Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Manning, D. A.C. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Phosphate Minerals, Environmental Pollution and Sustainable Agriculture

^* School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
E-mail: david.manning{at}ncl.ac.uk

The availability of phosphorus in soils is controlled by the ability of plants to dissolve phosphate-bearing minerals, including apatite and feldspars. To satisfy the requirement of plants for phosphate, mineral dissolution competes with precipitation such as, for example, reactions involving lead or other heavy metals. Plants exude organic acid anions that very effectively enhance mineral dissolution but that may also liberate harmful solutes, such as aluminium. To make readily soluble chemical fertilisers, apatite in igneous and sedimentary rocks is mined and processed; in organic farming, phosphate-rich rocks are crushed and applied directly to the soil, relying on compounds produced by plant roots (exudates) to extract the phosphorus that plants need.

KEYWORDS: phosphate, fertiliser, apatite, struvite, soil

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. H. Oelkers and E. Valsami-Jones Phosphate Mineral Reactivity and Global Sustainability Elements, April 1, 2008; 4(2): 83 - 87. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. D. Pasteris, B. Wopenka, and E. Valsami-Jones Bone and Tooth Mineralization: Why Apatite? Elements, April 1, 2008; 4(2): 97 - 104. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]