Wednesday, November 15, 2006
302-1

Pedogenesis of Vesicular Horizons in Disturbed Soils.

Maureen Yonovitz and Patrick Drohan. UNLV, 4505 Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4010

Increasing desertification and anthropogenic soil disturbance is of growing concern to restoration ecologists in the Southwestern United States.  This study examines how a common soil horizon of arid lands, the vesicular horizon, responds to disturbances.  The vesicular horizon is typically composed of fine grained windblown material that could be potentially hazardous if disturbed; resulting dust emitted into the air adds to respiratory health and environmental problems in arid regions.  We hypothesize that the re-formation of vesicular horizon porosity in disturbed soils is affected by their prior (undisturbed) physical and chemical characteristics.  This research presents results reflecting differences in vesicle re-formation due to particle size, calcium carbonate content, mineralogy (XRD) and pore micromorphology (SEM).  In addition, results of compositional and morphological differences between disturbed and undisturbed vesicles are presented.

Back to Poster Symposium in Honor of Richard Drees: From Field to Lab and Back Again: II
Back to S09 Soil Mineralogy

Back to The ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings (November 12-16, 2006)