Insolubility and Volatilization of Elements in Biogeochemical Analysis of Soils and Termite Soils

In order to study the biogeochemical interactions under the influence of organic matter, seven elements, namely Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni and Co, in termite soils and their adjoining ground surface soils of Ramagiri goldfield were analysed on both ash weight and dry weight bases.

A biogeochemical parameter, called "coefficient of apparent organic binding (CAOB)", is computed as the ratio of the concentration of an element in ignited sample and of the same element in dried sample. The variations in this parameter are due to insolubility of certain elements in the digested medium and volatilization of certain others on ashing.

The elemental concentration estimated on ash weight basis was converted into dry weight basis by recalculation taking organic matter into consideration. On this basis different degrees of insolubility or volatilization of different elements have been estimated.