Soil Chemistry

GROUP 6
Nature and Importance of Soil
Nature of Soil
 Soil is the outermost
layer of the earth’s
crust. Depending on
where you are on
Earth, the layer of soil
may be several inches
thick or many feet
deep.
 Soil is a complex
material that supports
life.
SOIL COMPONENTS
Soil is made of mineral
matter, organic matter, water,
and air. The solid mineral
matter and organic matter
make up about 50 percent of
the soil. The average soil
contains about 45 percent
mineral matter and about 5
percent organic matter. These
solids are not tightly packed.
 IMPORTANCE OF SOIL

1. Soil is the basic need of plants, crops, or other

vegetation to grow.
2. Soil is responsible for biodiversity process through
which dead body of plants and animals
decomposed.
3. Soil is important in providing adequate water
supply.
4. The water absorption properties of soil play a role
in reducing pollution from chemicals in
pesticides and other compounds.
5. Various minerals can be found from soil.
ACID-BASE REACTION IN
SOILS
 An acid–base reaction is a chemical reaction
that occurs between an acid and a base,
which can be used to determine pH.

pH-used to specify
the acidity or basicity of an aqueous
solution.
-negative log of the hydrogen ion
concentration
-It is also a measure of OH-
concentration
Causes of soil acidity
1. Accumulation of soluble
acids
a. Carbonic acid
(respiration and atmospheric CO2)

b. Mineralization of organic matter

(produces organic, nitric, sulfuric acids)

Precipitation increases both a and b

2. Exchangeable acids
(Al+3, H+)
 Al+3 ties up OH- from water, releases
an equivalent amount of H+ ions.
Causes of soil basicity

1. Hydrolysis of basic cations

(especially Ca+2, Mg+2, K+, NH4+, Na+)
(also called exchangeable bases)

Extent to which exchangeable bases will

hydrolyze depends on ability to compete
with H+ ions for exchange sites.
2. Hydrolysis of carbonates
(especially CaCO3, MgCO3,
Na2CO3)
 As long as there are carbonates in the
soil, carbonate hydrolysis controls pH.
• Calcareous soils remain alkaline because
H+ ions combine with OH- to form H2O.
• For those soils to become acid, all
carbonates must be leached.
• Basic cations replaced by Al+3 and H+
ION EXCHANGE
REACTION IN SOILS

-exchange of ions on soil

surfaces with ions in soil
solution.

Cations and anions are

involved.
Where does exchange
take place?
 Organic colloids (humus) and
inorganic micelles (clays) and
complexes of both

Where do ions in soil come from?

 Release from organic matter
 Rain
 Weathering of parent material
Leaching
 ions
(on soil surfaces) cannot
be removed by leaching.

 ions
(in solution) can be
removed by leaching.
On soil surfaces, there are
exchangeable and
nonexchangeable ions

Exchangeable:
weakly held,
in contact with soil solution,
ready for quick replacement,
available for plants

“outer sphere
complex”
Nonexchangeable:
absorbed by strong
bonds or held in
inaccessible places
 (e.g., the K+
between layers of
illite)

 “inner sphere
complex”

 not part of ion

exchange !
Cation exchange capacity
(CEC) Expressed in:
milliequivalents per 100
g (meq/100g)

Sum total of exchangeable cations that a soil can

absorb.
Ion exchange example
Add K fertilizer

K+
Ca+2
K+ Ca+2 Ca+2
+ K+
+
K+ K+
Ca+2 K+ K+
K+
exchangeable
exchangeable
solution solution
Rules of ion exchange
 Process is Reversible

 Charge by charge basis

 Ratio Law:
 ratio
of exchangeable cations will be
same as ratio of solution cations
 GROUP 6
KEYRON T. CABISON
JUDY ANN L. CACUT
JOSE MARIE ESTOMO
MIGAEA ANDRES
ELIAN AGLUGUB
JUNEL MANAYANG
CARL VESPER PALUDIPAN