Abstract
Publisher Summary The importance of trace elements (TEs) in soils depends largely on their fraction that has immediate biological function, that is, the fraction of the total soil burden that is soluble, mobile, and bio-available. The nature and extent of mobility and bioavailability underlines the integrity and sustainability of a particular environment and in particular, the role of TEs in the functioning and wellbeing of an ecological endpoint. The chapter discusses the basic mechanisms in the solubility and mobility of the TEs in the soil, including their movement in the soil profile, the entire vadose zone and the eventual leaching to the ground water. The mechanism leads to the several transport pathways in soil responsible for disseminating TEs in the form of gaseous, aqueous, colloids, and particulate matter. The chapter discusses the most pertinent factors influencing the partitioning and movement of TEs, and finally illustrates transport modeling of the most environmentally important TEs and their applications typified by field case studies, with an emphasis on transport modeling in the vadose zone. TE transport pathways include diffusion and dispersion, preferential flow, colloidal transport, soluble metal complexes, leaching and runoff, and volatilization. There are basic physical, chemical, and biological processes that control mobility of TEs in soils. The processes that sequester TEs can be grossly termed sorption, which to a large extent, determines the partitioning between the solid and solution phase. Factors like soil pH, chemical speciation, soil organic matter, fertilizers and soil amendments, redox potential, and clay content and soil structure affecting trace element mobility and transport are discussed.
Published Version
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