PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Contribution of the Soil Macro- and Microstructure to Organic Matter Stabilisation in Natural and Post-mining/Industrial Soils under Temperate Climatic Conditions
de Carvalho, M.; Ciarkowska, K.; Wojnar, L. Contribution of the Soil Macro- and Microstructure to Organic Matter Stabilisation in Natural and Post-Mining/Industrial Soils under Temperate Climatic Conditions. Sustainability2024, 16, 2747.
de Carvalho, M.; Ciarkowska, K.; Wojnar, L. Contribution of the Soil Macro- and Microstructure to Organic Matter Stabilisation in Natural and Post-Mining/Industrial Soils under Temperate Climatic Conditions. Sustainability 2024, 16, 2747.
de Carvalho, M.; Ciarkowska, K.; Wojnar, L. Contribution of the Soil Macro- and Microstructure to Organic Matter Stabilisation in Natural and Post-Mining/Industrial Soils under Temperate Climatic Conditions. Sustainability2024, 16, 2747.
de Carvalho, M.; Ciarkowska, K.; Wojnar, L. Contribution of the Soil Macro- and Microstructure to Organic Matter Stabilisation in Natural and Post-Mining/Industrial Soils under Temperate Climatic Conditions. Sustainability 2024, 16, 2747.
Abstract
The soil organic matter (SOM) content and stability in natural gypsum soils and soils from mining/industrial areas were compared, in terms of their physical, chemical and micromorphological properties, to determine whether the old brownfield soils were acting as carbon (C) sinks, counteracting increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. The mining/industrial soils were 50–400 years old, so had been left sufficiently long for full self-restoration. Despite having very different origins, both natural and brownfield soils stored similar amounts of SOM, and had similar pH values, calcium carbonate contents and textures. They were also fully covered with similar grass plant communities. The mining/industrial soils exhibited similar microstructures to the gypsum soils and were often quite porous. The most striking difference between them and the natural gypsum soils was that the mining/industrial soils were strongly polluted with zinc, lead and cadmium. The 50-year-old brownfield soils differed from the others in terms of having a lower state of SOM transformation, with a much higher C/N ratio, lower aggregate water resistance index, lower dehydrogenase activity and greater areas of undecomposed or slightly decomposed plant residues. These parameters in the older (150–400 years) brownfield soils were similar to those of the natural soils.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
