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Transformations of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Metals in Soils Treated with Waste Materials¹

ABSTRACT

Intact soil cores were used to evaluate decomposition, NH₃ volatilization, N transformations, and metal movement in soils treated with sewage sludges and antibiotic processing wastes. Soil cores were leached monthly with water and incubated for 1 year. An insignificant amount (<1%) of the NH₄⁺-N applied was lost through NH₃ volatilization. The addition of wastes to five soils established that soil properties did not influence decomposition. In contrast, appreciable differences in decomposition were observed when different wastes were added to the same soil. Significant amounts of NO₃^– were leached from soils treated with antibiotic wastes, while essentially no NO₃^– leaching occurred in soils receiving sewage sludge, suggesting that denitrification and/or immobilization are major N loss mechanisms in soils treated with sewage sludge. Minimal amounts of P and metals were leached from sludge-amended soils. Soil analysis indicated that the majority of the added Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, and Pb remained in the zone of sludge incorporation (0–7.5 cm) with minimal or no movement into the 7.5- to 15-cm soil depth.

Key Words: sewage sludge • antibiotic processing wastes • cadmium • zinc • copper • lead • nickel • denitrification • decomposition • metal movement

¹ Contribution of the Purdue Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn., J. Pap. no. 7279. Research was supported in part by the U.S. Dep. of Interior, Office of Water Resour. and Technol., through the Purdue Univ. Water Resour. Res. Center (Project B-066-IND).

² Associate Professor, Professor, and Former Graduate Research Assistant, respectively, Dep. of Agronomy, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907. D. J. Silviera is currently a Soil Scientist, Batelle Northwest Res. Lab., Richland, Wash.

Received for publication August 11, 1978.

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