Selenium in Arid and Semiarid Soils
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 115, Issue 1
Abstract
Selenium is an essential element for many life forms but can cause toxicity when present at high levels in animal diets. The chemistry and particularly the geochemistry of selenium is similar to that of sulfur. Selenate, the selenium analog of sulfate, is the key to understanding selenium toxicity in arid and semiarid areas. Selenate salts of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium are generally more soluble than those of sulfate. Also, selenate is not significantly adsorbed in neutral and alkaline soils (a common characteristic of arid and semiarid soils). Therefore, selenate is highly mobile, causing it to be transferred readily from place to place dissolved in water, where it also enters biological food webs by plant uptake. Within plants (including phytoplankta in surface water), selenium is incorporated into organic compounds by forming C‐Se bonds. Three other factors that control selenium in soil‐water‐plant systems are soil parent material (sedimentary rocks are generally higher in selenium), pH (the more soluble selenate is favored at high pH), and rainfall (higher rainfall can deplete the soil of selenium by leaching).
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abrams, M. M. (1988). “Organic soil selenium compounds: A source of plant available selenium,” thesis presented to the University of California, at Davis, Calif., in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
2.
Allaway, W. H. (1973). “Selenium in the food chain.” Cornell Vet., 63(151).
3.
Barnes, I. (1985). “Sources of selenium.” In Proc. of Second Selenium Symposium, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif., 41–51.
4.
Biggar, J. W. et al. (1987). “Selenium in crops grown on soil with established selenium distribution.” in: Selenium Contents in Animal and Human Food Crops Grown in California. Univ. of California, Div. of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publication 3330, 47–50.
5.
Burau, R. G. (1985). “Laboratory performance for selenium analysis of reference water samples.” Preliminary report to Central Regional Water Quality Control Board, Dept. of Land, Air and Water Resour., Univ. of Calif., Davis, Calif.
6.
Burau, R. G. et al. (1987). “Selenium in tissues of crops sampled from the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, California.” in: Selenium Contents in Animal and Human Food Crops Grown in California. Univ. of California, Div. of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publication 3330, 61–66.
7.
Deverel, S. J. et al. (1984). “Areal distribution of selenium and other inorganic constituents in shallow ground water of the San Luis Drain Service Area, San Joaquin Valley, California: A preliminary study.” Water Resour. Invest. Report 84–4319. U.S. Geolog. Survey, Sacramento, Calif., 67.
8.
Fleming, G. A. (1980). “Essential micronutrients II. Iodine and selenium.” B. E. Davies, ed. Applied soil trace elements. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 199–234.
9.
Grattan, S. et al. (1987). “Effect of saline drain water reuse on yield and accumulation of selenium in melon and tomato.” in: Selenium Contents in Animal and Human Food Crops Grown in California. Univ. of California, Div. of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publication 3330, 41–46.
10.
Lakin, H. W. (1972). “Selenium accumulation in soils and its absorption by plants and animals.” Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.83(181.
11.
Lakin, H. W., and Davidson, D. F. (1967). “The relation of geochemistry of selenium to its occurrence in soils.” O. H. Muth, ed. Selenium in Biomedicine: A Symp., Westport, Connecticut, 27.
12.
Lewis, B. G., Johnson, C. M., and Delwiche, C. C. (1966). J. Agric. Food Chem., 14, 638–640.
13.
National Research Council (U.S.) Subcommittee on Selenium. (1983). Selenium in Nutrition. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 174.
14.
Segawa, R. T., Ross, L. J., and Troiano, J. J. (1985). “Monitoring selenium, nickel and chromium in agricultural commodities of the Western San Joaquin Valley, 1984.” Final report to the United States Bureau of Reclamation. California Dept. of Food and Agriculture. Sacramento, Calif.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 115 • Issue 1 • February 1989
Pages: 42 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 ASCE.
History
Published online: Feb 1, 1989
Published in print: Feb 1989
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.