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Environmental Soil Chemistry

Environmental Soil Chemistry illustrates fundamental principles of soil chemistry with respect to environmental reactions between soils and other natural materials and heavy metals… Read more

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Description

Environmental Soil Chemistry illustrates fundamental principles of soil chemistry with respect to environmental reactions between soils and other natural materials and heavy metals, pesticides, industrial contaminants, acid rain, and salts. Timely and comprehensive discussions of applications to real-world environmental concerns are a central focus of this established text.

Key features

  • Provides students with both sound contemporary training in the basics of soil chemistry and applications to real-world environmental concerns
  • Timely and comprehensive discussion of important concepts including: sorption/desorption, oxidation-reduction of metals and organics, and effects of acidic deposition and salinity on contaminant reacions
  • Boxed sections focus on sample problems and explanations of key terms and parameters
  • Extensive tables on elemental composition of soils, rocks and sediments, pesticide classes, inorganic minerals, and methods of decontaminating soils
  • Clearly written for all students and professionals in environmental science and environmental engineering as well as soil science

Readership

Upper level undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and professionals, in environmental soil science, environmental and agricultural engineering, marine studies, and geochemistry

Table of contents

Environmental Soil Chemistry: An Overview:
Evolution of Soil Chemistry.
The Modern Environmental Movement.
Contaminants in Waters and Soils.
Case Study of Pollution of Soils and Waters.
Soil Decontamination.
Inorganic Soil Components:
Pauling's Rules.
Primary Soil Minerals.
Secondary Soil Minerals.
Specific Surface of Soil Minerals.
Surface Charge of Soil Minerals.
Identification of Minerals by X-Ray Diffraction Analyses.
Use of Clay Minerals to Retain Organic Contaminants.
Chemistry of Soil Organic Matter:
Effects of Soil Formation Factors on SOM Contents.
Composition of SOM. Fractionation of SOM.
SOM Structure.
Functional Groups and Charge Characteristics.
Humic Substance-Metal Interactions.
SOM-Clay Complexes.
Retention of Pesticides and Other Organic Substances by Humic Substances.
Soil Solution-Solid Phase Equilibria:
Measurement of the Soil Solution. Speciation of the Soil Solution.
Ion Activity and Activity Coefficients.
Dissolution and Solubility Processes.
Sorption Phenomena on Soils:
Introduction and Terminology.
Surface Functional Groups.
Surface Complexes.
Adsorption Isotherms.
Equilibrium-Based Adsorption Models.
Surface Precipitation.
Sorption of Metal Cations.
Sorption of Anions.
Points of Zero Charge.
Desorption.
Use of Spectroscopic and Microscopic Methods in Determining Mechanisms for Sorption-Desorption Phenomena.
Ion Exchange Processes:
Characteristics of Ion Exchange.
Cation Exchange Equilibrium Constants and Selectivity Coefficients.
Thermodynamics of Ion Exchange.
Relationship between Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Ion Exchange.
Kinetics of Soil Chemical Processes:
Rate-Limiting Steps and Time Scales of Soil Chemical Reactions.
Rate Laws. Determination of Reaction Order and Rate Constants.
Kinetic Models.
Kinetic Methodologies.
Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rates.
Kinetics of Important Soil Chemical Processes.
Redox Chemistry of Soils:
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions and Potentials.
Eh vs pH and pe vs pH Diagrams.
Measurement and Use of Redox Potentials.
Submerged Soils. Redox Reactions Involving Inorganic and Organic Pollutants.
The Chemistry of Soil Acidity:
Historical Perspective of Soil Activity.
Solution Chemistry of Aluminum.
Exchangeable and Nonexchangeable Aluminum.
Soil Acidity.
Liming Soils.
The Chemistry of Saline and Sodic Soils:
Causes of Soil Salinity.
Sources of Soluble Salts.
Important Salinity and Sodicity Parameters.
Classification and Reclamation of Saline and Sodic Soils.
Effects of Soil Salinity and Sodicity on Soil Structural Properties.
Effects of Soil Salinity on Plant Growth.
Appendix A.
Appendix B.
Bibliography.
Chapter References.
Subject Index.

Review quotes

"Environmental Soil Chemistry is the only text available that covers the essentials of the topic plus provides information on the latest technological advances that represent the cutting edge of the science."—Gary M. Pierzynski, Professor at Kansas State University and Editor of Journal of Environmental Quality

"Professor Sparks does an excellent job in relating environmental applications to the more theoretical topics of soil chemistry. The second edition has been notably expanded for several topics including advanced analytical methods. Students in environmental sciences, environmental geochemistry, and soil science will find the book a highly instructive resource."—Harvey E. Doner, University of California at Berkeley

"This text is a concise and authoritative introduction to the field of Environmental Soil Chemistry that is very suitable for a one semester course. The second edition is replete with crisp graphics and real world examples that lay out the foundations of soil chemistry, while providing a firm basis for illustrating the emergence in our field of cutting-edge techniques in molecular spectroscopy and kinetics."—Jon Chorover, University of Arizona, Tucson

Product details

About the author

DS

Donald L. Sparks

DONALD L. SPARKS is the Unidel S. Hallock du Pont Chair and Francis Alison Professor at the University of Delaware. He is internationally recognized for his research in the areas of kinetics of biogeochemical processes and surface chemistry of natural materials. His research has focused on fate and transport of trace metals in soil and water, soil remediation, water quality, and carbon sequestration in soils. Dr. Sparks is the author of two previous editions of Environmental Soil Chemistry and more than 350 refereed papers and book chapters. He is fellow of five scientific societies, and he has been the recipient of major awards and lectureships including the Geochemistry Medal from the American Chemical Society, the Liebig Medal from the International Union of Soil Sciences, the Einstein Professorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Philippe Duchaufour Medal from the European Geosciences Union. Dr. Sparks served as president of the Soil Science Society of America and the International Union of Soil Sciences, has served on advisory committees for several national laboratories and national and international centers and institutes, and served as chair of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee for Soil Sciences and other NAS Committees.
Affiliations and expertise
Director, Delaware Environmental Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

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