INVESTIGATION OF THE SORPTION OF ZN(II) ON SURFACE SOILS USING A RADIOTRACER TECHNIQUE

Radiometric sorption experiments were carried out on surface soil samp les collected from several sites around Sapporo city (Hokkaido, Japan) in order to evaluate their capacities for the sorption of Zn(II). The maximum sorption (A(m)) of Zn(II), obtained from the sorption isother m, was only 2-5% of the cation exchange capacity (CEC). The A(m) value s were correlated with the pH of the soil suspensions, which indicates that zinc sorption would occur competitively with protons in the susp ension. The effect of organic matter on the Zn(II) uptake was estimate d from the A(m) change of individual samples before and after heat tre atment. Coordinate uptake of the Zn(II) into the degrading organic mat rices was believed not to be important for Zn(II) sorption in some of the present soil samples. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.