Selected Elements in the Soils Covering Mass Graves from World Wars I and II in Southeastern Poland

Józef Żychowski

doi:10.3390/min11030275

Abstract

This study evaluates the reasons for the different content of eight selected elements, Cu, Pb, Zn, S, K, Na, Ca and P, in the upper sections of soil profiles covering mass graves in southeastern Poland. The burial sites include 18 mass graves from World Wars I and II, an active parish cemetery, an old kirkut (Jewish cemetery) and, as a comparative site, a forest nursery. Chemical analyses were carried out using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Among the elements were P and Ca, which dominate in the soils covering the burial sites from World War II. Higher amounts of the elements analysed were found at sites where many people were buried in a small area. The burial sites dug in pure sand revealed a lower content of the elements analysed, particularly Ca and P. In places where human ashes were scattered, Ca and P prevailed. The comparative site, a wet forest margin, is characterized by low levels of S and relatively higher amounts of Ca and P. In the soils covering World War I graves P, in particular, prevails over Zn, Pb and Cu. Differences in the concentrations of the elements studied depend on the type and age of the burial site, the type of soil, the slope gradient and water content prevailing at the site and the proximity to mass graves and cemeteries found close to each other.

Highlights

Favourable carbon (30), nitrogen (3) and phosphorus (1) ratios noted for vertebrate bodies encourage rapid degradation of corpses [1,2]
This study focuses on the elements Cu, Pb, Zn, K, Na and S, as well as on Ca and P, which form can accumulate as a result of the demineralization of bones and can be found in soils covering burial sites
A higher content of P, Ca and Na corresponds to a higher number of people buried within a relatively small area, and this is observed in the case of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Zbylitowska Góra

Summary

Introduction

Favourable carbon (30), nitrogen (3) and phosphorus (1) ratios noted for vertebrate bodies encourage rapid degradation of corpses [1,2]. Other factors affect decomposition [3]: (i) growth of microbes and their activity; (ii) availability of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur; (iii) a high water content of a corpse; (iv) neutral pH conditions; (v) warm temperatures; (vi) well-drained soil; and (vii) burial practice—depth of the burial, construction and material of the coffin, etc. The ratio of organic to inorganic phosphorus in soils varies with depth. Down to approximately 20 cm of the soil profile, organic-bound phosphorus, i.e., the phosphorus associated with plant debris and soil organic matter, comprises 75% of the total P content. This humus-rich layer, the contribution of organic phosphorus rapidly decreases [4]. In weakly permeable soils, e.g., loamy varieties, P migrates downward to a maximum depth of 40 cm, even with intensive fertilization and watering [11]

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion