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Orthophosphate and Calcium Carbonate Solubilities in the Upper Jordan Watershed Basin

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Technion-Israel Inst. of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel;

Yoel Geifman and Michael Aronowich

Kinneret Watershed Unit-Jordan District, Mekoroth Water Co. Ltd., 11 Gilboa St., 17 000 Nazareth Illit, Israel.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

An understanding of the mechanisms controlling the P concentrations in the Upper Jordan River is necessary to develop strategies to avoid eutrophication of Lake Kinneret. This study examines the solubility of orthophosphate and CaCO₃ in the calcareous Upper Jordan Basin via a thermodynamic model. The variation in alkalinity, pH, Ca, and phosphate concentrations in the surface waters of the Jordan River are consistent with an equilibrium between the solution and a metastable Ca phosphocarbonate phase with an apparent composition of Ca₂(HCO₃)₂HPO₄. This phase, CBP₂, has not been observed in sediments or suspended particles. However, it rapidly forms on calcite surfaces in laboratory experiments. The CBP₂ is replaced after a few days by a more stable compound, CBP₃, with an apparent composition of Ca₃(HCO₃)₃PO₄. The apparent solubility product of CBP₂ is 10^{–19.96±0.87}. The consistency of the observed water chemistry collected from a variety of stations in the Upper Jordan Watershed over a period of 20 yr with this simple metastable "equilibrium" model suggests that CBP₂ is rapidly formed in the Jordan River waters and its tributaries and needs to be considered in models of fluvial P transport.

(present address is Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, Soil Reclamation Dep., P.O. Box 45, 26103 K. Hayim, Israel)

Present address is Dep. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Delaware, Newark DE 19717-1303.

Received for publication September 28, 1992.

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