QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

OF
SOIL
CHROMATOGRAPHY
I.
ABSTRACT
Soil chromatography has been used successfully to evaluate relative mobilities of pesticides and
nuclides in soils. Its rnlijor advantage over the commonly used suspension technique is that it
more accurately simulates field conditions. Under such conditions the number of potential
exchange sites is limited both by the structure of the soil matrix and by the manner in which the
carrier fluid moves through this structure. The major limitation of the chromatographic method,
however, has been its qualitative nature. This document represents
an
effort
to
counter
this
objection.
A
theoretical
basis
is

specified
for
the
transport both
of'
the
carrier
eluting
fluid
and
of'
the dissolved
constituent.
A
computer program
based
on
this
theory
is
developed
which
optirniz.es
the
fit
of

theoretical
data
to
experimental
data
by
automatically adjusting the
transport
parameters,

one
of
which
is
the
distribution
coefficient
kd.
This
analysis
procedure
thus
constitutes
an
integral
part
of
the
soil
chrutnatographic method,
by
means
of
which
mobilities
of
nuclides
and other
dissolved
constituents
in
soils
may
he
quantified