Anthropogenic Soil Research Articles

Potentially Toxic Elements in Ultramafic Soils: A Study from Metamorphic Ophiolites of the Voltri Massif (Western Alps, Italy)

Ultramafic soils are characterized by severe edaphic conditions induced by a low content of essential nutrients, an adverse Ca/Mg ratio, a low water-holding capacity, and high contents of geogenic potentially toxic elements (PTEs), in particular Cr, Ni, and Co. These metals commonly exceed the content limits set by environmental agencies and governments, representing serious environmental risks for ecosystems and human health. In alpine environments, ultramafic soils are characterized by modest thickness and poor horizon differentiation. Several studies on ultramafic soils have shown that their properties may be directly related to the characteristics of the parent rocks, but most of these studies deal with soil chemistry, metal availability, isotopic composition, and pedological characterization. The aim of this research is to investigate how much the geotectonic characteristics of ultramafic bedrocks, such as the degree of serpentinization, metamorphic imprint, and deformation, may affect the mineralogical and chemical variations of ultramafic soils, including the occurrence and potential mobility of the PTEs. Using a multiscale and multi-analytical approach, we fully characterize the properties and mineralogical composition of soil profiles with different ultramafic parent rocks, i.e., partially serpentinized peridotite, massive serpentinites, and foliated serpentinites, sampled within the Voltri Massif High Pressure–Low Temperature (HP–LT) metaophiolite (Western Alps, Italy). Our results, related to soils located at comparable latitude, altitude, landscape position, and pedological environment, outline that the degree of serpentinization, the metamorphic imprint, and the deformation history of the ultramafic parent rocks are key factors influencing soil evolution, mineralogy, and chemistry, as well as PTEs distribution and mobility. Moreover, this study shows that the high content of Cr, Ni, and Co in the studied ultramafic soils has to be considered of geogenic origin and highlights the need for new approaches and methods to obtain indications on the potential contamination of natural or anthropogenic soils.

Spatiotemporal Changes of Soil Salinization in the Soligorsk Mining Region

Analytical data on the distribution of chemical elements with respect to soil combinations as area units of the inventory of the factors of the anthropogenic impact on the soil cover are presented. The identification of soil combinations in the Soligorsk mining region of Belarus is based on the analysis of the morphogenetic soil cover pattern and combines typological and topological approaches within the concept of adaptive landscape farming. The spatiotemporal changes in the parameters of anthropogenic soil salinization on agricultural lands are evaluated using geoinformation tools for data processing and modeling. The qualitative interpolation of agrochemical data over the areas under anthropogenic impact in the Soligorsk region is used as a spatial basis for optimizing land use in large agricultural enterprises. The selection of salt-tolerant crops as a measure to optimize the agricultural use of human-salinized soils and to reduce the ecological risks for the local population is discussed. It is recommended to cultivate sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), lucerne (Medicago), and perennial grasses (timothy (Phleum pretense), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), and smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis)) in the zone of the greatest anthropogenic impact.

Characteristics of magnetic susceptibility and geochemistry of paddy soils in Malang City, East Java

Paddy soils are a typical anthropogenic soil resource that has a wet-dry cycle and plays an important role almost all over the world, mainly in Indonesia. Along with the development of the current area of rice farming, the changes of many environmental from natural areas has undergone to settlements area and influenced by human activities. This study examines the magnetic properties and element content in special soils of paddy farming areas in the city of Malang. In this study magnetic susceptibility measurement was conducted on 60 samples taken from 3 locations, using Bartington susceptibilitymeter MS2B. The element determination was conducting by XRF (X-Ray fluorescence) on 3 representative samples. The result showed that the average of magnetic susceptibility low frequency (χlf) of paddy soils was 3.66 ×10−6 m3kg−1. The chemical elements in paddy soils are dominated by Fe, that is around 41.2 % then followed by Si about 36.7%, Al about 12%, Ca about 10.5% and Ti is the lowest value, that is about 2.13%.

An overview of the experimental research use of lysimeters

Abstract The lysimeter is most often defined as a box filled with soil with an intact structure for measuring the amount of infiltration and evapotranspiration in natural conditions. At the bottom of the device there is an outflow for atmospheric precipitation water infiltrating to a measuring container. Lysimeter studies are included in the group of dynamic leaching tests in which the leaching solution is added in a specified volume over a specific period of time. Lysimeter studies find applications in, amongst others, agrotechnics, hydrogeology and geochemistry. Lysimeter tests may vary in terms of the type of soil used (anthropogenic soil, natural soil), sample size, leaching solution, duration of the research and the purpose for conducting it. Lysimeter experiments provide more accurate results for leaching tests compared with static leaching tests. Unlike several-day tests, they should last for at least a year. There are about 2,500 lysimeters installed in nearly 200 stations around Europe. The vast majority of these (84%) are non-weighing lysimeters. There are a few challenges for lysimeter research mostly connected with the construction of the lysimeter, estimating leaching results and calibrating numerical transport models with data obtained from lysimeters. This review is devoted to the analysis of the principal types of lysimeters described in the literature within the context of their application. The aim of this study is to highlight the role of lysimeters in leaching studies.

In Situ Detection of Tree Root Systems under Heterogeneous Anthropogenic Soil Conditions Using Ground Penetrating Radar

AbstractTree roots can cause damage to surface and subsurface infrastructure. Hence, timely detection of root system architecture (RSA) is needed to reduce conflict between trees and man-made facil...

Состояние урбанозёмов в период действия Байкальского целлюлозно-бумажного комбината (картографический аспект)

This experimental work was done before the stopping the Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill. As the informative criteria for the present state of anthropogenic soils used in this study the degree of their biochemical activity and the acid-alkaline conditions which belong to integral indicators was taken. The basic technique for carrying out mass analyses of biochemical activity of soils characterizing the territory of the city of Baikalsk was the rapid analysis method suggested by T. V. Aristovskaya and M. V. Chugunova. The study revealed a high level of soil activity in all functional zones of the city. The acid-alkaline contents were determined for the soils under investigation, which showed a wide range of values (from 6,7 to 8,5 рН). On the basis of the data obtained and point measurements in the geoinformation environment the IDW Nearest Neighbors method was used to construct isopleth maps. A trend for a weak but positive correlation was revealed between the acid-alkaline conditions and soil biochemical activity. All the findings provide a basis for further monitoring the post-technogenic recovery of the city’s soil ecological status in the setting of Southern Baikalia.

Pedotechnique applications in large-scale farming: Economic value, soil ecosystems services and soil security

Since ancient times Humans and Soil have experienced interwoven links. Nowadays soil scientists continue to stress such links highlighting the importance of soil in: i) satisfying the ever growing Human demand for food, water and energy, and ii) providing ecosystem services that mitigate climate changes, influence human health and improve biodiversity.Pedotechniques are recently used to generate soils suitable for table grape cultivation in order to increase productivity and grape quality, thus to get substantial financial returns. We show one emblematic study case of pedotechniques applied in Sicily (Italy). Aims of the investigation were: i) stressing threats to soil security derived by the generation of anthropogenic soils, ii) assessing the economic sustainability of pedotechniques and table grape production, taking into consideration only the internal factors and excluding the external economic contributions that are allocated to social sustainability and iii) stressing the role of soil science to focus on “economic value” to the soil ecosystem services and degradation processes.Results highlight that soil transformations allow for considerable investment costs. The highest productivity and the consequent higher profitability of the cultivation amortize the start-up costs. From the other side transformations could trigger considerable deterioration of both soil ecosystem services and environmental quality. In order to stress this last aspect and to define the relationships between pedotechnique application and soil security we have considered the five soil security dimensions (i.e. capability, condition, capital, connectivity and codification).

Plant Available Nitrogen Estimation Tools for a Biosolids‐Amended, Clayey Urban Soil

Core Ideas Biosolids produced by heat‐drying and Cambi process had higher plant available N. Biosolids blended with woody byproducts had lower plant available N. Soil nitrate and 7‐d anaerobic incubation were the best indicators of N availability. Soil test reliability may have been reduced by high clay and low C and N of urban soil. Improving mineralizable N estimates from exceptional quality (EQ) biosolids products is important for making more reliable N recommendations to rehabilitate disturbed urban soils for vegetative production. The objectives of this study were to compare the N fertilizer equivalency method and several chemical (NH4–N, NO3–N, total N, and organic N) and biological (7 d anaerobic incubation [7‐AI] and Solvita CO2 Burst) tests for quantifying plant available nitrogen (PAN) and organic N mineralization of EQ biosolids used to grow tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus Schreb.) in a clayey urban degraded soil. The EQ biosolids were products of thermal hydrolysis plus anaerobic digestion (Blue Plains exceptional quality biosolids; BLOOM), blending of BLOOM with woody mulch (BM), blending of BLOOM with sand and sawdust (Blue Pains exceptional quality biosolids + sand + sawdust; BSS), composting (Livingston compost; LBC), and heat drying (OCB; OceanGro thermally dried). The EQ biosolids were applied at agronomic N rates, and the inorganic fertilizer was applied at four N rates in a field study. The N fertilizer equivalency method predicted considerably lower organic N mineralization than calculated for BM (7.1%), BSS (–12%), and LBC (4.6%). Treatments BLOOM, BM, and OCB had the highest 7‐AI organic N mineralization. Correlations between tall fescue N uptake and soil N tests showed that soil NO3–N and 7‐AI were the best indicators of biosolids N availability in our urban soil. However, the relatively low correlations between soil N indicators and tall fescue N uptake was likely due to low residual soil N, high soil clay content, and possible low microbial activity of the low organic matter‐containing anthropogenic soil.

Geometrical characterization of urban fill by integrating the multi‐receiver electromagnetic induction method and electrical resistivity tomography: A case study in Poitiers, France

A geophysical survey including electromagnetic induction (EMI) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) methods was applied and assessed with a 40‐trench sampling grid to delineate the geometry of an urban fill layer. Classical investigation techniques, such as excavation, offer localized information and suffer from time and budget constraints for environmental assessments. Near‐surface geophysics can provide the required spatial sampling to evaluate the coverage of anthropogenic soils in a time‐effective and quasi‐continuous manner. Fast‐acquisition and high‐spatial‐coverage EMI mapping and high‐vertical‐resolution ERT were implemented to delineate a suspicious urban fill on a 5‐ha site in a suburban region, which will host the buildings of a commercial complex. The ERT data and 40 trench excavations revealed an urban fill thickness ranging from 0.4 to 3.6 m overlying a calcareous substratum. After ERT–EMI calibration, a two‐layer model was introduced into the one‐dimensional (1‐D) inversion of the EMI data for estimating the geometry of the urban fill layer across the study site. The EMI 1‐D inversion results indicated that the predicted urban fill thicknesses were consistent with 70% of the measured values (27 out of 40 excavation sites). Resistive ground, large 3‐D structures and the heterogeneity of urban fill affected the EMI and ERT measurements and increased the difficulty of estimating its spatial distribution. In this paper, we present a measurement protocol that can guide land‐use development and be reproduced to investigate brownfield sites.Highlights Urban soils are poorly characterized by localized investigations for environmental assessments. Spatial EMI data from an urban fill context were calibrated by ERT for thickness inversion. The ERT–EMI inversion reconstructed the urban fill thickness for 70% of the excavation points. Geophysical techniques can reduce uncertainties for site rehabilitation and land‐use development.

The influence of landscape conditions on the properties of soil cover of arable land on a gentle slope lake-glacial plains

In order to lay the landscape experience, the soil cover of the agro-landscape on the gentle slope of the lake-glacial plain was studied and the factors and parameters of spatial differentiation of some physical, physico-chemical and agrochemical properties were established. The different degree of differentiation of individual properties associated with the characteristics of soil-ing rocks, geochemical regimes and the nature of anthropogenic impact is established. Significant heterogeneity in the power of eluvial horizons, the degree of development of the gley process, the structural state, the content of organic matter, nitrogen and moderate- granulometric composition, physico chemical properties and nutritional regime. The main factor of variation of soil properties in the agricultural landscape is heterogeneity of soil-forming rocks, estimated in terms of physical, chemical and agrochemical properties in 19-59 %. Natural and anthropogenic soil formation process reduced the average coefficient of variation of these properties within the arable layer by 2.6 times (from 36% to 14 %). The factor of increasing the heterogeneity of a number of agrochemical properties by 1.3-1.9 times in the tranzitno-eluvial facies was planar erosion, in the eluvial facies by 3 times uneven application of organic fertilizers.

Natural biochar effect on sorption–desorption and mobility of diclosulam and pendimethalin in soil

The amendment of anthropogenic soils with natural biochar (without pyrolysis process) presents several environmental and agronomic benefits. However, there is little information available on the interaction of natural biochar with the herbicides applied directly into the soil. To address this knowledge gap, the influence of natural biochar on the sorption–desorption and mobility of diclosulam and pendimethalin herbicides in an agricultural soil was evaluated. The biochar was extracted from the profile of an Oxisol and post-dates the Holocene. The Ultisol-Typic Hapludalf used in this study was amended with natural biochar at rates of 0 (control), 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0% (m m−1). The 14C-diclosulam and 14C-pendimethalin showed specific activities of 0.002587 and 5.55 MBq mg−1, respectively. The sorption–desorption process was assessed by batch–equilibrium experiments. Liquid scintillation counting and soil thin-layer chromatography were used to determine herbicides adsorption and mobility. Application of natural biochar slightly increased the linear sorption coefficient (Kd) of each herbicide (from 0.22 to 0.50 L kg−1 for diclosulam, and from 25.55 and 37.81 L kg−1 for pendimethalin) in the soil, and the corresponding sorption percentages were 18.53–34.14% and 96.22–97.42%, respectively. However, the soil amendment did not alter the mobility of either herbicide, with retention factor (Rf) values of ~0.99 and 0.20 for diclosulam and pendimethalin, respectively, regardless of the natural biochar amount. Therefore, the presence of biochar in soil may not interfere with the bioavailability of diclosulam and pendimethalin in weed control under field conditions.

The use of simple hydrological models to assess outflow of two green roofs systems

Hydrological response of anthropogenic soil systems, including green roofs, has crucial importance in many fields of water engineering and management. As a consequence, there is an increasing need for modelling of the anthropogenic soil systems behaviour. To obtain empirical data, two green roof test beds were established on a green roof of University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings, Czech Technical University in Prague. Each test bed is 1 m<sup>2</sup> in area and is instrumented for the runoff monitoring. One test bed was filled with less permeable local soil, the other with highly permeable commercial soil substrate, both were planted with stonecrops. Two simple deterministic lumped models – a nonlinear reservoir model and a linear reservoir cascade model – were used to assess the hydrological response of these green roof systems. The nonlinear reservoir model seems more appropriate for extensive green roof systems than the linear reservoir cascade model because of better description of rapid system reaction typical for thin soil systems. Linear reservoir cascade model frequently failed to mimic internal variability of observed hydrographs. In systems with high potential retention (represented by the test bed with local soil), episodically applied models that consider the same initial retention capacity for all episodes do not allow plausible evaluation of the actual episode-related retention. In such case, simulation model accounting for evapotranspiration between the rainfall events is needed.

Placing human landscape legacies in a dynamic systems framework.

Placing human landscape legacies in a dynamic systems framework.

Lessons Learned on Geosynthetics Applications in Road Structures in Silesia Mining Region in Poland

The paper aims at the research of pioneering applications of geosynthetic materials used for improvement of anthropogenic material for road contraction challenges in Poland. The presented case study concerns a road embankment construction process within an area of underground mining coal extraction for which significant deformations have been frequently recorded. To improve the bearing capacity of the structure base, the geosynthetic materials were used. The question; however, was how the anthropogenic materials, filling the embankment, will interact with each other over time. The assessment of the structural condition of the motorway surface was performed using the falling weight deflectometer and the calculated modules based on the back-analysis method. They confirmed the effectiveness of the geosynthetics used in the study. They also revealed that the mining exploitation, with simultaneous use of aggregate stabilization with geogrids, did not cause significant changes in the stiffness of the pavement layers. All observations, based on both field and laboratory tests, did not show any negative impact of anthropogenic soils on the structural behavior of geogrids.

Human causes of soil loss in rural karst environments: a case study of Guizhou, China

Rocky desertification induced by soil loss is a serious ecological problem in karst mountain areas. Lack of awareness in the local population of the need for soil conservation has led to intense human disturbance that has accelerated soil loss and in turn caused a high proportion of land in rural environments to undergo rocky desertification. In this review, we discuss five human-related causes that have accelerated soil loss in the rural karst mountainous areas of Guizhou Province, southwestern China. These causes include road erosion, house construction, steep slope cultivation, tourism development, and animal trampling. These activities destroy surface vegetation and increase the potential for soil loss through exposed swallow holes (karst fissures). In addition to the national development strategy of rural revitalization and countryside beautification already implemented in the western region, the human impacts on the rural environment must be addressed. We discuss some effective measures the government should adopt to control the various types of soil loss due to human activities. Our review and findings provide a better understanding of anthropogenic soil loss in karst rural environments and present information to raise people’s awareness of measures that are needed to protect the soil resources in this region.

Water Retention Capacity of Soils in the Altai Region

Water retention curves (WRC) and some physical and chemical properties (particle-size composition, soil density, organic matter content, etc.) were determined for the major soil types of the Altai Region: southern chernozems of moderately dry steppe (Calcic Chernozems) and ordinary chernozems (Haplic Chernozems) of steppe with forest groves in local depressions, leached chernozems of the Altai foothills (Luvic Chernozems (Pachic)), and chestnut soils (Kastanozems) of dry steppe. These soils differ by texture. Overall, 420 soil samples were examined. The water retention curve was experimentally determined by centrifugation and capillarimetry, and approximated on the basis of the van Genuchten equation. The parameters of approximation were used for hydrological grouping of the soils by texture, which becomes heavier from the loamy sandy soils of dry steppe towards heavy loamy soils of the Altai foothills. The hydrophysical parameters are not differentiated along the soil profile and generally are in agreement with the humus accumulation process and the natural or anthropogenic soil compaction. An increase in parameter α reciprocal to the bubbling pressure is observed upon the transition from steppe Chernozems towards Kastanozems of dry steppe. The determination of this parameter is particularly important for modeling water and aeration conditions of irrigated soils and potential waterlogging. Quantitative descriptions of water retention curves with the use of approximation parameters made it possible to develop physically substantiated models for soil reclamation purposes.

The influence of compaction and saturation on the compressibility of colliery waste

Using colliery waste to produce building materials, especially in earthworks to build different types of road and railway embankments, or to fill cavities and open-pit mines, requires us to determine the value of the settlement and the ability of fly ash to reduce its volume about its usability for mentioned purposes. Economic benefits and the need to protect the environment are the main reasons for using fly ash as secondary raw material. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of initial compaction and water conditions on the process and values of settlement as well as oedometric modulus of primary compression, decompression and secondary compression of fly ash. The tests were carried out in oedometers. The subject of the research was fly ash from Skawina Power Plant. Literature analysis covers the processes of waste production and management, types of waste depending on the grain size and composition, as well as the methods and ways of testing the compressibility of mineral and anthropogenic soils. The results of the tests allowed formulating conclusions on the influence of compaction and water conditions on the possibility of settling, consolidation and the values of compressibility moduli of the tested material. They also allowed determining the usability of the material for earth constructions and other purposes.

ГЕОФИЗИЧЕСКИЙ МОНИТОРИНГ ОПАСНЫХ ТЕХНОГЕННЫХ ПРОЯВЛЕНИЙ НА ПОДРАБАТЫВАЕМЫХ ТЕРРИТОРИЯХ

Rock stability estimation tasks on anthropogenic soils require both preliminary survey and on-going real-time monitoring providing alerts on possible cave-in threats. Using VLF monitoring data incorporated into software-hardware geodynamical processes automated surveillance system allows to accomplish that task. Authors describe a unique method, based on Earth’s natural pulsed electro-magnetic field (ENPEMF) recording and make conclusions on the efficiency of the solutions ap-plied for hazardous geodynamic processes monitoring on anthropogenic soils. The principle of the method is to distinguish spatial variations of ENPEMF signal against diurnal oscillations and tech-nogenic signals. Correlation between relative signal intensity and stress-strained state of the rocks is experimentally demonstrated.

Principles and methods of a digital medium scale soil map creation of the Leningrad region

«Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Науки о Земле» — научно-теоретический рецензируемый журнал, обобщающий результаты исследований в области геологии, гидрогеологии и геохимии, петрологии и экологии, ландшафтного планирования и геоморфологии, экономической и социальной географии.

МАГНІТНА СПРИЙНЯТЛИВІСТЬ ҐРУНТІВ У СКЛАДІ ЕРОЗІЄЗНАВЧИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕНЬ

Water erosion of the soil is a major factor in the degradation of agricultural land in Ukraine. About 13 million hectares of arable land need additional protection. The study of the influence of the mentioned hazard processes is important both for the scientists and land endusers. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the possibilities of soil magnetic susceptibility mapping in erosion studies. The comparison with traditional methods is implemented. The studies were carried out at the territory of Farm Enterprise "Phoenix" of the Bliznyukovsky district of the Kharkiv region at the distance of 6 km to the southeast of the Lozova. The study site is used for crop production. The relief of the site is complicated by the developed ravine network. The soil is ordinary chernozems (Haplic Chernozems in WRB classification). We have registered high correlation between magnetic susceptibility (MS) of the studied chernozems and humus content (organic matter). The Spearman correlation coefficient slightly depends on the frequency magnetic susceptibility coefficient. The results give the opportunity to recommend soil MS studies as the additional tool in soil erosion mapping. The magnetic measurements are expensive and fast for the humus (organic matter) identification of eroded soil. The relation of the values of soil MS and the value of potential soil loss at the studied area was low. The study of the magnetic mineralogy confirmed the absence of the anthropogenic soil pollution. We confirmed this by the values of the frequency dependence of magnetic susceptibility which were above 6. The domination of the superparamagnetic (SP) grains with the size less than 20 nm was confirmed by the values of the frequency dependence of magnetic too. The majority of the MS values are 10-20. The magnetic minerals of the studied soil have been formed in real time under the pedogenic (natural soil formation) process.