BDV 3007 Soil Science

Instructor: Amirah Alias, PhD

Semester: Sem 1 2021/2022
Time: Thursday 5pm
Date: 11 Nov 2021 (Week 5)
Announcements

• Rubric for mini project is uploaded (progress, group

presentation, individual report) – check E-learn
• Lab report #2 due next week, 18 Nov 2021 by 5pm.
Amendment: Table 1, CEC of pure Fe and Al oxides = 4
cmolc/kg
• Midterm will take 2 hour (MCQ/short answer). Covers
Topic 1-5. When is to be discussed today
Topic 4: Types of soil colloids

1.Crystalline silicate clays

(Phylosilicates→ tetrahedral and octahedral crystal sheets)
2. Non-crystalline silicate clays
[Dominantly amorphous clays (allophane and imogolite)]
3. Iron and aluminium oxides
[Dominantly gibbsite (Al-oxide) and goethite (Fe-oxide)]
4. Organic (humus) colloids
[Non-crystalline colloids dominated by long C-chain molecules]
Topic 4: 2:1 crystalline silicate clay

• 4 general groups
• 1 octahedral between 2 tetrahedral sheets
• Expanding type minerals: smectite and vermiculite
• Non-expanding: fine-grained micas (illite) and chlorite
Topic 4: 2:1 crystalline silicate clay
• Expanding type
1. Smectite group
-negative charge due to isomorphous substitution
-high capacity to adsorb cations 20-40 times>
kaolinite
-high total surface area
-bound by O-O and cation-O links
-ultramicropores –swelling when wet, shrink when
not
-cracks are common in soils (vertisols)
-example: montmorillonite

2. Vermiculite group
-in which the octahedral sheet is Al-dominated
-substitution of Al increases CEC, including smectite
-interlayer spaces contain H2O, Al-hydroxy, and cations i.e Mg2+
-bridges, rather than wedges ➔ cannot shrink and swell much
Topic 4: 2:1 crystalline silicate clay
• Non-expanding type
1. Fine-grained micas
-source of charge: Al3+ sub in ~20% of the Si4+ sites in
tetrahedral sheets
-higher charge than vermiculite
-K+ fit into tetrahedral oxygen spacing ➔ tightly bound
-nonexpansive
-example: illite and glauconite (not biotite and muscovite –
in unweathered micas)

2. Chlorites
-Fe2+ or Mg2+, not Al3+
-Mg-dominated trioctahedral hydroxide sheet in between layers
-Mg-octahedral sheet H-bonded to O-atoms of adjacent
tetrahedral sheets
-nonexpansive
-properties quite similar to fine-grained micas
Topic 4: Mineralogical organizations of silicate clay
Topic 4: Noncrystalline silicate clay

• Volcanic ash is chemically/mineralogically distinct from most

other soil parent materials.
• Composed largely of vitric or glassy materials containing
varying amounts of Al and Si.
• It lacks a well-defined crystal structure and quite soluble.
• Allophane and Imogolite from volcanic glass and both have
poorly-ordered structures.
Topic 4: Noncrystalline silicate clay

• Allophane is often associated with clay minerals of the

kaolinite group.
• Allophane forms inside glass fragments where Si concentration
and pH are high and has a characteristic spherule shape.

• Imogolite has the empirical formula SiAl4O10.5H2O.

• High anion exchange capacity and high cation exchange
capacity. Almost all of their charge is from accessible
hydroxyl ions (OH- ), which can attract a positive ion or lose
the H+ attached.
• Imogolite tends to form on the exterior of glass fragments
under conditions of lower pH and Si concentration and has a
characteristic thread-like morphology.
Topic 4: Nonsilicate colloids
• Fe and Al Oxides
-no tetrahedral sheets and silicon in the structure
-no isomorphous substitution by ions ➔ less negative charge Gibbsite –Al(OH3)
-H ions off oxyhydroxyl groups
-strongly adsorb anions such as PO43- or AsO43−
-nonexpansive –stable for construction
① Gibbsite [Al(OH3)]
-most common soil aluminium oxide
-prominent in highly weathered soils
(Oxisols and Ultisols)

② Geothite [FeOOH] and ③ Hematite [Fe2O3]

ferrihydrite [Fe2O3.nH2O] -iron oxide – distorted octahedral
-iron oxide – distorted octahedral -common in dry environment
-common in temperate region -red colors to well-drained soils in
-yellow-brown soils hot, dry climate
Topic 4: Al and Fe oxide
Gibbsite [Al(OH3)] Geothite [FeOOH]
Topic 4: Nonsilicate colloids
• Humus
-Noncrystalline heterogenous organic
substances, comprises of:
-40-60% C
-30-50% O
-3-7% H
-1-5% N

-Very high capacity to adsorb water

-Have high amounts of both positive and
negative charges, but net charge is always
negative
-Humic acid-acidic organic polymer with average
chemical formula of C187H186O89N9S1
-
Attendance and take 5-min break

• https://forms.gle/U5bVG28gTJfKYwVq7
Topic 4: Genesis of colloids
Topic 4: Distribution of clays by geography and soil order
Topic 4: Sources of charges on soil colloids

• Constant Charge (structural)

– through Isomorphic substitution
– both negative and positive charges
– net is negative

• Variable or pH-Dependent Charge

– both negative and positive charges
– primarily associated with hydroxyl (OH) groups
– Source of charge on humus, Fe & Al oxides, allophane
and some phylosilicates.
Topic 4: Sources of charges on soil colloids
Topic 4: Constant and pH-dependent charges
Topic 4: Constant and pH-dependent charges

• Relationship between
soil pH and charges on
Oxisol surface in
Malaysia
• Negative charge (CEC)
increases, and positive
charge (anion exchange
capacity) decreases
when pH increases.
• Zero net charge at Shamsuddin and Ismail, 1995
around pH 4.4
Topic 4: Common cations and anions adsorbed to soil
Topic 4: Cation exchange capacity

• Clay as main soil component controlling chemical

reactivity, due to small size (<2 μm) and high surface
area
• Isomorphous substitution
• The adsorption of cations on the clay surfaces is
necessary to balance these electrostatic charges
• Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is the sum total of
exchangeable cationic charges that soil can absorb.
• The CEC of the soil is influenced more by the type of
mineral rather than the amount of mineral present in
the soil system.
Topic 4: Cation exchange capacity (CEC)

• CEC of selected clay types

1 me/100g = 1 cmolc/kg

15 cmolc/kg means 1 kg of soil can hold 15 cmolc of H+ ions and can exchange same
number of charges from any other cation

• A useful indicator of soil fertility – shows the soil's ability to

supply 3 important plant nutrients: Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+.
Topic 4: Cation exchange capacity (CEC)

• Next lecture- methods of determining CEC, soil

acidity and alkalinity