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Suitability of inorganic and organic amendments for in situ immobilization of Cd, Cu, and Zn in a strongly contaminated Kastanozem of the Mashavera valley, SE Georgia. I. Effect of amendments on metal mobility and microbial activity in soil
Author(s) -
Hanauer Thomas,
Jung Stephan,
FelixHenningsen Peter,
Schnell Sylvia,
Steffens Diedrich
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.201100367
Subject(s) - biochar , environmental remediation , environmental chemistry , soil conditioner , chemistry , amendment , tailings , soil contamination , cadmium , soil remediation , contamination , environmental science , soil water , soil science , ecology , biology , organic chemistry , pyrolysis , political science , law
The aim was to find an adequate, cost‐efficient in situ remediation technique for the Mashavera valley, a mining area in SE Georgia heavily contaminated with Cd, Cu, and Zn. A 12‐month experiment was conducted to test: iron grit, natural zeolite, biochar, and Divergan® (a scavenger) for soil melioration. The amendments were added in different concentrations to the topsoil of a Kastanozem. Mobile metal concentrations decreased with increasing concentrations of amendments in the sequence Divergan® >> iron grit ≈ natural zeolite > biochar. In the same order amendments enhanced activities of soil microbial respiration, alkaline phosphatase, and dehydrogenase; microbial C also followed this trend. A sequential extraction confirmed a shift from easily mobilized to heavily bound fractions. The addition of 2% (w/w) of Divergan® was sufficient to lower mobile trace metal concentrations below German thresholds by chemisorption, and soil microbial activity was significantly increased. The effects of all other treatments were at a much lower level and not found suitable due to needed application rates.