Carbon Sequestration in Reclaimed Mined Soils of Ohio Quarterly Report (open access)

Carbon Sequestration in Reclaimed Mined Soils of Ohio Quarterly Report

Assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential of reclaimed minesoils (RMS) is important for preserving environmental quality and increasing agronomic yields. The mechanism of physical SOC sequestration is achieved by encapsulation of SOM in spaces within macro and microaggregates. The experimental sites, owned and maintained by American Electrical Power, were characterized by distinct age chronosequences of reclaimed minesoils and were located in Guernsey, Morgan, Noble, and Muskingum Counties of Ohio. These sites were reclaimed both with and without topsoil application, and were under continuous grass or forest cover. In this report results are presented from the sites reclaimed in 2003 (R03-G), in 1973 (R73-F), in 1969 (R69-G), in 1962 (R62-G and R62-F) and in 1957 (R57-F). Three sites are under continuous grass cover and the three under forest cover since reclamation. Three bulk soil samples were collected from each site from three landscape positions (upper; middle, and lower) for 0-15 and 15-30 cm depths. The samples were air dried and using wet sieving technique were fractionated into macro (> 2mm), meso (2-0.25 mm) and microaggregate (0.25-0.053 mm). These fractions were weighted separately and water stable aggregation (WSA) and geometric mean (GMD) and mean weight (MWD) diameters of aggregates were …
Date: April 1, 2005
Creator: Shukla, M.K. & Lal, R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carbon Sequestration in Reclaimed Mined Soils of Ohio Quarterly Report (open access)

Carbon Sequestration in Reclaimed Mined Soils of Ohio Quarterly Report

This research project is aimed at assessing the soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential of reclaimed minesoils (RMS). The experimental sites, owned and maintained by the American Electrical Power, are located in Guernsey, Morgan, Noble, and Muskingum Counties of Ohio. These sites, characterized by age chronosequences, were reclaimed with and without topsoil application and are under continuous grass or forest cover. During this quarter, water infiltration tests were performed on the soil surface in the experimental sites. Soil samples were analyzed for the soil carbon and nitrogen contents, texture, water stable aggregation, and mean weight and geometric mean diameter of aggregates. This report presents the results from two sites reclaimed during 1978 and managed under grass (Wilds) and forest (Cumberland) cover, respectively. The trees were planted in 1982 in the Cumberland site. The analyses of data on soil bulk density ({rho}{sub b}), SOC and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations and stocks were presented in the third quarter report. This report presents the data on infiltration rates, volume of transport and storage pores, available water capacity (AWC) of soil, particle size distribution, and soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and coal carbon contents. The SIC content ranged from 0.04 to 1.68% in Cumberland tree …
Date: October 1, 2004
Creator: Shukla, M. K. & Lal, R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carbon Sequestration in Reclaimed Mined Soils of Ohio Quarterly Report (open access)

Carbon Sequestration in Reclaimed Mined Soils of Ohio Quarterly Report

This research project is aimed at assessing the soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential of reclaimed mine soils (RMS). Experimental sites characterized by distinct age chronosequences of reclaimed minesoil were identified. These sites are owned by Americal Electrical Power and are located in Guernsey, Morgan, Noble, and Muskingum Counties of Ohio. The sites chosen were: (1) reclaimed without topsoil application (three under forest and three under continuous grass cover), (2) reclaimed with topsoil application (three under forest and three under continuous grass cover) and (3) unmined sites (one under forest and another grass cover). Soil samples were collected from 0 to 15 cm and 15 to 30 cm depths from each of the experimental site under continuous grass and SOC and, total nitrogen (TN) concentration, pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were determined. The results of the study for the quarter (30 September to 31 December, 2003) showed that soil pH was > 5.5 and EC < 4 dS m{sup -1} for all sites and depths and therefore favorable for grass growth. Among the three reclamation treatments, SOC concentration increased from 1.9 g kg{sup -1} for site reclaimed in 2003 (newly reclaimed and at baseline) to 11.64 g kg{sup -1} for …
Date: January 1, 2004
Creator: Shukla, M. K. & Lal, R.
System: The UNT Digital Library