The Specific Adsorption of Copper and Zinc in the North East Nile Delta Soils

This study deals with the effect of soil properties on the specific adsorption of copper and zinc in the soils north eastern Nile Delta., so that seven soil profiles were taken. Then a detailed study was conducted to include physical and chemical properties of the soil samples as well as a quantitative specific adsorption of copper and zinc experiments were carried out. Percentage of soil organic matter ranged from 0.2% to 3.6%. Soil texture varies from silt to heavy clay. Percentage of calcium carbonate ranged from 1.3 to7.5 %. Soil pH values ranged from 7.5 to 9.7. Soil salinity varied from non-saline to saline, with salinity ranging from 1.4 to 32.7 dS.m -1 . CEC values ranged from 10.8 to 52.5 cmokg -1 soil. The specific adsorption of copper and zinc ions in presence of sodium as a monovalent cation was higher than that of calcium as a divalent cation. It was also found that the higher the concentration of the added ions, the higher the specific adsorption for Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ , which can be represeted by a straight line equation. The specific adsorption of copper and zinc in the surface soil samples was higher than that in the subsurface soil samples due to the roll of the soil organic matter.