Some impacts of urban waste landfills on Mediterranean soils

✍ Scribed by A. J. Hernández; M. J. Adarve Alcazar; J. Pastor

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 168 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1085-3278
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-145x(199801/02)9:1<21::aid-ldr269>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

Seventy soil samples around and under urban waste land®lls in central Spain were studied for 28 physical and chemical properties. In the unaected surroundings of land®lls there is always a higher proportion of coarse and ®ne gravel. Chlorides, sulphates and nitrates increase noticeably in all the soils aected by land®lls as do Na Y B 3 and Zn 2 . Multivariate analyses show that higher or lower water retention in the surface layer plays a main role in the organization of both acid and sandier soils as well as of basic soils and those with a higher proportion of silt and clay. Depending on the acidity or basicity, however, the other main factors reveal dierent hierarchical levels in the soil variables with regard to the organization of these systems. Thus, in acid soils, Zn 2 and B 3 contribute most noticeably to the second hierarchical level in the edaphic organization. In basic soil without gypsum, the second important gradient of variation is the stoniness (gravel)±®ne sand (52 mm fraction) while the importance of the K Y B 3 and SO 4 is relegated to the third factor. In the basic soils with gypsum, not only sulphate, but also Na , Cl À and Zn 2 plays an essential role in the ®rst factor and the coarse surface elements are also important. The principal components analysis made it possible to establish the main factors involved in the degradation caused by leachates from land®lls. Consequently, greater attention could be given to these factors with a view to rehabilitation of degraded soils.