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Reclamation of prime farmland following mineral sands mining in Virginia. Preprint 02-132.
... Excessive compaction plays an important role in the development and productivity of mine soils (Barnhisel & Darmody, 2000). Compaction has been reported as the most restrictive feature in several mineral sands reclamation studies (Daniels et. al., 1999(Daniels et. al., , 2003a). Depth of compaction varies depending upon the equipment used during the reclamation process, materials handling methods used during soil reconstruction, and nature of the spoil material being placed and graded. McSweeney and Jansen (1984) advocated that the type of material handling methods utilized during soi ...
... Research has also been conducted on the addition of various amendments to enhance revegetation of mine soils such as the addition of biosolids, the use of native topsoil, the use of topsoil substitute, and additions of lime and phosphorous (Daniels et. al., 1999). In a study conducted by Powell et al. (1986), deep ripping of the subsoil combined with biosolids additions (22 to 44 Mg/ha) produced > 90 % of long-term county average target corn and sorghum yields on reclaimed prime farmland soils. Sopper and Kerr (1982) found that biosolids were superior to fertilizer on coal mined land that had un ...
... d the pilot mining pits at Old Hickory did not differ, D b in the mine soils covered a much larger range (concentrated slimes ~1.0 g/cm 3 ; sandy horizons 1.6 to 1.9 g/cm 3 ). Schroeder's study utilized 112 Mg/ha yard waste compost incorporated into a mixture of tailings and slimes following a regime of heavy P-fertilization, liming, and V-ripping (Daniels et. al., 1999(Daniels et. al., , 2003b. Over a four-year cropping period of wheat, soybean, corn, and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), the post-mining productivity, when compared to adjacent prime farmland, was reduced by 23%, 3%, 27%, and 20% respectively (Daniels et al., 2003a(Daniels et al., , 2003b). ...
... In precursor studies to the work reported here (Daniels et al., 1991(Daniels et al., , 1996, we evaluated soils reconstructed from tailings:slimes mixtures in 1.2 m reconstructed profiles in barrels in the greenhouse and found that the simulated mine soils could serve as suitable plant growth media if significant levels of P were added to offset fixation potentials along with appropriate pH adjustment via liming. In a follow-up study (Daniels et al., 1999) on pilot mining pits between 1995 and 1998, we compared the effects of thick (25 cm) topsoil return vs. topsoil substitution via the addition of 112 Mg/ha yardwaste compost to mixed tailings and slimes following heavy P-fertilization, liming, and ripping of the reclamation surface. Over a four-year cropping rotation, post-mining productivity compared to adjacent prime farmland plots was reduced by 23%, 3%, 27%, and 20% for each crop (wheat/soybeans/corn/cotton) in sequence. ...
... Pilot Mining Pit Soil Studies in 1995 and1996 Detail on the layout and experimental design of the replicated pilot mining pit study is provided by Schroeder (1997) and Daniels et al. (1999), and an image of the processing layout and one of the pilot mining pits is provided in Fig. 2. Field experiments were installed on two pilot-scale (25 m X 60 m) mining pits in the late summer of 1995 and replicated on a directly adjacent undisturbed prime farmland area. Half of each mining pit was topsoiled (25 cm) while the remaining half was left as either (1) mixed tails/slimes or (2) re-graded subsoil over tails/slimes to simulate various pit closure scenarios. ...
... As detailed in our earlier paper (Daniels et al., 1999), crop yields in the replicated field experiment were approximately 20% lower than adjacent unmined ground over a four-year rotation period. Due to the extensive liming and fertilization regimes employed, these differences appeared to be due primarily to differences in physical properties and the subsoil rooting environment. ...
Significant areas of prime farmland in the upper Coastal Plain of Virginia and North Carolina will be disturbed by heavy mineral sands (Ti/Zr- bearing ilmenite, rutile, zircon) mining over the next 20 years. The physical and chemical properties of mine soils that result from the mining and reclamation process were studied in a replicated small plot experimental setting between 1994 and 1997 and in detailed transects over a succession of eight mining pits reclaimed between 1997 and 2002. Separation of sandy tailings from silt+clay slimes in dewatering pits leads to significant differences in soil texture, seasonal wetness and bearing capacity across the reclamation surfaces. Plant growth in sandy tailings areas is directly limited by low water holding capacity while that in finer textured zones is limited by the massive and laminated nature of the slimes. Compaction of the surface and subsurface also limits rooting in non-sandy reclaimed areas. Freshly deposited materials tend to be very low in pH (< 5.2) and in plant-available nutrients due to the highly weathered nature of the original deposit and the mineral separation processes employed. Native topsoil on-site is very high in heavy mineral content, and is therefore subject to being processed rather than saved for reclamation. An array of reclamation protocols have been implemented at the site including heavy liming and P application, deep ripping, and the utilization of biosolids to improve post-mining productivity. Revegetation of eight mining pits produced between 1997 and 2002 was positively affected by the utilization of topsoil, and extremes in surface texture limited revegetation where topsoils were not employed. Issues associated with differential settlement as the fills dewater over time, and the possibility of P leaching in areas of pure sandy tailings warrant further study.
... As is true in many contemporary environmental problems, the rehabilitation of a drastically disturbed terrestrial system, such as lands mined for coal and minerals, requires site-specific knowledge to ensure the reclamation strategies chosen will be sustainable [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. In central Europe, a large proportion of post-mining landscapes are reclaimed to forest. ...
... Nitrogen (and phosphorus) is one of the most deficient elements in reclaimed sites [5,54]. In the spoil heap soils of former lignite mines developing on tertiary carboniferous sands, geological carbon in the form of lignites often occurs and complicates soil C analysis. ...
... Therefore, the C and N accumulation rate in the deeper horizons of the spoil heap soils, especially in case of TCS, may actually be overestimated. Although total N accumulation increases in the course of soil development in mine soils, both in those undergoing reclamation treatment and those where natural succession is taking place [5,12,14,38], it has been found that the average annual accumulation of N fluctuates and may change with the age of soil and vary by community type introduced in reclamation seedings [38]. ...
The aim of this study was to determine the sources, accumulation rate and relationships between macronutrients in reclaimed mine soils (RMS) and aboveground plant biomass on exte-rnal slopes of lignite mines in central Poland. The study was conducted on two different types of sites with 10-year-old Scots (Pinus sylvestris L.) pine stands located on Quaternary loamy sa-nds (QLS) and on Tertiary acidic carboniferous sands following neutralisation (TCS). The con-trol plot was located in the same vicinity on an external slope in a natural pine ecosystem on a Haplic Podzol in a young mixed coniferous for-est habitat (NPE). The nutrient resources, apart from N, were higher in RMS than in comparable Haplic Podzols, however, N primarily accumul-ated in the mineral horizons. In forest soils, the main macronutrient resources were accumu-lated in organic horizons, which in natural soils of coniferous forest habitats constitute the main source of nutrients. The proportion of individual macronutrients accumulated in the biomass vs. pools in soil was much lower on the external slope RMS than in the natural site, which in view of the potential richness of RMS, indicated po-orer sorption and utilization of macronutrients in aboveground plant biomass than in natural habitats. Other important linear correlations (p = .05) were found between the sources of nutr-ients in RMS and elements accumulated in bio-mass (most clearly in case of K, Ca and Mg), wh-ich indicates important relationships between soil and vegetation in the first stages of ecosys-tem development as stimulated by reclamation.
... Nitrogen (and phosphorus) is one of the most deficient elements in reclaimed sites (Marrs and Bradshaw, 1993;Daniels et al., 1999). In the spoil heap soils of former lignite mines developing on tertiary carboniferous sands, geological carbon in the form of lignites often occurs and complicates soil C analysis. ...
... Although total N accumulation increases in the course of soil development in mine soils, both in those undergoing reclamation treatment and those where natural succession is taking place (Anderson, 1977, Wali, 1999Daniels et al. 1999;Pietrzykowski and Krzaklewski, 2007 b), it has been found that the average annual accumulation of N fluctuates and may change with the age of soil and vary by community type introduced in reclamation seedings (Anderson, 1977). ...
The aim of this study was to determine the sources, accumulation rate and relationships between macronutrients in reclaimed mine soils (RMS) and aboveground plant biomass on external slopes of lignite mines in central Poland. The study was conducted on two different types of sites with 10-year-old Scots (Pinus sylvestris L.) pine stands located on Quaternary loamy sands (QLS) and on Tertiary acidic carboniferous sands following neutralisation (TCS). The control plot was located in the same vicinity on an external slope in a natural pine ecosystem on a Haplic Podzol in a young mixed coniferous forest habitat (NPE). The nutrient resources, apart from N, were higher in RMS than in comparable Haplic Podzols, however, N primarily accumulated in the mineral horizons. In forest soils, the main macronutrient resources were accumulated in organic horizons, which in natural soils of coniferous forest habitats constitute the main source of nutrients. The proportion of individual macronutrients accumulated in the biomass vs. pools in soil was much lower on the external slope RMS than in the natural site, which in view of the potential richness of RMS, indicated poorer sorption and utilization of macronutrients in aboveground plant biomass than in natural habitats. Other important linear correlations (p=.05) were found between the sources of nutrients in RMS and elements accumulated in biomass (most clearly in case of K, Ca and Mg), which indicates important relationships between soil and vegetation in the first stages of ecosystem development as stimulated by reclamation.
... Mineral enriched weathered soil and underlying Coastal Plain sediments are dry-excavated using conventional loaders and haulers, Table 1. Effect of various soil reconstruction treatments on row-crop yields over four growing seasons at Old Hickory as reported by Daniels et al. (9). Pit #1 was constructed from re-graded dike subsoil materials over mixed tailings/slimes. ...
... Mineral enriched weathered soil and underlying Coastal Plain sediments are dry-excavated using conventional loaders and haulers, Table 1. Effect of various soil reconstruction treatments on row-crop yields over four growing seasons at Old Hickory as reported by Daniels et al. (9). Pit #1 was constructed from re-graded dike subsoil materials over mixed tailings/slimes. ...
Significant deposits (> 4,000 ha) of heavy mineral sands were discovered in the USA Coastal Plain of Virginia and North Carolina in 1989. The majority of these lands support highly productive row crop agriculture, and the development of restoration protocols that would return these lands to agricultural use was deemed to be critical to the long term sustainability of mining operations. Virginia Tech worked closely with all stakeholders to develop appropriate restoration protocols and to coordinate their implementation. Full-scale mining operations at the Old Hickory Project in Virginia were initiated in 1997 by Iluka Resources Inc., and restoration protocols have continued to evolve in response to a variety of economic, technical, and social issues. Approximately 750 ha of land are in various phases of backfilling and final reclamation. Return of these lands to agricultural row-crop production has been complicated by lateral variability in mine soil physical conditions, excessive compaction, and limited topsoil return. However, within the past two years, a series of tailings deposition and soil reconstruction practices have been developed and implemented that significantly improve post-mining soil productivity. Deep ripping and appropriate use of organic soil amendments have been particularly effective at restoring post- mining soil productivity.
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