Tetraena qatarense is a salt-tolerant, low shrub with high ability to water storage. The plant is found all over the Arabian Peninsula significantly and highly abundant in Qatar. It is also known by its ability to grow on sandy/stony harsh and dry soils. Soil is the main source providing the plant with important nutrients. This project aims to extract and analyze nutrients in plant soil and study their physicochemical properties. Three samples of soil where our specimen plant grows were collected from different locations at Qatar University campus in Qatar over different period of time. The samples were dried in an oven at 60° C for a day, followed by grinding and extracted for further analysis using three techniques: UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Ion-Chromatography (IC). The concentrations of nutrients determined by UV-Vis method were carbonate ion (567432.55 ppm), nitrate ion (123.08 ppm), nitrite ion (1.162346347ppm), ammonium ion (3.385331301 ppm) and phosphate (0.597294761 ppm). For ICP-OES, soil samples were digested using nitric acid and hydrogen fluoride at elevated temperature from 95 to 150°C and diluted with distilled water. The results indicated the following concentrations: calcium (170955.05 ppm), aluminum (19641.63 ppm), Cobalt (3.04 ppm), chromium (42.36 ppm), copper (9.64 ppm), iron (8826.10 ppm), manganese (186.15 ppm), nickel (80.92 ppm), lead (1.63 ppm), vanadium (26.99 ppm) and zinc (46.84 ppm). The soil was also analyzed by IC. The IC results indicated significant concentrations of sulfate (5.345 ppm), calcium (4.595 ppm), chloride (2.770 ppm) and sodium (2.277 ppm). The physicochemical properties of the soil were also determined mainly: pH, conductivity and salinity.

Extraction, analysis of nutrients and heavy metals in the soil of Tetraena qatarense (Zygophyllum qatarense) and its physicochemical properties

2019 Spring National Meeting

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