Table Of ContentSoil Colloids and
Their Associations
in Aggregates
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Volume 21S-Soil Colloids and their Associations in Aggregates
edited by Marcel F. De Boodt, Michael H. B. Hayes,
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Series B: Physics
Soil Colloids and
Their Associations
in Aggregates
Edited by
Marcel F. De Boodt
State University of Ghent
Ghent, Belgium
Michael H. B. Hayes
The University of Birmingham
Birmingham, England
and
Adrien Herbillon
Centre de Pedologie Biologique, CNRS
Vandoeuvre-Ies-Nancy, France
Technical Editors
Eric B. A. De Strooper
State University of Ghent
Ghent, Belgium
and
Jonathan J. Tuck
The University of Birmmgham
Birmingham, England
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Based on the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop
on Soil Colloids and Their Associations in Aggregates,
held September 1-7, 1984,
in Ghent, Belgium
ISBN 978-1-4899-2613-5 ISBN 978-1-4899-2611-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-2611-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Soil Colloids and Their
Associations in Aggregates (1984 : Ghent, Belgium)
Soil colloids and their associations in aggregates / edited
by Marcel F. De Boodt, Michael H.B. Hayes, and Adrien Herbillon
;
technical editors, Eric B.A. De Strooper and Jonathan J. Tuck.
p. cm. — (NATO ASI series. Series B, Physics ; v. 215)
"Based on the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on
Soil Colloids and Their Associations in Aggregates, held
September 1-7, 1984, in Ghent, Belgium"—T.p. verso.
"Published in cooperation with the NATO Scientific Affairs
Division. "
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4899-2613-5
1. Soil mechanics—Congresses. 2. Soil colloids—Congresses.
3. Soil structure—Congresses. I. Boodt, M. de. II. Hayes, M. H.
B. (Michael Hilary Bermingham), 1930- . III. Herbillon, Adrien.
IV. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Scientific Affairs
Division. V. Title. VI. Series.
TA710.A1N365 1984
621. V 5136—dc20 89-71019
CIP
©1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1990
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
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Contributors
J.M. BREMNER Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames,
Iowa 50011, U.S.A.
G. BROWN Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition, Rothamsted
Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts. AL5 2JQ,
England
R.G. BURNS Biological Laboratory, University of Kent, Canterbury,
cn
Kent 7NJ, England
C.C. CHEN Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Texas 77843-2474, U.S.A.
M. V. CHESHIRE Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler,
Aberdeen, AB92QJ, Scotland
M.F. DE BOODT Department of Soil Physics, State University of Ghent,
Faculty of Agriculture, Coupure Links 653, B-9000
Gent, Belgium
J.B. DIXON Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Texas 77843-2474, U.S.A.
W.W. EMERSON CSIRO, Division of Soils, Glen Osmond, Adelaide,
South Australia 5064, Australia
V.C. FARMER Department of Spectrochemistry, The Macaulay Land
Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB9
2QJ, Scotland
D. GABRIELS National Fund for Scientific Research, Brussels, and
Department of Soil Physics, State University of Ghent,
Faculty of Agriculture, Coupure Links 653, B-9000
Gent, Belgium
D.A. GENRICH Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames,
Iowa 50011, U.S.A.
D.C. CJoLDEN Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Texas 77843-2474, U.S.A.
v
vi Contributors
B.A. GOODMAN Analytical Division, Macaulay Land Use Research
Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB92QJ, Scotland
D.J. GREENLAND International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Phillipines
(Present address : CAB International, Wallingford,
Oxford, England)
M.H.B. HAYES Department of Chemistry, The University of Birmingham,
P.O. Box 363, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2IT,
England
A.J. HERBILLON Groupe de Physico-Chimie et de Cata lyse , Place
Croix-du-Sud 1, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
(Present address : C.N.R.S., B.P. 5, F-54501,
Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France)
P.M. HUANG Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N OWO, Canada
N. C. KEERSEBILCK Faculty of Agriculture, Gadjah Mada University,
Indonesia, and Department of Soil Physics, State
University of Ghent, Faculty of Agriculture, Coupure
Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
R.S. MURRAY Director's Research Unit, Waite Agricultural Research
Institute, Private Bag No.1, Glen Osmond, S.A. 5064,
Australia
A.C.D. NEWMAN Formerly at Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden,
Herts. AL5 2JQ, England (Present address: Modney
Cottage, Hi/gay, Downham Market, Norfolk, England)
J.M.OADES Department of Soil Science, Waite Agricultural Research
Institute, University of Adelaide, South Australia,
Australia
J.P. QUIRK Director's Research Unit, Waite Agricultural Research
Institute, Private Bag No.1, Glen Osmond, South
Australia 5064, Australia
P.G. ROUXHET Section de Physico-Chimie Minerale, M.R.A. C.- Ter
vuren, Belgium
J.D. RUSSELL Department of Spectrochemistry, The Macaulay Land
Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB9
2QJ, Scotland
Contributors vii
U. SCHWERTMANN Institutfor Bodenkunde, T. U. Miinchen, D-8050 Freising,
Federal Republic of Germany
W.E.E. STONE Groupe de Physico-Chimie et de Catalyse, Place
Croix-du-Sud 1, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
R.S. SWIFT Department of Soil Science, Lincoln College, Canterbury,
New Zealand
R.M. TAYLOR CSIRO, Division of Soils, Glen Osmond, South Australia
5064, Australia
D. TESSIER Station de Recherche du Sol, I.N.R.A., F-78000
Versailles, France
R.M. TORRES SANCHEZ Section de Physico-Chimie Minerale, M.R.A.C.- Ter
vuren, Belgium
J.J. TUCK Department of Chemistry, The University of Birmingham,
P. O. Box 363, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2 IT, England
G.A. UZOCHUKWU Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Texas 77843-2474, U.S.A.
FOREWORD
S. Henin
Versailles, France
It was a pleasure for me to take part in the NATO Advanced Study Workshop for
studies of 'Soil Colloids and their Associations in Soil Aggregates'. The meeting
provided me with a welcome opportunity to renew acquaintances with respected
colleagues in the various fields of Soil Science, to listen to their presentations, and be
involved in discussions which were at the frontiers of the science which deals with the
structures and the associations of the soil colloidal constituents. In my view the rapid
advances in Soil Science, and the great benefits to agriculture from these, have their
origins in the emerging understanding of the structures and the associations of the
different soil colloids. It is clear that much research is still needed before the
molecular details of the most important of the structures and of the interactions are
fully understood.
The associations between the soil colloids, and the manner in which they bind to or
hold the other constituents of soils in aggregates is fundamental to soil fertility.
Modem intensive agriculture leads to the degradation of soil structure and the
subsequent loss through erosion of a resource that is vital for the production of food.
This degradation is considered to result primarily from the biological oxidation of the
indigenous soil organic matter, and from the failure to return to the soil sufficient
organic residues to compensate for such losses. It is evident that erosion losses cannot
be allowed to continue indefinitely, and so it will be necessary to change substantially
tillage and agricultural practices, or to supply to the soil materials which will serve the
function of indigenous organic matter in so far as the preservation of aggregate
structures is concerned.
Much was said at the Workshop (and is included in this book) about the structures
and surface properties of clays, various oxyhydroxides, humic substances and
polysaccharides, materials and substances which can be considered to be the major
contributors to the soil colloidal consituents. It was evident too from the Workshop
that, although much is known about the structural details of the various clay and
oxyhydroxide model substances, less is understood about the details of the structures
of many of the actual colloidal substances which occur in the soil. Clearly, for the
most part the clays and oxyhydroxides in soils are less homogeneous than those from
deposits, or from synthesis in the laboratory. Also, that this lack of homogeneity can
have much to do with the ways that the different colloids associate in the soil.
It is very important to understand better the extents and the mechanisms of the
associations between clays and different oxyhydroxides in the soil. The importance,
ix
x Foreword
for example, of the associations of oxyhydroxides of iron with clay minerals in the
formation and stabilisation of soil aggregates should not be underemphasised. Also,
when significant amounts of iron are associated with clays in the soil, the surface
properties of the clay minerals are greatly altered with respect to the binding or
holding of water and solutes.
Because of my own research involvements, I was especially interested in discussions
of iron hydroxides and their associations with clays. In my view iron oxyhydroxides
can associate with clays either by physicochemical binding mechanisms or by simple
adhesion or coating processes. However, the balance of evidence favours physicochemical
associations because :
1 flocculation results initially when a clay suspension is treated with iron
hydroxide, but the clays are resuspended as more iron hydroxide is added to
the medium. The iron hydroxide micelles formed are positively charged to
allow coulombic interaction between the micelle and the clay surface;
2 there is evidence from electron microscopy for fixation of suspended iron
micelles by crystallites of kaolinite;
3 work in our laboratories has shown that compounds of silicon can have high
affinities for iron hydroxides, and in the case of kaolinite binding mechanisms
may be postulated along the lines :
where the SiO - represents a negative charge occurring at the broken edges
of the siloxane structure, or arising from the ionisation of a silanol group at
the edge. The hydrated iron oxide structure (in brackets) could represent
crystalline iron oxides or oxyhydroxides in association with the clay mineral
surface.
It is my view that the understanding we have of iron oxyhydroxide-clay associations
is still highly inadequate, and the same can be said for the other associations of the
soil colloidal components. It is my hope that soil colloid chemists will now address
themselves more emphatically to studies of details of the mechanisms of interactions
between the different soil colloidal constituents. A thorough understanding of the
associations between these colloids is fundamental to the design of soil treatment
processes which can preserve soil structure and control erosion when the balance of
nature is disturbed. It will be essential to put into practice the recommendations which
will arise from the new knowledge and understanding if the productivity of our soils is
to be maintained in the face of increased pressure to supply food for expanding world
populations in the generations ahead.
