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Soil Mineralogical Perspective on Immobilization/Mobilization of Heavy Metals

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Adaptive Soil Management : From Theory to Practices

Abstract

Knowledge on the fate and transport of heavy metals is essential for predicting the environmental impact of metal contamination on agricultural soils. This chapter presents an overview of various factors that are involved in controlling the retention and mobility of heavy metals in soils with a special reference to soil mineralogy. The bioavailability of most elements, in particular heavy metals, in soils is governed by adsorption-desorption, complexation, precipitation and ion-exchange processes. The most important surfaces involved in metal adsorption in soils are active inorganic colloids such as clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of metals, metal carbonates and phosphates and organic colloids. In addition to soil mineralogy, other important parameters controlling heavy metal retention and their distribution are soil texture, structure, pH, redox condition, cation and anion concentration, ionic strength, organic matter, microbial and root activity and climatic conditions. However, the ultimate fate of elements depends on a combination of several factors that are working together in the soil system. Finally, several remediation strategies have also been highlighted based on the fundamental principles of metal immobilization on mineral containing soil amendments.

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Acknowledgements

BS acknowledges the Department of Education and Training, Australian Government, for awarding him the Endeavour Research Fellowship. SS and BBB acknowledge their parent organization, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). SM is grateful to the Department of Education, Australian Government, for providing her an Australian Post-graduate Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyanga, Bhubaneswar, 751002, India

    Subhas Sarkar

  2. Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, University Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    Binoy Sarkar, Sanchita Mandal, Bhabananda Biswas & Prashant Srivastava

  3. ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Boriavi, Anand, 387310, India

    B. B. Basak

Authors
  1. Subhas Sarkar
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  2. Binoy Sarkar
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  3. B. B. Basak
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  4. Sanchita Mandal
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  5. Bhabananda Biswas
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  6. Prashant Srivastava
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Correspondence to Binoy Sarkar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Science, BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Amitava Rakshit

  2. Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Purushothaman Chirakuzhyil Abhilash

  3. Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Harikesh Bahadur Singh

  4. Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (Research), National Parks Board, Singapore, Singapore

    Subhadip Ghosh

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Sarkar, S., Sarkar, B., Basak, B.B., Mandal, S., Biswas, B., Srivastava, P. (2017). Soil Mineralogical Perspective on Immobilization/Mobilization of Heavy Metals. In: Rakshit, A., Abhilash, P., Singh, H., Ghosh, S. (eds) Adaptive Soil Management : From Theory to Practices. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3638-5_4

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