 to 6.92 mg

P kg-1soil). Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied on seven different textured

calcareous soils, in order to characterize the P adsorption isotherm for these soils.

Langmuir and Freundlich parameters (KL, b, Kf and 1/n) values were (130.00 to 800.00

L mg-1, 28.57 to 76.92 mg kg-1, 42.27 to 121.06 mg kg-1and 0.656 to 0.974 ) respectively.

High values of (KL) for all investigated soil samples indicate a strong attraction between

sorbed P and sorbent surface.

Statistics