Difference between Organic Materials of Distinct Slope Soils in Hilly Area of Sichuan Province, China

Abstract

Organic materials in soils mainly consist of alkanes, esters, aromatic compounds and plant secondary metabolites, but they are different from one another in material type and quantity, depending on the types of slopes. This paper conducts a comparitive study on soils from slopes along the Suining-Chongqing Railway. Preparing soil samples from the rocky slope, the cultivated and uncultivated slopes by using ultrasonic methods, we measured the organic materials with a chromatograph mass spectrometer (QP2100). The results show that the number and types of organic materials decrease from the cultivated slopes to uncultivated slopes and then to rocky slopes. No contaminant appears in artificial soils on rocky slopes, but it is found in natural soils. Hence, it can be concluded that the reconstruction of soils on engineering slopes is beneficial not only for ecological restoration, but also for the prevention of pollution.