The effect of technogenic materials on fine-scale soil heterogeneity in a human-transformed landscape

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to investigate how the occurrence of technogenic materials affects the fine-scale heterogeneity of soil properties. Five km2 of an urban industrial area (Inowrocław, north-central Poland) was selected for the study. The presented approach involves both field and laboratory soil studies and the use of publicly available cartographic materials and digital databases. It was shown that the presence of technogenic materials was the key factor in differentiating the studied soils. Numerous technogenic transformations of soils such as salinization, sodification, strong alkalization, enrichment with artifacts, deposition of technogenic materials, eolian and water supply of technogenic materials, compaction, and sealing were found across nearly 70% of the research area’s surface. As a result, specific vertical and lateral soil patterns were found that differed from those of soils that were anthropically untransformed or slightly transformed. This study shows that a reliable picture of soil diversity on a detailed scale is complicated and time-consuming to obtain in urban and industrial areas. Nevertheless, the mapping of the horizontal spatial distribution of soil transformations and the examination of samples taken vertically from soil profiles are techniques that complement each other, allowing both present and past soil-transforming factors to be identified.