Information about forms of zinc (Zn) is important for the evaluation of its status in soil and also understanding of the soil fertility and chemistry. To obtain such information, amounts and distribution of Zn in different fractions of 20 soil samples of Tehran province, Iran were determined by sequential extraction method and their relationships with each other and with soil characteristics were investigated. Total Zn of soils ranged from 70 to 169.9 mg/kg^-1. The amount of different Zn forms relative to the sum of forms was determined to be as follows: organic less than 0.1, soluble+exchangeable 0.1, manganese-oxide-associated 0.9, carbonate 1.6, crystalline iron-oxide-associated 3.8, amorphous iron-oxide-associated 4.2, and residual form 89.3%. Simple correlation coefficients showed that pH had a negative significant correlation with all forms of Zn except organic. Silt and clay contents had significant positive correlations with total, residual, and crystalline iron-oxide-asociated Zn but CEC had significant correlation only with total Zn. Calcium carbonate equivalent showed a significant correlation with soluble+exchangeable, manganese-oxide-associated and amorphous iron-oxide-associated Zn. DTPA-extractable Zn was significantly correlated with soluble+exchangeable, carbonate, and amorphous iron-oxide-associated Zn. A significant correlation was also observed between the Zn forms themselves, which is presumably a reflection of the existence of a dynamic relation between the chemical forms of an element in soil.

Keywords: Zn forms, Calcareous soils, Sequential extraction, Soils of Tehran province.

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