Control of soil acidification by fluvial sedimentation in an estuarine floodplain, eastern Australia

Abstract

A shallow stratigraphic sequence with associated pyrite-induced soil acidification was investigated along a transect from the levee to the backswamp in an estuarine floodplain of eastern Australia. Three sedimentary layers were identified and interpreted to correspond with three depositional stages. Firstly, a layer of humic, pyrite-rich, silty mud was deposited under a saline, mangrove-inhabited, intertidal environment during the present high sea level episode. This pyritic layer is buried by the second sedimentary layer of grey brown mud with limited pyrite content, that was deposited in a brackish lagoonal environment. This material now represents much of the contemporary backswamp surface. The third sedimentary layer is a sandy mud without pyrite, that has been deposited by freshwater overbank floods.It is concluded that fluvial sedimentation has been increasingly important in the development of the stratigraphic sequence, controlling the pyrite content, thickness and occurrence depth of the pyritic layer. The present drainage conditions have allowed oxidation of pyrite in the soils of the backswamp and the resulting acidification has caused elevated concentrations of toxic aluminium that threaten the local environment. However, in the levee, the pyritic layer is covered by thick non-pyritic freshwater sediments and low-pyritic lagoonal sediments, and the soil profiles are unlikely to contribute to any acidification hazard.