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COMPARISON OF SOME PROPERTIES OF MINESOILS AND CONTIGUOUS NATURAL SOILS
Citation:
Pedersen, T., A. Rogowski, R. Pennock, AND Jr. COMPARISON OF SOME PROPERTIES OF MINESOILS AND CONTIGUOUS NATURAL SOILS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-78/162 (NTIS PB296824), 1978.
Description:
Four minesoil pits located within the disturbed area and four natural soil pits located in adjacent undisturbed areas were described and sampled. Bulk densities were determined at ten randomly located sites. Microlysimeters were subsequently installed at these sites and used to determine saturated hydraulic conductivities and evapotranspiration. The most prominent feature of the minesoils was their high degree of coarseness and their high rock fragment content. The weathering of the natural soils has leached bases from them and significantly more extractable aluminum was found in these soils than in minesoils. Organic carbon and nitrogen determinations were affected by the high content of carboniferous shale and coal fragments in the minesoils. The clay minerals present in the minesoils had not been weathered as much as the clay minerals in the natural soils.