Characteristics and potential pedogenetic processes of a Technosol developing on iron industry deposits

Purpose

Technosols include soils dominated or strongly influenced by human-made materials. Similarly to natural soils, technogenic parent materials submitted to environmental factors undergo weathering and transformation processes. But the pedogenesis of Technosols remains little known. With this aim in view, a Technosol developing on purely technogenic materials resulting from an iron industry was thoroughly characterized in order to discuss the pedogenetic evolution of this Technosol using knowledge about the pedogenesis of natural soils.

Materials and methods

The studied site was a former settling pond where mainly sludge generated by wet cleaning of blast furnace fumes was dumped probably until the mid-twentieth century. Thereafter, the pond has been colonized by vegetation and is covered by a diversified forest. The soil was composed of contrasted layers. A 20-cm organic layer has developed at the surface. Samples were collected in the first 2 m which are under root influence. Elemental composition, agronomic parameters, mineralogy, as well as the physical and hydraulic properties of the soil materials were characterized.

Results and discussion

Some characteristics of the Technosol, e.g. elemental composition, mineralogy or profile stratification, resulted mainly from industrial processes. However, some properties of the Technosol can be compared with natural soils. Particularly, the presence of low periodic order minerals and physical and hydraulic properties were analogous to the properties of Andosols. However, alkaline pH and the carbonate contents made the Technosol closer to carbonated soils. Moreover, the presence of Mn oxides, high porosity and water retention were also encountered in Mn-bearing soils. Early pedogenic processes, e.g. development of organic surface layer and signs of mineral weathering, were observed. But transfers seemed to be rather limited and/or slow in the profile. However, the physical and chemical properties, e.g. high water retention and high pH, were rather favourable to element retention.

Conclusions

The evolution of the Technosol seems to be still limited in the profile, which could be explained by the high retention capacity of the soil. The presence of highly reactive mineral phases, such as low periodic order Mn oxides or allophane-like minerals, with high contents of carbonates is rarely encountered in the natural environment and may suggest an important potential for pedogenic evolution, which could be directed by the balance between the weathering processes of these phases.     

Characteristics of brown forest soils developed under beech forests in the kinki and the tohoku districts with special reference to their pedogenetic processes

Abstract

Properties of sesquioxides, clay mineralogical composition, and charge characteristics of Brown Forest soils developed under beech forests in the Kinki (Ohdaigahara) and the Tohoku District (Hakkoda) were studied with special reference to their pedogenetic processes.

The Brown Forest soils in the Kinki District were characterized by the translocation of free Al, formation of Al and/or Fe-humus complexes throughout the profile, and the predominance of 2:1: 1-2:1 intergrade minerals in the subsurface horizons, whereas those in the Tohoku District were characterized by the formation of allophane and no remarkable translocation of free Al oxides. This difference in the pedogenetic processes under the same vegetation was reflected on the amounts of Al released from primary minerals in relation to the amounts of organic matter accumulated. Major distinctive characteristics included the values of the Alp/Alo, the Fep/Feo, the Alo/Ald ratios, the Sio content, and the STPT-ZPC and pH(H₂O) values.

Among these the values of the Alo/Ald ratio and/or the Sio content were found to be suitable indices for the differentiation of Brown Forest soils from Andisols in Japan In addition to the criteria used to define andic soil properties.     

Characteristics of the soils developed under broad-leaved evergreen forests in okinawa prefecture and the kinki district with special reference to their pedogenetic processes

Abstract

Properties of sesquioxides, clay mineralogical composition, and charge characteristics of the soils developed under broad-leaved evergreen forests in Okinawa Prefecture (subtropical climate) and the Kinki District (warm temperate climate) were studied with special reference to their pedogenetic processes in order to reexamine the corresponding parameters of Brown Forest soils and related soils in Japan.

The soils in Okinawa Prefecture were characterized by a higher degree of weathering as compared to the soils in the Kinki District. Major differences involved the values of the Fed/Fet ratio for the soil samples throughout the profile, and those of the ratios of (Fed-Feo)/Fet, CEC/clay, and (Feo + Alo)/ clay and the content of CaO plus Na₂O for the B horizon. The soils in the Kinki District did not show andic soil properties, nor Al translocation in the profile and, both of which were characteristic of Brown Forest soils developed under cool temperate climatic conditions at high altitudes in the same District.

The difference in the degree of weathering were reflected on the charge characteristics at the very surface of the soils, i.e., the surface of the particles of the soils in Okinawa Prefecture exhibited a lower reactivity as compared with those of the soils in the Kinki District.     

Contemporary pedogenetic processes in a ferrallitic soil in Uganda,I. Identification

Ferrallitic soils were originally considered to be pedogenetically “dead”, with few pedological processes taking place except perhaps leaching. A study of the Buganda clay loam series, a widespread soil in southern Uganda, showed that although this ferrallitic soil is very highly weathered chemically, two important groups of pedogenetic processes are currently active, differentiating the B from the C horizon. These are alteration of soil structure/physical properties and clay translocation. Leaching and clay mineral transformation are not occurring. It is suggested that the pedogenetic basis for classifying soils as ferrallitic has become outdated and that the criteria used need revision.     

Characteristics of silica-rich pedofeatures in a buried paleosol

Whitish and whitish-light brown milky-like textural pedofeatures and impregnations were found in the voids and the matrix of buried paleosols older than 2.7 million years in a site in Sardinia, Italy. The pedofeatures were described and analysed using micromorphology, X-ray diffraction and microprobe techniques, and their spatial distribution correlated with field evidence. The suite of analyses showed that the main components of the pedofeatures were more or less ordered silica phases. As well as forming a matrix cement, these pedofeatures also occurred as coatings and infillings in pores. Significant amounts of alumina and, less, Mg, Ca and Fe were also present in the pedofeatures, possibly in the form of silicate coatings and inclusions/impurities, or alumino-silicates of the adjacent soil matrix. A number of hypotheses are drawn on the possible mechanisms of formation of these silica-rich pedofeatures, including the possibility of prolonged weathering of volcanic materials and the resulting formation of colloids and more or less ordered silica phases, with successive dehydration and progressive ordering of phases during the at least 2.5 million years.     

Iron oxyhydroxides in soils developed from Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks in mid-Wales and implications for some pedogenetic processes

Lepidocrocite and goethite are pedogenetic crystalline Fe oxyhydroxides in the soils of mid-Wales. Lepidocrocite is more abundant and widespread, occurring in brown earths (Denbigh series) as well as morphological gleys. It is commonly dominant in horizons intermediate in depth. Goethite occurs in subsoils and was found to be dominant in the subsoil of surface water gleys (Cegin series). Apart from the Cegin series, a large proportion of the total free Fe occurs in non-crystalline forms. This amounted to 50–80% of the free Fe in organic and eluvial horizons of podzols. Despite lower proportions of non-crystalline Fe in Bs horizons, amounts were similar to those in eluvial horizons. Data on the distribution of crystalline and non-crystalline free Fe together with correlations observed between Fe and C extracted by pyrophosphate suggest that transformation and translocation of Fe in the podzols examined are governed by its association with organic fractions.     

Changes in magnetic properties and their pedogenetic implications for paddy soil chronosequences from different parent materials in south China

It remains unknown whether there is a consistent relationship between magnetism dynamics and pedogenesis for paddy soils. In this study, three paddy soil chronosequences, derived from purple sandy shale (PS), Quaternary red clay (RC) and red sandstone (RS) in the hilly regions of south China, were studied to identify changes in magnetism during soil development and to understand their implications for pedogenesis. The results show that magnetic susceptibility (MS) and soft isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM_s) simultaneously decreased to extremely small values in the anthrostagnic epipedons during the initial stages of cultivation. In contrast, this decrease was limited in the hydragric horizons of the young paddy soils and even increased in some. These changes suggest that MS and IRM_s can be enhanced by the oxidation of Fe²⁺ in acid paddy soils (between pH 5 and 6) or be depressed by anaerobic transformations of ferrimagnetic minerals. The main influence on magnetic properties was time duration and especially reducing degree of artificial submergence, while parent materials played a supportive role. Magnetic enrichments generally occurred in the clay fraction. Ferrimagnetic clay minerals were more easily altered than minerals in the silt and sand fractions. The study also shows that there was no fixed pattern in the relationship between magnetism and paddy pedogenesis and magnetic properties should be used with care when applying them to environments in which redox processes occur.     

白垩纪钙质古土壤的发生学特征及古环境意义

古土壤形成于过去环境,是揭示环境变化历史的重要材料。新近纪(23.03 M a)以前形成的古土壤,年代久远、埋藏深、受成岩作用改造强烈,其发生学特征研究是古环境重建的基础。本文通过对白垩纪时期不同地点的钙质古土壤的发生学研究,拟恢复研究区域古环境。研究表明,古土壤剖面中的A层和B层形态分别产生变化,但层次差异依然明显,且表层土壤有机质含量一般高于表下层,钙积层(Bk)普遍发生并富含碳酸盐结核。可以观察到古土壤中方解石沿根孔淀积特征以及具滑擦面。钙质古土壤质地偏粗,为壤质砂土和砂质壤土。古土壤Bk层中的Ca、Mn、Sr相对富集,其余常量元素与Ba、Sc、Nb、Th、U、Cr、V、Co、N i等元素降低;δCe和δEu负异常以及相对富集重稀土元素。分别按照中国土壤分类系统和美国土壤系统分类两种分类体系进行了古土壤分类。由古土壤类型和特征可以推断白垩纪不同时期,在四川盆地梓潼—巴中地区、辽宁金岭寺—羊山盆地和松辽盆地出现过半湿润至半干旱的气候环境。     

Modeling of the evolution of steppe chernozems and development of the method of pedogenetic chronology

Geoarchaeological methods were used to study chronosequences of surface soils in the steppe zone and to trace soil evolution during the Late Holocene in northwestern Crimea. It was found that the morphological and functional “maturity” of the humus horizons in steppe chernozems of the Late Holocene was reached in about 1600–1800 yrs. After this, their development decelerated irreversibly. The maximum concentration of trace elements accumulated in these horizons in the course of pedogenesis was reached in 1400 yrs. A new method of pedogenetic chronology based on the model chronofunction of the development of irreversible results of pedogenesis over time is suggested. Original pedochronological data and growth functions—the most suitable models for simulating pedogenesis over the past three thousand years—suggest that the development of morphological features of soil as an organomineral natural body follows growth patterns established for biological systems.     

Identification of carbonate pedofeatures of different ages in modern chernozems

Carbonate pedofeatures of three chernozemic soils developed from loesslike loams in the foreststeppe zone of Lipetsk oblast under fallow plot (Luvic Chernozem (Clayic, Pachic)) and under forest (Calcic Chernozem (Clayic, Pachic)) and in the steppe zone of Dnepropetrovsk oblast (Calcic Chernozem (Episiltic, Endoclayic, Pachic)) were studied in the field and laboratory with the use of a set of methods, including the radiocarbon method, mass spectrometry, and micro- and submicromorphology. The morphological diversity of carbonate pedofeatures in these soils was represented by carbonate veins, coatings, disperse carbonates (carbonate impregnations), soft masses (beloglazka), and concretions. In the forest-steppe soils, disperse carbonates and soft masses were absent. The radiocarbon age of carbonate pedofeatures in the forest-steppe soils varied within a relatively narrow range of 3–4.3 ka cal BP with a tendency for a younger age of carbonate concretions subjected to destruction (geodes). In the steppe chernozem, this range was larger, and the ¹⁴C ages of different forms of carbonate pedofeatures were different. Thus, soft masses (beloglazka) had the age of 5.5–6 ka cal BP; disperse carbonates, 17.5–18.5 ka cal BP; and hard carbonate concretions, 26–27 ka cal BP. Data on δ¹³C demonstrated that the isotopic composition of carbon in virtually all the “nonlabile” carbonate pedofeatures does not correspond to the isotopic composition of carbon of the modern soil organic matter. It was shown that the studied chernozemic soils are polygenetic formations containing carbonate pedofeatures of different ages: (a) recent (currently growing), (b) relict, and (c) inherited pedofeatures. The latter group represents complex pedofeatures that include ancient fragments integrated in younger pedofeatures, e.g., the Holocene soft carbonate nodules with inclusions of fragments of the ancient microcodium.     

A reassessment of podzol formation processes

Translocated (oxalate-soluble) Al and Fe are present predominantly in inorganic forms in the B₂ horizons of the five pcdzol profiles examined: A1 as imogolite and proto-imogolite allophanes, and Fe as a separate oxide phase. Below the top few cm of the B₂ horizon, over 75 per cent of the extractable (acid-plus alkali-soluble) organic matter is present as Al-fulvates, largely sorbed on allophanic material. The Bh horizons of the Iron Humus Podzol and Iron Podzol intergrades are distinguished by very high levels of organically bound Fe (soluble in EDTA solution), five to ten times more than in immediately adjacent A₂ or B₂ horizons, and also by larger humic acid contents than in comparable B₂, levels in typical Iron Podzols. Inorganic forms of translocated Al and Fe are probably absent from two of the three Bh horizons examined, and also from the Bhg horizon overlying the thin iron pan in the Peaty Podzol. The organic matter in this Bhg horizon is saturated with Al rather than Fe. Chemical and physical processes which could lead to evolution of a profile along the genetic sequence, Iron Podzol, Iron Humus Podzol, Peaty Podzol, are postulated. During the formation of an Iron Podzol, positively charged inorganic sols carry aluminium, silicon and iron from the A₂ and deposit them in the B₂ horizon; subsequently, with the development of an H layer, colloidal humus migrates through the A₂ and precipitates on the positive colloids at the top of the B₂ horizon to form a Bh horizon, in which remobilized ferric species are trapped by the organic matter. In higher rainfall areas, occasional waterlogging above the oxide-impregnated B₂ leads to a thin iron pan, separating permanently oxidizing conditions below from seasonally waterlogged and reducing conditions above.     

Forms and pedogenetic distribution of extractable iron and aluminum in selected soils of Nigeria

The content of various forms of Fe and Al in six well-drained soil profiles sampled from different parts of Nigeria was determined by selective extraction methods. Dithionite-Fe (total free Fe oxides) content increases with the increase of depth. The oxalate-extractable Fe (amorphous Fe oxides) constitutes less than 10% of the total free Fe oxides throughout the profiles. The active Fe ratio decreases with the increase of profile depth, suggesting that larger proportions of Fe oxides are present as crystalline forms in the lower horizons of these well-drained profiles. Little or no relationships were found in the case of Al.The constant clay/dithionite-Fe ratio within the four profiles from the wetter southern part of Nigeria indicates the co-migration of clay and Fe oxides from the A horizon into the B horizon (lessivage). However, this relationship was not observed in the two soil profiles sampled from the drier northern part of the country.The need for expansion or alteration of the present U.S.D.A. system of soil classification is emphasized.     

北京地区红色黏土特性及成土过程和系统分类探讨

为研究北京地区红色黏土的成土过程及其系统分类,选取6个发育在石灰岩类和花岗岩类母岩上的红色黏土剖面,研究了土壤剖面形态、理化性质、黏土矿物组成等,并分析了其成土条件和发生过程。结果表明:所有土壤剖面的土壤结构体面上均有黏粒胶膜,通体无石灰反应,铁的游离度高,活化度低。石灰岩类发育的红色黏土质地更细,其土壤黏粒游离铁较多,颜色更红,结构体团聚程度更强。花岗岩发育的红色黏土因含有大量难以风化的石英,因而含有较多的砂粒,结构体团聚程度较低。这些土壤形成过程中发生了强烈的黏化和铁质化作用,可以推断其是在古湿热气候条件下形成的。而目前土壤的pH呈微碱或中性,交换性盐基离子以Ca2+为主,盐基饱和度较高,则是受现代黄土降尘的影响,发生了复盐基过程的结果。在此基础上,依据《中国土壤系统分类检索(第三版)》确定的原则和方法,确定研究剖面分属于淋溶土纲下的4个不同亚类。     

Composition of clay minerals and their pedogenetic and taxonomic implications for Stagnic Anthrosols derived from different parent materials in Hunan Province,China

Purpose

The aims of this study were to investigate the composition of clay minerals in soils derived from different parent materials and to elucidate how parent materials and pedogenic environment affect the distribution of clay minerals and reveal the implications for pedogenetics and taxonomy in Stagnic Anthrosols.

Materials and methods

Clay mineralogy and physicochemical properties of the Hydragric horizon of Stagnic Anthrosols derived from granite (GR), plate shale (PS), quaternary red clays (QRC), limestone (LS), purple sandy shale (PSS) and fluvial-lacustrine deposit (FLD) located in Hunan Province of China were analysed to explore the relationships between the conditions influencing the formation of the soil and the composition of clay minerals.

Results and discussion

Results indicated that the composition of clay minerals is closely related to both parent material and type of Stagnic Anthrosols: the soils derived from GR, PS and QRC, which are mostly classified as Fe-accumulic-Stagnic Anthrosols, are dominantly 1:1 type kaolinite and vermiculite and illite/vermiculite mixed layer minerals of widespread distribution. However, soils derived from LS, PSS and FLD were mainly classified as Hapli-Stagnic Anthrosols and are mainly composed of 2:1 type illite/smectite mixed layer minerals, where chlorite is commonly found. Illite is widely distributed and its content varies the least among different parent materials. An extremely significant relationship between pH and kaolinite, chlorite and mixed layer minerals was noted, and the two kinds of mixed layer minerals showed highly significant negative correlation.

Conclusions

This study revealed that the types and quantities of clay minerals in the soil are closely related to the types of parent material. This reflected better direction and degree of development in Stagnic Anthrosols, which is related to the physicochemical properties of parent material and can be used as one of the bases for the classification of soil groups and subgroups within the soil family for Stagnic Anthrosols in Chinese Soil Taxonomy.

     

Mechanisms and processes of crust formation on artificial aggregates

Crust formation process initiates from aggregate disinategration occurred through the combined effects of inherent soil properties and external actions. Rainfall plays a major role in determining the moisture conditions of the soil surface and in triggering aggregate disintegration mainly through slaking and the impact off raindrops. To analyze the relations between rainfall characteristics and crust formation, three artificially granulated aggregates were exposed to natural rainfall events. The rainfall characteristics were expressed in terms of the distribution pattern of rainfall intensity, I _10min; mean weighted drop diameters, D _n; raindrop concentration, N _Dn,; rainfall energy, Et;and kinetic energy, KE; as well as conventionally used parameters, such as total amount and mean intensity of rainfall. The degree of crusting was evaluated in terms of the water permeability and morphological observation just after the rainfall treatment. Based on a comparison of the rainfall characteristics and degree of crusting, we confirmed the following relations. Rainfall characteristics at the onset of the event considerably influence the degree of crusting, i.e. initial rainfall with high I _10min; and large drop size promotes aggregate disintegration by slaking due to rapid wetting, whereas initial gentle rainfall prevents slaking by slow wetting and subsequent crusting. When initial rainfall is not saaficient for slaking but Beads to a weakening sf the aggregates, subsequent disintegration and crusting are promoted by impact together with the residual influence of slaking. Impact is a dominant factor for aggregate disintegration under wet conditions after initial rainfall which is so gentle that slaking never occurs. Responses of the soils under different natural rainfall conditions were almost consistent with the results under simulated rainfall reported in the previous papers (Tanaka et $1.1997: Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 43, 99-107, 109-115). Crusting was not observed in the Fujino 1–3 soil gender any rainfall events. In the Wokuei 1–3 soil, characterized by a susceptibility to slaking and stability to impact, crusting was only formed under the rainfall with high I _{10 min} at the onset. For the Shimazu 1 soil, impact played a dominant role in crusting under any rainfall events, and a larger degree of crusting was found when the effects of impact and slaking were combined. The characteristics of rainfall monitored in this study may be within a normal range as natural rainfall in terms of the amount and the mean intensity, suggesting that crusting likely to occur if the aggregate stability of soils is Bower than or similar to that sf the Shimaza 1 and the Hokuei 1–3 soils.     

Factors and processes of gibbsite formation in Northern Thailand

Gibbsite is usually considered as end product of weathering in tropical environments with potentially high leaching rates. However, there are also hints towards gibbsite formation in initial stages of weathering in different climates. This study reports on a systematic approach based on soil forming factors in order to research the conditions of gibbsite formation in northern Thailand highlands. Therefore, three major study sites were chosen, which differ with respect to parent rock, relief, climate and vegetation. The results show that gibbsite is common in soils of the area. Reasons for its occurrence in soils are manifold. It can be a heritage of the parent rock, a result of initial weathering under free draining conditions or an accumulation under intense chemical weathering caused by high rainfall. Especially the investigation in granite and gneiss areas with a high share of primary minerals indicates that gibbsite can be an early and direct transformation without intermediates from micas and feldspars if free drainage is assured. With progressing soil genesis clay formation reduces drainage and favours kaolinite formation. Only sites with extremely high rainfall and low evaporation (high elevations in northern Thailand) show again a dominance of gibbsite in the clay fraction throughout the whole soil profile.     

Characteristics of brown forest soils developed on the paleozoic shale in northern Kyoto with special reference to their pedogenetic process

Abstract

Morphological and chemical properties of brown forest soils and podzolic soils developed on paleozoic shale under beech and/or cryptomeria have been studied with special reference to the eluviation-illuviation characteristics of Fe and Al.

Mobilization of Al was observed even in brown forest soils and its pattern was similar to that in podzolic soils. Its intensity was higher in the brown forest soils developed on the ridge under cryptomeria than in those on the slope under beech. Hence, podzolization is considered to be one of the genetic processes involved in the brown forest soils in question.

Furthermore, the value of (Fep+Alp)/clay that is employed to define a podzolic B or spodic horizon indicated the presence of a podzolic B horizon even in the brown forest soils studied, while no spodic horizon was found even in the podzolic soils with a clearly recognizable albic horizon. Moreover, the examination of the degree of podzolization showed that the brown forest soils almost corresponded to Ochreous brown earths.     

Transformation of carbonate pedofeatures in paleosols buried under kurgans in the North Caucasus region

Carbonate concentrations in a chronosequence of paleosols buried under kurgans in the North Caucasus region at the end of the 4th century and the first half of the 5th century AD have been studied with the use of a set of morphological and isotopic methods. It is demonstrated that morphologically different phases of calcite—the collomorphic phase and the crystalline phase—in carbonate pedofeatures (calcareous pseudomycelium) and in the calcareous horizon have different elemental compositions and different isotopic compositions of carbon. Hence, these forms of calcite should have different origins. An addition of colloidal carbonates migrating in colloidal solutions from the lower soil horizons to the surface horizons during the periods of climatic aridization to the acicular calcite may be responsible for a sharp and irregular increase in the radiocarbon age of the newly formed carbonate pseudomycelium.     

Saturated hydraulic conductivity in pedogenetic characterization of podzols with fragipans in quebec

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K) values were measured in the laboratory on two podzolic soils (Spodosols) with fragipans developed from till deposits in the Appalachian and Laurentian Highlands of Quebec. The main difference between these tills lies in their contrasting textures. Due to the presence of coarse fragments and to a brittle and compact horizon, usual methods of measuring K in the field could not be used. Instead, blocks of soil were carved out and encased in paraffin. The technique insures minimum disturbance of the samples and accommodates variations in sample size due to stones.Sainte-Agathe sandy loam (sandy, mixed, frigid Fragiorthod) had higher K values than Arago loam (fine-loamy, mixed, frigid Fragiorthod) throughout the profile. In both soils, K decreased with depth largely as a result of an increase in bulk density. At any given bulk density, however, K was always lower in Arago than in Sainte-Agathe soil. This was attributed to illuviation and reorganization of particles within pores and partings. In the Arago profile, rearrangement of clay-size particles created an important vesicular porosity, thus closing off a portion of the pore volume to water transmission. In the Sainte-Agathe profile, material ranging from fine silt to clay was deposited selectively according to size class. Accessibility of the pore volume to percolating water was thus maintained.A second eluvial horizon Aex (A'2x) is present in the Arago, but not in the Sainte-Agathe soil, just above the fragipan, probably as a result of the very abrupt increase in bulk density from the podzolic B horizon to the fragipan. Water accumulating at the top of the fragipan seeps laterally, enhancing the eluviated character of the Aex horizon. Hydraulic conductivity was higher in this horizon than in over- and underlying horizons, although bulk density was greater.