The application of a surface complexation model to determine the effect of the pH and the phosphate concentration in the soil solution on the adsorption of phosphorus in two acric soils, was evaluated. Surface and subsurface samples were collected from two Oxisols of Ribeirão Preto and Guaíra, northern of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1993. The samples were incubated with increasing amounts of calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid to change the pH. The adsorption curves were obtained by equilibrating the samples with a 0.01 mol L-1 calcium chloride solution containing from zero to 1,200 mg dm-3 of P. The increase of the phosphate concentration in the equilibrium solution resulted in a higher adsorption of phosphate for any pH studied. The electrostatic potentials became more negative as the pH increased. Despite the variation of the adjustable parameter maximum adsorption, a good simulation of the phosphate adsorption was obtained, generating different electrostatic potentials. Although the model did not presented real values for the electrostatic potentials, it was efficient in simulating the phosphate adsorption data as a function of the pH and of the concentration of phosphorus in equilibrium in the soil solution. The phosphate adsorption was more affected by the phosphorus concentration than by the pH values.
complexation model; phosphorus adsorption; acrid soils