Soil Geochemistry Changes Induced by a Foreign Soil Reconstruction Project in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of China

Fertile topsoil was added onto the surface of barren slope land in Three Gorges Reservoir region of China in an anthropogenic process known as the foreign soil reconstruction project. The main goal of this paper was to reveal the influence of anthropogenic activities on pedogenic processes and soil classifications. Chemical weathering indices and comparative analysis were applied to discuss changes in geochemical compositions and weathering features of purplish soils(Cambisols) before and after the project. Results showed that:(1) The foreign soil reconstruction project slightly altered the major element composition of topsoil and improved the soil structure. Although the distributions of major elements in the original topsoil, original subsoil, foreign topsoil and newly constructed topsoil were all similar to that in upper continental crust, newly constructed topsoil was the most similar soil.(2) The chemical index of alteration was more sensitive than the weathering index of Parker at indicating chemical weathering status of purplish soil. The chemical weathering status of newly constructed topsoil was higher than that of the original topsoil and lower than that of foreign topsoil.(3) Anthropogenic activities may provide a promising new thought for the anthropogenic soil classification system. The scope and subgroups of Anthrosols should be extended and strengthened. Or there may be a need to combine Anthrosols and Technosols orders to create a new soil order. The results may be used for optimizing soil mellowing engineering activities and enriching the soil classification system.

Optimum Combination Test of Erosion Gully in Black Soil Regions by Coal Gangue Reconstruction Soil

The black soil area in northeast China is greatly affected by hydraulic erosion.To inhibit the development of gully cutting and the secondary erosion on farmland,different size coal gangues and covering soils with change thicknesses combinations were selected to fill in-situ gully for hydraulic performance experiment.The hydraulic performance indexes of different combinations of large and small size gangue thicknesses and covering soil thicknesses were analyzed by the extreme learning machine(ELM)and particle swarm optimization(PSO).The results showed that the structure of large and small size coal gangues and surface soil under different thicknesses was affected by hydraulic and gravity.With the change of the thicknesses of coal gangue and covering soil,its effective channel and vertical infiltration process became more and more stable with the increase in drainage time,while the structure of small size coal gangue was the main hydraulic factor in reconstructed soil structure(p=0.016).The overall drainage performance showed a single peak trend,the optimal combination of drainage parameters and structure thickness was relatively concentrated;the drainage time parameters of different composite structures were found to have a certain linear relationship;the Pareto optimum of drainage performance was determined.The optimum thickness was 30-40 cm for large-sized gangue,30-60 cm for small-sized gangue,and 50-70 cm for covering soil,to meet the relatively good drainage performance and to ensure that secondary erosion was reduced,so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the gully.

Influence law of modified glutinous rice-based materials on gravel soil reinforcement and water erosion process

A large number of loose piles formed by mountain hazards are highly susceptible to hydraulic erosion under rainfall conditions.The use of ecological substrate materials for erosion control and ecological restoration of gravel soil slopes has become a current research hotspot and the study difficulty.The post-earthquake slump accumulation gravel soil in Jiuzhaigou was selected as the research object,and the self-developed modified glutinous rice-based material was used to reinforce the gravel soil.The variable slope flume erosion test and rainfall simulation test were carried out to study the water erosion resistance of the material reconstructed soil under the influence of runoff erosion and raindrop splash erosion.The results show that:As the material content reached 12.5%,the reconstructed soil did not disintegrate after 24 hours of immersion,the internal friction angle was increased by 42.26%,and the cohesion was increased by 235.5%,which played a significant reinforcement effect.In the process of slope erosion,the soil rill erodibility parameter Kr was only 3‰ of the gravel soil control group,the critical shear force τ increased by 272%,and the soil erosion resistance was significantly improved.In the process of rainfall and rainfall on the slope,the runoff intensity of the reconstructed soil was stable,and the ability to resist runoff erosion and raindrop splash erosion was enhanced.The maximum value of soil loss rate on different slope slopes is 0.02-0.10 g·m^(-2)s^(-1),which is significantly lower than that of the control group and has better erosion reduction effect.

Soil properties in reclaimed farmland by filling subsidence basin due to underground coal mining with mineral wastes in China

Reclaimed mining-induced subsidence area soils (RMSs) could restore soil quality and crop productivity in coal mining area. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of mineral-processing wastes (fly ash vs coal gangue) as backfill substrates on soil chemical and microbial properties in mining-induced subsidence area. A general higher water holding capacity (WHC) and pH had been observed in fly ash than coal gangue reconstructed soil. Soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), MBC/TOC (total organic carbon) ratio (qmic) were higher under the influence of the fly ash, while contents of As, Cr, C/Nbio, the basal respiration per unit of microbial biomass (QCO2) were higher under the coal gangue reconstructed mode in 0-10, 10-20, 20-50 cm layers. The microbial basal respiration was higher in 0-10, 10-20, 0-50 cm layers, while was lower in 20-50 cm layer under fly ash than that of coal gangue reconstructed mode. The lower QCO2 of fly ash mine soil suggested the lower maintenance energy requirement of the microbial community. Moreover, the contents of metals may possibly have negative implications for soil microbial and enzyme activities in reconstructed soil.

Compounding soils to improve cropland quality:A study based on field experiments and model simulations in the loess hilly-gully region,China

Increasing the quantity and improving the quality of cropland can alleviate the human-land contradiction and promote the sustainable development of agriculture especially in mountainous areas.With the support of the central government’s policies,Yan’an,Northern Shaanxi,China implemented a major land consolidation engineering project in the loess hilly-gully region from 2013 to 2018,achieving 33,333.3 ha of new cropland.However,the poor quality of some newly-constructed cropland at the initial stage hindered its efficient utilization.In order to overcome this problem,red clay and Malan loess were compounded in different volume ratios to explore the method to improve the cropland quality.The Root Zone Water Quality Model was used to simulate the effects of different soil treatments on soil water,nitrogen and maize growth.Experimental data were collected from 2018 to 2019 to calibrate and validate the model.The root mean square error(RMSE)of soil water content,nitrate nitrogen concentration,above-ground biomass,leaf area index were in the range of 11.72-14.06 mm,4.06-11.73 mg kg^(-1),835.21-1151.28 kg ha^(-1)and 0.24-0.47,respectively,while the agreement index(d)between measured and simulated values ranged from 0.70 to 0.96.It was showed that,compared with land constructed with Malan loess only(T1),the soil structure and hydraulic characteristics of land with a volume ratio of red clay and Malan loess of 2:1(T3)was better.Simulation indicated that,compared with T1,the soil water content and available water content of T3 increased by 14.4%and 19.0%,respectively,while N leaching decreased by 16.9%.The aboveground biomass and maize yield of T3 were 7.9%and 6.7%higher than that of T1,respectively.Furthermore,the water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency of T3 increased by 21.0%and 16.6%compared with that of T1.These results indicated that compounding red clay and Malan loess in an appropriate ratio was an effective method to improve soil quality.This study provides a technical idea and specific technical parameters for the construction or improvement of cropland in loess hilly-gully region,which may also provide reference for similar projects in other places.

Biology Migration and Distribution Characteristics of Trace Elements in Reconstructed Soil with Coal Gangue Filling

With mixed gangue,coarse gangue and washed gangue as well as the maize in the reclaimed land in Luling Mine of Huaibei as the research object,the biology migration and distribution characteristics of trace elements in the reconstructed soil with different types of coal gangue filling were studied,the contents of Cu,Pb,Zn,Sn,Hg,Cd and Cr were determined,and the distribution characteristics of the trace elements in the coal gangue and different organs of the maize were analyzed.The results showed that the contents of trace elements were the highest in washed gangue and the least in coarse gangue in the gangue used for the reclamation,and there were significant differences in the enrichment ability of trace elements in different organs of maizes that were planted in reclamation land,of which fruit was weaker than other organs,while leaf presented strong absorption ability.

Impact of interlayer on moisture characteristics of reclaimed soil backfilled with Yellow River sediments

Underground coal mining causes land subsidence,and backfilling with Yellow River sediment is an effective reclamation technology to restore farmland in China.To date,two-layer soil reconstructed(TSR)for subsided land reclamation resulted in poor capacity to retain water.To solve this problem,multi-layered soil reconstructed(MSR),sandwiching soil interlayers between sediment,was developed as a new reclamation strategy with Yellow River sediment.In order to evaluate the impact of soil interlayer on moisture characteristics,laboratory experiments of infiltration and evaporation were conducted.Two control treatments(CK1,CK2)and four experimental treatments(T1-T4)were designed.CK1 was undamaged farmland,CK2 was conventional reconstructed two-layers soil profile(filled sediment with 40 cm soil cover).T1-T4 were multiple-layers soil profiles sandwiching different structures of soil interlayers between sediment layers.The results indicated that putting interlayers into sediment reduced water leakage and water evaporation,improved the water-holding capacity of conventional two-layer soil profiles.The total thickness of soil interlayers of 30 cm(T3 and T4)was better than 20 cm(T1 and T2)and two soil interlayers(T2)were better than one(T1)on water-holding capacity.Furthermore,the best reconstructed soil profile was T3,sandwiched two soil interlayer and the first thickness was 20 cm.This treatment had the greatest improvement on soil water holding capacity with an increase of 49.14%compared to CK2 at the end of the evaporation and was closest to CK1(402.31 mm).This study provided experimental evidence that compares with TSR,MRS improved the moisture characteristics of backfilling with Yellow River sediment.

Distribution of GDGTs in lake surface sediments on the Tibetan Plateau and its influencing factors

Quantitative paleotemperature records are vital not only for verifying and improving the accuracy of climate model simulations, but also for estimating the amplitude of temperature variability under global warming scenarios. The Tibetan Plateau(TP) affects atmospheric circulation patterns due to its unique geographical location and high elevation, and studies of the mechanisms of climate change on the TP are potentially extremely valuable for understanding the relationship of the region with the global climate system. With the development of biomarker-based proxies, it is possible to use lake sediments to quantitatively reconstruct past temperature variability. The source of Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers(GDGTs) in lake sediments is complex, and their distribution is controlled by both climatic and environmental factors. In this work, we sampled the surface sediments of 27 lakes on the TP and in addition obtained surface soil samples from six of the lake catchments. We analyzed the factors that influence GDGT distribution in the lake sediments, and established quantitative relationship between GDGTs and Mean Annual Air Temperature(MAAT). Our principal findings are as follows: the majority of GDGTs in the lake sediments are b GDGTs, followed by crenarchaeol and GDGT-0. In most of the lakes there were no significant differences between the GDGT distribution within the lake sediments and the soils in the same catchment, which indicates that the contribution of terrestrial material is important. i GDGTs in lake sediments are mainly influenced by water chemistry parameters(p H and salinity), and that in small lakes on the TP, TEX_(86) may act as a potential proxy for lake p H; however, in contrast b GDGTs in the lake sediments are mainly controlled by climatic factors. Based on the GDGT distribution in the lake sediments, we used proxies(MBT, CBT) and the fractional abundance of b GDGTs(f_(abun)) to establish calibrations between GDGTs and MAAT, respectively, which potentially provide the basis for paleoclimatic reconstruction on the TP.