BORON ADSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME ACIDIC ALLUVIAL SOILS IN RELATION TO SOIL PROPERTIES

We investigated boron (B) adsorption characteristics for 16 acid alluv ial soils as a function of equilibrium B concentration (0-80 mu g/mL) and the effect of soil properties on such adsorption. The adsorption d ata for the soils could be described by Freundlich, Temkin, and BET is otherm equations over the entire concentration ranges studied, and by Langmuir and Eadie-Hofstee equations only over a limited range. In gen eral, the B adsorption capacity and the energy of retention of the soi ls calculated from different equations are low, the average Langmuir a dsorption maxima and bonding energy constant being 21.47 mu g/g and 0. 113 mL/mu g, respectively, making B susceptible to leaching losses. Si mple and multiple regression analysis show that the adsorption capacit ies are significantly influenced by organic carbon (C), cation exchang e capacity (CEC), and different forms of aluminium (Al) content in soi ls. The energy related constants are also influenced by the forms of A l in soils. Existence of significant correlations between constants ob tained from different equations confirmed the adsorption characteristi cs of the soils.