Environmental Stratigraphy—Chemical Markers of Historic Contamination in Soils and Sediments

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 1447

Special Issue Editors

Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, 45060 Orléans, France
Interests: geochemistry; XRF; mineralogy; environmental chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Environment & Sustainability Institute and Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, Penryn Cornwall TR10 9DF, UK
Interests: mine waste characterization; management and remediation; environmental mineralogy; mineral-microbe interactions; mineral dissolution; sulfate minerals; biogeochemical cycles; economic geology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout history, mankind has left evidence of its activities on the Earth’s surface. Many of these activities (e.g., agricultural, industrial, mining, urban) have left a legacy of contamination of soils and sediments. ‘Environmental Stratigraphy’ is a discipline in which the chemical markers of contamination can be fingerprinted, using field, forensic, statistical and chemometric approaches. The basis of Environmental Stratigraphy is the Source – Pathway – Receptor model, in which the contaminants that originate in the source move through pathways to accumulate in receptors, chiefly sediments and soils. A natural analogue is the record by soil and sediments of volcanic events. Contaminant accumulation in the receptors is spatially controlled by sedimentary or soil-forming processes, and temporally controlled by the timing of the contaminating activity. Chemical analysis, combined with sedimentary logging and dating, enables detailed pictures to be developed of contamination histories that can be linked to their possible sources. A contaminant signature is rarely based on a single substance. It often comprises several substances emitted by the source industry or activity. Contamination events are recorded by the soil or sediments that will combine them. In some cases, the observed signature is unique to an activity and may help to identify it (e.g., in forensics and industrial archaeology).  Spot accumulations of contaminants may lie within the sedimentary or soil sequence, and constitute potential hazards in relation with climate change or extreme events. In this Special Issue we wish to publish original research, reviews and perspectives that describe recent advances and case studies on the techniques, outcomes and processes involved in Environmental Stratigraphy.

Dr. Bruno Lemière
Prof. Dr. Karen Hudson-Edwards
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • stratigraphy
  • industrial pollution
  • mining pollution
  • urban pollution
  • historic contamination
  • forensics
  • stream sediments
  • soil profile
  • strata
  • chemical processes
  • chemical markers

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 1461 KiB  
Article
Forms of Copper in the Aspect of Anthropogenic Changes in the Profiles of Horticultural Soils in the Cities of South-Eastern Poland
by Iwona Makuch-Pietraś and Anna Wójcikowska-Kapusta
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(19), 9018; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11199018 - 28 Sep 2021
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Abstract
The aim of the research was to show the changes taking place in soils as a result of the influence of anthropogenic factors in the form of intensive horticulture and pollution within the city. It was made on the basis of the distribution [...] Read more.
The aim of the research was to show the changes taking place in soils as a result of the influence of anthropogenic factors in the form of intensive horticulture and pollution within the city. It was made on the basis of the distribution of individual fractions as well as available and total Cu forms in the profiles of garden soils located at houses and in the family allotment gardens in six cities in south-eastern Poland. The research took into account the granulometric composition according to which the cities were divided into two groups. The pollution assessment was based on the concentration indicator, Igeo, and indicators taking into account the forms available for plants: Cav/Ct and BF. There was no copper contamination with regard to legislation act and Igeo. The role of organic matter as an important component in copper in the humus horizons of soils in long-term horticultural cultivation has been considered. The content of all forms of copper was higher in humus horizon which also indicated the anthropogenic changes. Among the two groups of soils, a greater impact of the treatments used in horticulture on those made of sands was found in relation to the silty ones. Full article
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