Phosphate and arsenate retention in sediments of the Anllóns river (northwest Spain)

We have studied the distribution and sorption behavior of phosphate and arsenate in bed-sediments of the Anllóns river (NW Spain). As a consequence of the intense gold-mining activity in the past, substantial amounts of arsenic were found in the river sediments. For phosphorus, higher concentrations were found near two sources of P pollution. Sorption isotherms were described by the Freundlich, Langmuir and Tempkin equations. In general, the sediments sorbed more P than As. The equilibrium P concentration (EPC) reveals that sediments act as a scavenger for soluble P; by contrast, equilibrium As concentration (EAC) values were high for the As-rich sediments and correlates well with total arsenic content. Amorphous Fe oxides content, organic matter and fraction of clay plus silt were the main properties of the sediments related with the sorption of arsenate and phosphate. The results obtained provide a first estimate of the sorption behavior and availability of the phosphate and arsenate anions in the sediments of the Anllóns river.

161 CALCINED CLAY AND ALUMINA AMENDMENTS INCREASE PO4 AND K RETENTION OF SOILLESS CONTAINER SUBSTRATES

Soilless substrates have little capacity to sorb PO4. One way to reduce PO4 leaching during production is to increase the substrate retention of PO4. Adsorption isotherms were created at 25 C for alumina (aluminum oxide); the 2:1 calcined clays arcillite (montmorillonite plus illite) and attapulgite.; and a medium of 70 peat: 30 perlite using solutions of KH2PO4 at rates of P ranging from 0 to 20000 μg·ml-1. Material sorbed at the rate resulting in maximum P adsorption was then desorbed 22 times. Sorbing concentrations necessary to establish an equilibrium P concentration of 10 μg·ml-1 in the substrate solution were estimated from these curves. Materials were-charged with P at these estimated rates and evaluated in a greenhouse study in which each material was tested at 10 and 30% by volume of a 70 peat: 30 perlite substrate used to produce Dendranthema × grandiflorum `Sunny Mandalay'. Phosphate, K, and pH were determined on unaltered soil solutions biweekly throughout the cropping cycle and foliar analyses were determined on tissue collected at mid- and end-crop. Isotherm and greenhouse data indicated that alumina, arcillite, and attapulgite effectively retained and slowly released K as well as PO4 over time. Alumina was most effective at retaining P, sorbing 16800 μg/cc compared to 3100 and 7800 μg P sorbed/cc for arcillite and attapulgite, respectively, when sorbed at P concentrations resulting in an equilibrium concentration of approximately 10 μg P/ml.