Irreversibility of sulfate sorption on goethite and hematite

Sulfate ion adsorption and desorption experiments carried out on synthetic goethite and hematite and natural hematite show adsorption to be a highly irreversible reaction. All oxides showed an increase in sulfate ion adsorption with decrease in pH. Only a small fraction of sorbed sulfate was desorbable after 48 hr, and only at a pH of 3. Extreme irreversibility of sulfate sorption on these common soil minerals suggests that adsorbed sulfate is more immobile in watersheds than previously considered and that recovery models which inherently assume reversibility may need to be modified.