• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.218-226
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• 1995

Ion exchange equilibria in bulk and rhizosphere soil collected from peach seedlings were studied to find exchange equations that could be used in chromatographic models dealing with movement and distribution of fertilizer ammonium and exchangeable cations in soil profiles. Soil samples were equilibrated with mixtures of $NH_4Cl$, KCI, and $CaCl_2$ solutions and then extracted with $Sr(NO_3)_2$ solution to determine exchangeable cation compositions at equilibrium. Exchange data were fitted to Vanselow's, Gapon's, and Kerr's equations, but those formulations did not adequately describe the equilibria. An empirical equation of the form : ${\frac{\alpha_i^m}{a_j^n}}=K{\frac{(iX)^{mPi}}{(jX)^{nPj}}}$ which has an exponent on each of the exchangeable cation concentrations could describe the equilibria very well over the range of treatments. In this equation ${\alpha}^i$ and ${\alpha}^j$ are activities of cation i and j with valences m and n respectively. (iX) and (jX) are concentrations of exchangeable cations. Mole or equivalent fractions can be considered as the exchangeable ion concentration unit. Arbitrary constants $P_i$ and $P_j$, and distribution coefficient K can be found with multiple regression for the logarithmic form of the equation.