The objective of this work was to compare the diffusive-dispersive coefficients of phosphorus and potassium as well as to describe nutrient transport in different aggregate classes of a typic Haplortox, cultivated with maize over several years, by applying two theoretical models. The experiment was carried out using percolation columns and five classes of aggregate sizes (2.0-1.0, 1.0-0.5, 0.5-0.25, 0.25-0.105 and < 0,105 mm). The elution column consisted of a glass column with 2 cm internal diameter and 30 cm length, filled up with aggregates until 10 cm from the upper boundary. All columns were saturated with a 0.005 mol L-1 CaCl2 solution, under vacuum. The velocity of the effluent was controlled and kept near that obtained for the smallest aggregate class. The saturation solution was applied until reaching a steady flow. Then a slug of a 0.05 mol L-1 KH2PO4 (Co) solution was applied. In the collected effluent, concentration of phosphorus and potassium (C) was determined, which permitted to obtain the C/Co ratio as a function of the pore-volume number of the percolated solution. This allowed to obtain the experimental curve for these elements, which was compared with the theoretical breakthrough curves estimated by the two models; one of them considers only the dispersive transport while the other one considers the diffusive-dispersive transport. The diffusive-dispersive coefficient was higher for potassium than for phosphorus in those classes with greater-diameter aggregates. The opposite occurred in the smallest classes, which indicates that phosphorus moved faster than potassium in those aggregate columns, under the studied conditions. The model accounting only for the dispersive flow presented a better prediction for phosphorus and potassium transportation in all aggregate classes. The theoretical curves showed a better description for potassium than for phosphorus transport.
solute transfer; phosphorus diffusion; potassium diffusion