Soil Colloids: Nature & Significance

Nutr|ents for |ants

O Along with water and air, plants need their nutrients to grow and
thrive.
4 And it is through the exchange of nutrient ions from colloidal
fractions - microscopic clays and humus - to plant roots that
plants secure the nutrients they need.
4 Colloidal particles capture and hold nutrients through
electrical bonds.
4 These particles are like a bank - they hold onto essential
mineral elements - calcium, potassium, sulphur - from
possible leaching due to excessive rainfall or irrigation.
4 These nutrients are then withdrawn from the colloidal bank by
plants, and these nutrient accounts are replenished through
both the decomposition of organic matter and through the
application of fertilizers.
enera| ropert|es of So|| Co||o|ds
O Colloidal particles (also called micelles) are:
4 Extremely small - microscopic; most are smaller than 2
millionth of a meter (micrometers) in diameter.
4 ave large expose surface areas per unit mass - the
external surface area of one gram of colloidal clay particles is
at least 1000 times that of one gram of coarse sand.
4 nternal surface areas - Some colloidal particles also have
internal surfaces between plate-like layers that often exceed
external surfaces; sometimes several hundred times as much
surface space.
4 olloidal particles have surface charges - Carry negative
and/or positive charges depending on their structure BUT
most colloidal particles have an electronegative charge. Some
mineral colloids in very acidic soils have a net electropositive
charge.
O Colloidal particles absorb both cations and water:
4 Charges on soil colloids attract ions of an opposite charge to
the colloidal surfaces.
4 These particles will attract swarms (hundreds of thousands)
of positively charged ions, or cations, including H+, Al3+,
Ca2+, Mg2+.
4 This produces an ionic double layer - colloidal particle is the
inner ionic layer (a huge anion) with an outer surface
negative charge and an outer ionic layer of the swarm of
loosely0held cations that are attracted to the negative
surface.
4 A large number of ater molecules are also associated with
colloidal particles - either held by surface attraction (because
water molecules have polarity) OR to the cations lining the
particle that are hydrated.
4 You will also find some anions on the colloidal surface - NO3-,
Cl-, SO42-
4 - due to the interspersed positive charges you will find on a
colloidal particle.
@pes of So|| Co||o|ds
O There are four major types of colloids in soil:
4 Layer silicate clays
4 Iron and aluminum oxide clays
4 Allophane and associated clays
4 Humus
O While each have the same general colloidal characteristics, each
has specific characteristics that make them distinctive and useful.
aer S|||cate C|as
O These are the most dominant inorganic colloids found in most soils.
O Have a layer-like, crystalline structure and are negatively charged.
O Each particle has layers, like pages in a book - comprised of planes
of closely packed (bonded) oxygen atoms held together by silicon,
aluminum, magnesium, hydrogen, and/or iron atoms.
O One example is kaolinite - Si
2
Al
2
O
5
(OH)
4

O The chemical composition and internal arrangement of these atoms
in each layer account for the particles surface charge and its ability
to hold and exchange ions, as well as for its physical characteristics
(stickiness and plasticity).
||ophane Imogo||te
O In the soil there are significant quantities of colloidal silicates whose
crystalline structure is not sufficiently ordered (as is the case with
silicate clays) over significant distances along the particle
framework.
O These are known as short-range ordered minerals.
O Most significant of these are allophane and its more weathered
companion imogolite.
O Both are poorly defined aluminum silicates.
O Most prevalent in soils developed from volcanic ash.
O Capacity to absorb ions varies with pH - cations being absorbed
mostly at high pH, anions at low pH.
O Known for their high phosphorous absorbing capacities.
Iron |um|num Cx|de C|as
O These are found in higher quantities in the more weathered tropical
soils - Ultisols and Oxisols as well as in significant quantities in
Alfisols and Inceptisols of southern temperate zones.
O Example include goethite, hematite, and gibbsite.
O Highly varied - some have definite crystalline structures while
others dont.
O They are not as sticky or plastic as the layer of silicate clays on
which they are commonly found coating.
O Surface charge varies with pH - at high values they carry a slight
negative charge; at low values, they carry a net positive charge.
umus
O Colloidal organization of humus has some similarities to that of clay.
O Again, these are highly charged micelles surrounded by swarms of
cations.
O They are not crystalline, however, but are convoluted chains of
carbon bonded to hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
O Negative charge of humus is due to dissociated enolic (-- OH),
carboxyl (-- COOH), and pheolic (-- OH) groups.
O Like Fe and Al oxide clays, the negative charge of humus is
dependent upon pH - under very acidic conditions, the negative
charge is not very high (even lower than silicate clays) BUT if pH is
neutral or moving toward alkaline, the electronegativity of humus
(per unit) is much greater than for silicate clays.
sored Cat|ons
O The cations found in soils vary according to types of soils:
4 In humid regions, youll find cations of Ca, Al and to a lesser
extent H are most numerous.
4 In semi-arid soils, youll find Ca, Mg, K and Na predominate.
Cat|on prom|nence
O Two major factors determine the relative proportion of the different
cations absorbed by clays:
4 %hese ions are not all held ith equal tightness by the
colloids - order of strength of absorption (when present in
equal quantities) are:
Al3+ Ca2+ Mg2+ K+
4 %he relative concentration of cations in the soil solution
helps determine the degree to which absorption occurs.
4 Also, surface-held cations are subject to exchange with other
cations in the soil solution (e.g. Ca2+ + 2H == H+ H+ =
Ca2+
undamenta|s of aer S|||cate C|a Structure
O Silicate clays are the most numerous colloids in soil. These are
crystalline in structure BUT the mineralogical organization of these
particles vary from one type of clay to another.
h||os|||cates
O These are the most important types of clays, called this for their
leaf-like or planar structure.
O These have two kinds of sheets - one consists of two planes of
oxygen with mainly silicon in the spaces between the oxygen (on
the outside of the layer) AND the other having two planes of
oxygen and hydroxyls with Al or Mg in the spaces between the
oxygen and hydroxyls (on the inside of the layer).
O Basic building block of the silica layer is one silicon atom
surrounded by four oxygen atoms called a silica tetrahedron. An
array of tetrahedral sharing oxygen atoms is called as tetrahedron
sheet.
O The hydroxyl sheet is organized around the Al and/or Mg ions.
O These are surrounded by six oxygen atoms forming an eight-sided
solid or octahedron.
O When a series of these are connected through the sharing of
oxygen atoms, they form an octahedral sheet.
O When a series of these are connected through the sharing of
oxygen atoms, they form an octahedral sheet.
O An Al-dominated sheet is called a dioctahedral sheet.
O A Mg-dominated sheet is called a tricotahedral sheet.
O The distinction is because you need two Al atoms to satisfy the
negative charge of the surrounding oxygens and hydroxyls AND you
need three Mg to satisfy the same charge.
O The tetrahedral/octahedral sheets are the fundamental structural
units of silicate clays. These are, in turn, bonded together within
crystals by shared oxygen atoms.
Isomorphous Sust|tut|on
O In reality, nature is much more complex than the preceding
explanation of silicate sheet organization.
O The weathering of a wide variety of rocks and minerals releases a
range of cations of comparable size to substitute for Si, Al, and Mg
ions in the respective tetrahedral and octahedral sheets.
O For example, you will find Fe3+ in tetrahedral sheets and Al3+,
Zn2+ and Fe2+ in octahedral sheets too.
O This process is called isomorphous substitution and accounts for the
diversity of silicate clays.
Sources of Charges
O Isomorphous substitution is important because it explains the
negative and positive charges of silicate clays.
O Substituion of one Al3+ for a Si4+ in a tetrahedral sheet leaves on
unsatisfied negative charge
&%
O Substitute an Al3+ for a Mg2+ results in one excess positive
charge.
O The net charge associated with a clay micelle is the balance of
positive and negative charges.
O In layer silicate, the net charge is almost always negative.
,|nera|og|ca| Crgan|zat|on of S|||cate C|as
O Based on the number and arrangements of the tetrahedral and
octahedral sheets that make up the crystalline layers, silicate clays
are classified into two different groups:
4 1:1 Type Minerals
4 2:1 Type Minerals
@pe ,|nera|s
O one tetrahedral sheet and one octahedral sheet. E.g. kaolinite.
O These are held together tightly by O atoms which are shared by the
Si and Al cations in their respective sheets. These layers are, in
turn, bonded to adjacent layers by hydrogen bonding.
O This means the structure is fixed - no expansion between the layers
occurs when the clay is wet. The clay is not sticky or plastic.
O Cations and water do not enter between the structural layers of a
1:1 Type clay and the effective surface for cation exchange is the
exterior surface only.
@pe ,|nera|s
O Two tetrahedral sheets and one octahedral sheet between them.
O Four groups of 2:1 Type minerals:
4 Fine-grained micas (illite) and chlorites - relatively
nonexpanding
4 Smectite and vermiculite - expanding type minerals.
xpand|ng ,|nera|s
O These are noted for interlayer expansion.
O Water can enter between the layers forcing them apart.
O These layers are loosely bonded together by very weak oxygen-to-
oxygen and cation-to-oxygen linkages.
O Internal surface, thus exposed, greatly exceeds the external surface
of a mineral clay.
Nonxpand|ng ,|nera|s
O Micas include muscovites and biotite minerals. These are called
fine-grained micas. High net charge in the tetrahedral sheet
(consisting of more Al atoms than usual), attract K ions into the
interlayer space that act as a binding agent, preventing expansion
of the crystal.
O Properties such as hydration, cation absorption, swelling and
shrinkage and plasticity are much less intense in fine-grain micas.
O Soil chlorites are basically Fe-Mg silicates with some Al present.
,|xed or Interstrat|f|ed aers
O Specific groups of clay minerals do not occur independently of each
other.
O You will find several clay minerals in a soil.
O Some mineral colloids have properties lying somewhere between
these two types = producing layers in a crystal of different types.
enes|s of So|| Co||o|ds
O Colloidal particles - silicate clays - are secondary minerals
developed from the weathering of a wide variety of minerals
through two processes:
4 Slight physical and chemical alteration of certain primary
minerals
4 ecomposition of primary minerals with subsequent
recrystallization of certain of their products into silicate
clays.
|terat|ons
O Clays change through weathering processes.
O For example, muscovite can be altered to a fine-grain mica.
O Muscovite, a 2:1 Type minerals, nonexpanding crystal structure, is
broken down through chemical weathering to colloidal parts. Part of
the K found in muscovite is lost and some Si is added.
O Net result is a less rigid crystal structure and available free
electronegative charges at sites formerly occupied by K ions.
ecrsta|||zat|on
O Silicate clays can break down completely due to weathering and
recombine into new crystalline structures.
O For example, kaolinite (1:1 Type clay) can be formed from solutions
containing soluble Al and Si that come from the breakdown of 2:1
Type primary minerals.
O The specific clay mineral that forms depends on weathering
conditions and the specific ions present in the weathering solution
as crystallization occurs.