Buffer Properties of Heterogeneous Mixtures “Mineral – Natural Waters”

Abstract

The provision of plants is generally assessed by the potential buffering capacity of soils in relation to the elements of plant nutrition. The main focus in this chapter is to review the developed earlier buffer theory and show how to use the for assessing and predicting the long-term phenomena of attenuation and natural remediation of ionic pollutants in contaminated aquatic ecosystems. The buffer theory is based on the rigorous thermodynamic analysis of complex chemical equilibria under environmental conditions in aquatic ecosystems, developed in the previous chapter. It has been proved that both homogeneous and heterogeneous systems manifest a buffer action towards all their components. It has been established that the buffer capacities of components are mutually proportional, whereas for heterogeneous systems these relationships depend on the stoichiometric composition of solid phases. The use of the developed buffer approach yields deeper understanding of the processes that control the concentrations of various components.