The exchangeable fraction of selectively sorbed super(137)Cs in soils and natural sorbents as a function of the K super(+) and NH sub(4) super(+) concentrations

• Published in: Eurasian soil science 2011-06, Vol.44 (6), p.654-658
• Main Authors: Stepina, IA, Popov, V E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1064-2293; 1556-195X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1064229311060147

The exchangeable portion of the selectively sorbed super(137)Cs extractable by a 1 M ammonium acetate solution (a sub(Ex)) for soils, illite, bentonite, and tripolite was found to increase with the increasing concentration of the competitive cation M super(+) (K super(+) or NH sub(4) super(+)) and can be approximated by a logarithmic relationship. For clinoptilolite, the values of a sub(Ex) did not depend on the concentration of M super(+). The expression 1 - a sub(Ex) (C sub(M=n))/a sub(Ex)(C sub(M)= 16) as a function of the M super(+) concentration (where a sub(Ex) (C sub(M=n)) is the a sub(Ex) value at the competitive cation concentration equal to 16 mmol/dm super(3)) was proposed to compare the dependence of a sub(Ex) on the concentration of K super(+) or NH sub(4) super(+) in different sorbents. For soils and illite, these dependences almost coincided, which indicated that the selective sorption of super(137)Cs in soils is determined by the presence of illite-group minerals.