Experiments were conducted on 48 representative surface and subsurface soils collected from different climatic and physiographic conditions in southern Iran to assess factors affecting potassium (K) release and to find the best fitting models to describe the release kinetics of K to 0.01 m CaCl2. Mineralogical analysis showed that smectite, mica, chlorite, and palygorskite were the main clay minerals in the studied soils, whereas quartz, mica, and feldspars were abundant in the silt and sand fractions. Results indicated that cumulative K released ranged from 26.7 to 260 mg/kg (mean 176 mg/kg) for surface soils and from 37.9 to 198 mg/kg (mean 130 mg/kg) for subsurface soils. The predominant source of K in the soils appeared to be mica, because there was a significant relationship between cumulative K released and mica content. The percentage of non-exchangeable K release to CaCl2 during 1496 h was also correlated with the ratio of mica in the coarse fractions to total mica in the whole soil. Results showed that the Elovich equation adequately described the reaction rates of K release from surface and subsurface soils and suggested a heterogeneous diffusion process. We concluded that mica content and its particle size, soil depth, and some soil properties are the main factors controlling K release rate. On the other hand, we found no significant relationships between K release rate and climatic conditions, or physiographic positions.
