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Boron Retention by Clay and Humus Systems Saturated with Various Cations¹

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors which influence boron retention by clay and humus systems.

Fine clay fractions of Wyoming bentonite and kaolinite were saturated with H, Ca, Mg, K, and NH₄ ions and the effect of time and wetting and drying cycles studied. Boron retention by various humus systems was determined using an equilibrium membrane cell technique.

Under moist conditions base-saturated kaolinite and bentonite clays retained more boron than hydrogen-saturated clays, except in the case of NH₄ bentonite. Drying the clays resulted in more retention in the hydrogen-saturated clays than in the basic systems, except for magnesium-bentonite.

In view of the magnitude of boron retention by the humus systems and the chemical reactions between boron and di-hydroxy organic compounds it is suggested that boron unites with "favorable" diols of the organic matter or those which are gradually released as intermediates of the microbiological breakdown of organic matter in a soil.

¹ Journal Paper No. 567, Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, Lafayette, Ind. Contribution from the Department of Agronomy. Part of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the senior author. Presented before Section II, Soil Science Society of America, State College, Pa., August 29, 1951.

² Formerly Graduate Fellow, now Associate Soil Chemist, Pine-apple Research Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Associate Professor of Agronomy, Purdue University, respectively. The writers acknowledge with sincere thanks the helpful suggestions made during the early stages of this investigation by Dr. B. R. Bertramson. Acknowledgment is also made to the Frasch Foundation for fellowship funds which helped make this study possible.