4th Edition

Principles of Soil Chemistry

By Kim H. Tan Copyright 2011
    390 Pages 123 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Learn the secrets of soil chemistry and its role in agriculture and the environment. Examine the fundamental laws of soil chemistry, how they affect dissolution, cation and anion exchange, and other reactions. Explore how water can form water-bridges and hydrogen bonding, the most common forces in adsorption, chelation, and more. Discover how electrical charges develop in soils creating electrochemical potentials forcing ions to move into the plant body through barriers such as root membranes, nourishing crops and plants. You can do all this and more with Principles of Soil Chemistry, Fourth Edition.

    Since the first edition published in 1982, this resource has made a name for itself as a textbook for upper level undergraduates and as a handy reference for professionals and scientists. This fourth edition reexamines the entire reach of soil chemistry while maintaining the clear, concise style that made previous editions so user-friendly. By completely revising, updating, and incorporating a decade’s worth of new information, author Kim Tan has made this edition an entirely new and better book.

    See what's new in the Fourth Edition

    • Reexamines atoms as the smallest particle that will enter into chemical reactions by probing new advances testifying the presence of subatomic particles and concepts such as string theory
    • Underscores oxygen as the key element in soil air and atmosphere for life on earth
    • Reevaluates the idea of transformation of orthoclase into albite by simple cation exchange reactions as misleading and bending scientific concepts of ion exchange over the limit of truth
    • Examines the role of fertilizers, sulfur, pyrite, acid rain, and nitrogen fixation in soil acidity, underscoring the controversial effect of nitrification on increasing soil acidity over time
    • Addresses the old and new approaches to humic acids by comparing the traditional operational concept against the currently proposed supramolecular and pseudomicellar concept
    • Proposes soil organics, such as nucleic acids of DNA and others, to also adsorb cation ions held as diffusive ion clouds around the polymers

    Tan explains, in easy and simple language, the chemical make-up of the four soil constituents, their chemical reactions and interactions in soils as governed by basic chemical laws, and their importance in agriculture, industry, and the environment. He differentiates soil chemistry from geochemistry and physical chemistry. Containing more than 200 equations, 123 figures, and 38 tables, this popular text and resource supplies a comprehensive treatment of soil chemistry that builds a foundation for work in environmental pollution, organic and inorganic soil contamination, and potential ecological health and environmental health risks.

    Definitions and Concepts of Solid Chemistry
    The Issue of Soil Chemistry
    Definition of Chemistry
    Concept of Soil Physical Chemistry
    Concept of Geochemistry
    Concept of Soil Chemistry

    Overview of Basic Chemical Principles and Units
    Atom and Atomic Structure
    Particle Accelerators or Synchrotons
    Elementary Particles
    String Theory
    Atomic Model of Rutherford and Bohr
    Mass and Weight
    Atomic Mass and Atomic Mass Number
    Atomic Number
    Atomic Weights
    Avogadro's Number
    Atomic Orbitals
    Atomic Radius
    Valence
    Equivalent Weight
    Chemical Units
    Isotopes
    Radioactivity
    Half-Life of Radioactive Material and Carbon Dating

    Soil Composition and Electrochemical Potentials
    Soil Composition
    Concept of Electrochemical Potentials
    The Nernst Equation
    Electrode Potentials in Redox Reactions
    Electron Activity
    rH Concept
    Chemical Potential
    Electrochemical Potential
    Membrane or Donnan Potential

    Soil Gas and Liquid Phases
    The Gaseous Phase
    Composition of Soil Air
    The Oxygen Revolution
    Soil Aeration and Aerification
    Characterization of Soil Air Quality
    Humidity of Soil Air
    Hydrotropism
    The Liquid Phase
    Chemistry of Soil Water
    Oxygen Demand of Water
    Soil-Water Energy Concept
    Plant-Soil-Water Energy Relation
    Law of Mass Action and Equilibrium Constant
    Solubility Product
    Dissociation of Water
    Dissociation of Strong Electrolytes
    Dissociation of Weak Electrolytes
    The Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation
    The Equilibrium Constant and Ion Pairs
    The Exchange Constant and Ion Exchange
    Relationship between Equilibrium Constant and Cell or Electrode Potential
    Equilibrium Constant and Free Energy Relationship
    Equilibrium Constant and Electron Activity
    Activity and Standard State
    Debye-Hueckel Theory and Activity Coefficients
    Ionic Strength

    Colloidal Chemistry of Organic Soil Constituents
    The Colloidal System
    The Organic Components
    Soil Humus
    Carbohydrates
    Amino Acids, Peptides and Protein
    Lipids
    Nucleic Acids
    Lignins
    Humic Matter

    Colloidal Chemistry of Inorganic Soil Constituents
    The Clay Fraction of Soils
    Structural Chemistry of Clay Minerals
    The Identification of Clay Minerals
    Surface Chemistry of Soil Clays
    Surface Areas
    Origin of Negative Charge in Soil Clays
    Positive Charges and Zero Point of Charge
    The Use of ΔpH in the Determination of Negative or Positive Charges
    Surface Potential
    Electric Double Layer
    The Zeta (ζ) Potential
    The Electric Double Layer and Stability of Clays
    The Effect of Flocculation and Dispersion on Plant Growth

    Adsorption in Soils
    Types of Adsorption
    Adsorption Characteristics
    Forces of Adsorption
    Adsorption Isotherms
    Adsorption of Water
    Plant-Soil-Water Energy Relation
    Adsorption of Organic Compounds
    Interparticle Attraction

    Cation Exchange
    Adsorption of Cations by Soil Colloids
    Cation Exchange Reactions
    Cation Exchange Capacity
    The Exchanging Powers of Cations
    The Ionic Composition of The Exchange Complex
    Empirical Equations of Cation Exchange
    Mass Action Law Equations of Cation Exchange
    Kinetic Equations of Cation Exchange
    Thermodynamic Equations of Cation Exchange
    Cation Exchange Equation Based on the Donnan Theory
    Cation Exchange Equation of Eriksson
    Cation Exchange Equation According to the Diffuse Double Layer Theory
    Schofield's Ratio Law
    Fixation of Cations
    Base Saturation
    Adsorption and Exchange of Cations by Soil Organic Matter

    Anion Exchange
    Positive Charges
    Adsorption of Anions by Soil Colloids
    Phosphate Retention and Fixation
    Biological Fixation of Phosphate
    Soil Reaction and Availability of Inorganic Phosphates
    Prediction of Phosphate Ion Concentration According to Schofield's Ratio Law
    The Phosphate Potential

    Soil Reaction
    Definition and Importance
    Acid-Base Chemistry
    Application in Soils
    Formulation of Soil Acidity and Alkalinity
    Concepts of Soil Acidity
    The Role of Aluminum in Soil Acidity
    The Role of Fertilizers, Sulfur, Pyrite, N-Fixation, and Acid Rain in Soil Acidity
    Buffering Capacity of Soils
    Electrometric Measurement of Soil pH
    Suspension Effect in Soil pH Measurement
    Lime Potential
    The Need for Acidic Soil Reactions
    Soil Reactions in Saline and Sodic Soils
    Chemical Characterization of Saline and Sodic Soils
    Effect of Salinization and Sodication on Plant Growth
    Irrigation of Saline and Sodic Soils
    Salt Balance and Leaching Ratio
    Irrigation-Induced Salinization and Sodication

    Soil Chemistry and Soil Formation
    Concepts of Weathering
    Weathering Processes
    Stability and Weathering of Soil Minerals
    Weathering of Feldspars and the Silica Potential
    Weathering of Kaolinite and the Gibbsite Potential
    Stability and Phase Relationships of Soil Minerals
    Biological and Biochemical Weathering
    Soil Formation Processes or Pedogenesis
    Oxidation and Reduction Reaction in Soils 

    Chemistry of Soil–Organic Matter Interaction
    Complex Formation and Chelation
    Interactions with Soil Organic Compounds
    Metal–Organic Complex Reaction
    Clay–Organic Compound ComplexesComplex Formation and Mobility of Soil Constituents
    Stability Diagram of Metal Chelates
    Complex Formation and Clay Mobility
    Complex Formation and Soil Fertility

    Appendix A Fundamental Constants
    Appendix B Greek Alphabet
    Appendix C Periodic Classification of Elements
    Appendix D X-ray Diffraction 21 d Spacing Conversion Table
    Appendix E System International (SI) Units
    Appendix F Factors for Converting U.S. units into SI units
    References and Additional Readings
    Index

    Biography

    Kim H. Tan

    "...written in a clear and concise manner and makes cross-reference between sections to help the reader; it also has a detailed index which is essential in a book of this nature...useful to have on the shelf to pick up when you wish to seek information about soil chemistry."
    —Stephen Nortcliff, in Experimental Agriculture, Vol. 47 (3)

    "...bridges the gap between pure chemistry and soil science and presents soil as a basic entity in a wide range of disciplines."
    Bulletin of the International Society of Soil Science

    "Included in this text are many interesting historic details and other items of information usually overlooked in most recent highly focused textbooks...provides interesting and...useful background and supplementary reading for any course in soil chemistry...a valuable addition to all soils libraries, both public and private."
    Soil Science