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    What Is Soil Acidification

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    Pranay Bansal
    Soil acidification occurs when hydrogen ions build up in the soil, lowering the pH. This can happen when acids are added to soil from sources like acid rain, fertilizers, or aluminum sulfate. It also occurs when basic ions like calcium and magnesium are leached from the soil by excessive rainfall or plant harvesting. The major causes of soil acidity are rainfall and leaching of basic ions, parent material like granite, organic matter decay, and removal of basic ions by high-yielding crops. Soil acidity can be corrected by adding limestone to the soil, which reacts with acidity to produce carbon dioxide and water and raises the pH.

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    What Is Soil Acidification

    Uploaded by

    Pranay Bansal
    36 views2 pages
    Soil acidification occurs when hydrogen ions build up in the soil, lowering the pH. This can happen when acids are added to soil from sources like acid rain, fertilizers, or aluminum sulfate. It also occurs when basic ions like calcium and magnesium are leached from the soil by excessive rainfall or plant harvesting. The major causes of soil acidity are rainfall and leaching of basic ions, parent material like granite, organic matter decay, and removal of basic ions by high-yielding crops. Soil acidity can be corrected by adding limestone to the soil, which reacts with acidity to produce carbon dioxide and water and raises the pH.

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    What is Soil Acidification

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    Soil acidification occurs when hydrogen ions build up in the soil, lowering the pH. This can happen when acids are added to soil from sources like acid rain, fertilizers, or aluminum sulfate. It also occurs when basic ions like calcium and magnesium are leached from the soil by excessive rainfall or plant harvesting. The major causes of soil acidity are rainfall and leaching of basic ions, parent material like granite, organic matter decay, and removal of basic ions by high-yielding crops. Soil acidity can be corrected by adding limestone to the soil, which reacts with acidity to produce carbon dioxide and water and raises the pH.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    36 views2 pages

    What Is Soil Acidification

    Uploaded by

    Pranay Bansal
    Soil acidification occurs when hydrogen ions build up in the soil, lowering the pH. This can happen when acids are added to soil from sources like acid rain, fertilizers, or aluminum sulfate. It also occurs when basic ions like calcium and magnesium are leached from the soil by excessive rainfall or plant harvesting. The major causes of soil acidity are rainfall and leaching of basic ions, parent material like granite, organic matter decay, and removal of basic ions by high-yielding crops. Soil acidity can be corrected by adding limestone to the soil, which reacts with acidity to produce carbon dioxide and water and raises the pH.

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    WHAT IS SOIL ACIDIFICATION

    Soil acidification is the buildup of hydrogen cations, also called protons, reducing the soil pH. This
    happens when a proton donor gets added to the soil. The donor can be anacid, such as nitric
    acid and sulfuric acid (these acids are common components of acid rain). It can also be a compound
    such as aluminium sulphate, which reacts in the soil to release protons. Many nitrogen compounds,
    which are added as fertilizer, also acidify soil over the long term because they
    produce nitrous and nitric acid when oxidized in the process of nitrification.
    Acidification also occurs when base cations suchas calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium are
    leached from the soil. This leaching increases with increasing precipitation.Acid rain accelerates
    the leaching of bases. Plants take bases from the soil as they grow, donating a proton in exchange
    for each base cation. Where plant material is removed, as when a forest is logged or crops are
    harvested, the bases they have taken up are permanently lost from the soil.

    Causes of soil acidity


    Producers commonly ask this question of staff soil fertility and crops
    specialists. There are four major reasons for soils to become acidic: rainfall
    and leaching, acidic parent material, organic matter decay, and harvest of
    high-yielding crops. Wet climates have a greater potential for acidic soils. In
    time, excessive rainfall leaches the soil profile's basic elements (calcium,
    magnesium, sodium, and potassium) that prevent soil acidity. Soils that
    develop from weathered granite are likely to be more acidic than those
    developed from shale or limestone. Organic matter decay produces hydrogen
    ions (H+), which are responsible for acidity (an ion is a positively or
    negatively charged element). Like that from rainfall, acidic soil development
    from decaying organic matter is insignificant in the short term. Harvest of
    high-yielding crops plays the most significant role in increasing soil acidity.
    During growth, crops absorb basic elements such as calcium, magnesium,
    and potassium to satisfy their nutritional requirements. As crop yields
    increase, more of these limelike nutrients are removed from the field.
    Compared to the leaf and stem portions of the plant, grain contains minute
    amounts of these basic nutrients. Therefore, harvesting high-yielding forages
    such as bermudagrass and alfalfa affects soil acidity more than harvesting
    grain does.

    Nitrogen fertilizer has been blamed for the increase in soil acidity problems
    throughout the region. Yes, when ammoniacal fertilizer materials are applied
    to the soil, acidity is produced, but the form of nitrogen removed by the crop
    is similar to that found in fertilizer. In reality, nitrogen fertilizer increases soil
    acidity by increasing crop yields, thereby increasing the amount of basic
    elements being removed.
    How is soil acidity corrected?
    Soil acidity can be corrected easily by liming the soil, or adding basic
    materials to neutralize the acid present. The most commonly used liming
    material is agricultural limestone, the most economical and relatively easy to
    manage source. The limestone is not very water-soluble, making it easy to
    handle. Lime or calcium carbonate's reaction with an acidic soil is described
    in figure 1, which shows acidity (H) on the surface of the soil particles. As
    lime dissolves in the soil, calcium (Ca) moves to the surface of soil particles,
    replacing the acidity. The acidity reacts with the carbonate (CO3) to form
    carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). The result is a soil that is less acidic
    (has a higher pH).

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