A soil quality index for reclaimed mine soils

Abstract

The quality of soils found in mines is low if they do not receive any reclamation treatment; yet, to the authors’ knowledge, there are still no equations to evaluate the quality of metal-contaminated mine soils after the application of the most widely used reclamation treatments (planting vegetation and amending with wastes). Therefore, the purposes of the present study were 1) to propose a method for developing soil quality indexes (SQIs); 2) to develop the SQIs for 2 types of mine soils (settling pond and mine tailing) reclaimed by planting trees, amending with wastes, or both; and 3) to assess the quality of these soils under field conditions. The results obtained after the use of an SQI developed for reclaimed mine soils through the selection of an SQI with a factor analysis and the totaling of the scores of the selected variables revealed that this method is a valid tool for developing SQIs. Applying this index with reclaimed mine soils showed that the untreated sites had a very low quality and that the treatment that most improved the soils was amending with wastes (sewage sludges and paper mill residues). The authors recommend the periodic addition of sewage sludges and paper mill residues to degraded sites as they increase the quality of soils, but the effects decrease over time.

Assessment of environmental soil quality around Sonepur Bazari mine of Raniganj coalfield, India

“…As underground mining operations take place below ground, they generally do not create as much air pollution; contribute less to groundwater, surface water, and soil pollution; and are not as visually intrusive. Similar soil quality studies on mining area showed that reclamation of mine soil through plantation could improve the SQI score (Asensio et al, 2013). The ESQI-2 is also heavily weighted by the potentially toxic substances like PAHs and trace metals than the routine soil quality indicators generally used for agricultural soils.…”

“…Mine soil with a SQI > 0.500 may be considered as ecologically sustainable or reclamation is satisfactory (Mukhopadhyay et al, 2014). In metal-contaminated mine soil, the SQI was higher for the reclaimed site than the un-reclaimed areas (Asensio et al, 2013). In another reclaimed site, the quality of surface soil was higher than that of subsoil, especially after the application of mushroom-waste .…”

“…The methods described by Tandon (1993) and Baruah and Barthakur (1999) were used to determine the following soil properties: bulk density (soil core method), maximum waterholding capacity (by equilibrating the soil with water), porosity (derived from bulk density), pH and EC (electrical conductivity) of water (1 : 2.5, soil / water ratio), soil organic carbon (SOC; by potassium dichromate oxidation), and loss on ignition (LOI). Active microbial biomass carbon (AMBC) was measured by the glucose nutrient-induced respiration method (Islam and Weil, 2000).…”

An ecological assessment of rehabilitated bauxite residue

“…Means within a row followed by the same letters are not significantly different at P = <0.05. ESP = exchangeable sodium percentage; OM (LOI) = organic matter (loss on ignition); TKN = total kjedahl nitrogen; BD = bulk density a Gräfe and Klauber, 2011. b Asensio et al 2013. the seasons as co-variables, using dummy variables in both cases. The output was tested using a Monte Carlo test and was based on the full model.…”

Physical soil quality indicators for monitoring British soils

“…There have been a few studies that have discussed and attempted to prioritise the most appropriate soil quality indicators (SQIs) for biological (Masto et al, 2015;Pulleman et al, 2012;Ritz et al, 2009) and physico-chemical indicators (Arshad and Coen, 1992;Asensio et al, 2013;Karlen and Stott, 1994;Masto et al, 2015;Rickson et al, 2012). This study focusses on a systematic process of selection for physical SQIs and then explores their potential for use in national monitoring schemes (e.g.…”