ORIGINAL PAPER
Soil development and contents of selected trace elements in Technosols on dumps of historical iron ore mines in the Jaworzynka Valley, Tatra Mountains, southern Poland
1
, Polska
Submission date: 2025-03-13
Final revision date: 2025-05-19
Acceptance date: 2025-05-23
Online publication date: 2025-05-23
Publication date: 2025-05-23
Corresponding author
Karolina Feluch
Instytut Rolnictwa SGGW, Katedra Gleboznawstwa, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie, Polska
Instytut Rolnictwa SGGW, Katedra Gleboznawstwa, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie, Polska
Soil Sci. Ann., 2025, 76(2)205499
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
From the Middle Ages until the 19th century, the Tatra Mountains were an important centre for the extraction and processing of metal ores. Technosols developing in the areas of historical mining in the Tatra Mountains are still poorly recognized, therefore this study aimed to determine the properties and mineral composition to classify the soils and find the effects of early pedogenic processes in Technosols on dumps of historical iron ore mining in the Jaworzynka Valley in the Tatra Mountains, south Poland. Another purpose of this investigation was to determine the total contents of Fe, Mn, and potentially toxic trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) in these soils to assess the degree of contamination with these elements. Four soil profiles representing meadow plant communities (three profiles) and a spruce forest (one profile) were examined. The soils studied showed poor morphological development, characterized by the predominance of stony technogenic soil substrate (in C horizons) constituting carbonate-rich mine wastes, and the occurrence of the thin (up to several centimeters) O and A (or AC) horizons in the topsoil. The texture of the soil fine earth was loamy. The highest content of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) was recorded in the O horizons and in the A and AC horizons, which was related to soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation in the topsoil. The soils had a high pH (7.3 on average) in the subsoil. However, the topsoil had a lower pH (6.6 on average). The topsoil of a profile developed in a spruce forest had the lowest pH (4.5 on average). The studied Technosols contained carbonates throughout soil profiles (up to 57.6%). However, the profile developed in a spruce forest did not contain carbonates in the topsoil, which was most likely related to the leaching of carbonates due to strong acidification. The mineral composition of Technosols was diverse, with quartz, dolomite, and calcite as the most abundant phases. Magnetic susceptibility (χ) ranged from 2.5 to 49.4 ×10-8·m3·kg-1, and frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility (χfd) was in the range of 1.6–8.6%. Both χ, and χfd were the highest in the topsoil. Therefore, it is likely that some transformations of Fe-bearing minerals related to the advancement of soil-forming processes led to the magnetic enhancement of the topsoil. The total concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) in the soils were variable. However, their contents were low and generally did not exceed the permissible levels determined in Polish law. The studies showed that pedogenesis in the Technosols was in its initial stage and was the most advanced in the topsoil. The first manifestations of soil-forming processes in the investigated Technosols are: the accumulation of SOM in the surface soil horizons, topsoil acidification related to the SOM transformation, leaching of carbonates from the topsoil of the most acidified soils, and the magnetic susceptibility enhancement of the topsoil.
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