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Beryllium in Selected Southeastern Soils

Div. Of Biogeochemistry, Savannah River Ecology Lab., Univ. of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29801;

William P. Miller

Dept. of Agronomy, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Data regarding the distribution and lability of beryllium (Be) in soils is limited. An interest in the dynamics of Be in soil and aquatic systems prompted this evaluation of the distribution of Be within selected soils of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic regions of the southeastern USA. Water-soluble soil Be was below detection limits (<0.2 µg L^–1) for all series and depths. Exchangeable Be ranged from <0.1 to 2.2 µmol_ckg^–1, was consistently higher in the Piedmont relative to the Coastal Plain soils, and comprised only 0.0003 to 0.0083% of CEC. Total Be ranged from 0.3 to 30.5 mg kg^–1 and, as with exchangeable Be, was consistently higher in the Piedmont soils. No significant correlation between exchangeable and total Be was found (r = 0.28). Exchangeable Be was weakly negatively correlated with depth, however (r = –0.36, significant at 0.10), while total Be tended to increase with depth (r = 0.44, significant at 0.05). Exchangeable Be was also weakly associated with CEC (r = 0.45, significant at 0.05) and exchangeable Ca and Mg (r = 0.39 and 0.38, respectively, both significant at 0.10). Though Al has been previously suggested as a model for Be in soils, no significant association between exchangeable Be and Al was found (r = 0.21). Given the weak association with exchangeable Ca and Mg and the lack of correlation with Al, neither Al nor Ca or Mg appears to serve as an adequate model for Be in southeastern soils.

Contribution of the Div. of Biogeochemistry, Savannah River Ecology Lab. and the Dep. of Agronomy, Univ. of Georgia.

Research was partially supported by contract DE-AC09-76SR00819 between the Univ. of Georgia and the U.S. Dep. of Energy.

Received for publication February 21, 1989.