A middle Eocene treefall pit and its filling: a microenvironmental study from the onset of a forest mire in the Geiseltal (Germany)

The treefall pit of a large tree at the base of the middle Eocene Mittelkohle has been studied in the former open-cast mine Neumark Nord of the Geiseltal Mining District. Above a light clastic soil, the sedimentation in the pit started with backfall and downwashed material grading upwards into pond deposits that filled the pit. This represents a high-resolution section equivalent in time to the initial peat-forming environment. Palynology revealed a striking difference between a fern-dominated herbaceous plant community below the pit and a pulse of washed-in fagaceous pollen (Tricolpopollenites liblarensis) at the base of the pit. This is overlain by an assemblage of woody taxa typical of a peat swamp forest associated with a number of tropical elements. Comparison with a nearby but undisturbed transition from underlying sediments to the seam confirms the ecotonal character of the parent plant of T. liblarensis, and suggests that Cupressaceae s.l., Nyssaceae and Myricaceae especially benefited from moisture and light in the clearing of the treefall pit. The transition from the underlying sediment to the lignite represents a sharp break in the sedimentary regime from clastic to purely organic material with a bounding surface colonised by large trees, most of them preserved as individual stumps, but including some fallen logs.

Soil structural development in a rehabilitated open-cast mine site in south-east Australia

<p>Rehabilitated soils from post mining fields are considered to have poor soil structure, low nutrient content and microbial activity. Soil development during rehabilitation is a complex biogeochemical process influenced by the inherent properties of the substrate used for the rehabilitation. Besides disturbed soil properties, in Australia soil rehabilitation success is also influenced by climatic conditions like high evaporation rate which affects rebuilding of soil system functions. There are several studies looking into the development of soil properties post rehabilitation in temperate climates, however, the intertwined development of soil structure, quality and quantity of soil organic matter (SOM) after the rehabilitation under water stressed environment is not clear until now.</p><p>In this study, we used a space-for-time chronosequence approach in the rehabilitated open-cast mine site at Yallourn (Victoria, Australia) to elucidate the development of soil structure and soil organic matter after rehabilitation. We selected five different fields with increasing rehabilitation ages (2, 3, 10, 21 and 39 years) and two mature soils that are used as grazing land. In each field, we sampled 6 independent locations with stainless steel cylinders (100 cm<sup>3</sup>) at two depths of 0-4 cm and 10-14 cm.  All samples were analysed for bulk density, organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) concentration. Selected samples were wet sieved into four aggregate size classes of <63 µm, 63-200 µm, 200-630 µm and >630 µm. Each aggregate size class was characterized by OC and TN concentration. The chemical composition of the SOM of selected samples was characterized using solid-state <sup>13</sup>C NMR spectroscopy.</p><p>The studied soils have a strong temporal dynamic and variability as determined for the soil properties bulk density and SOM stocks. Aggregate fractionation showed that large macroaggregates (>630 µm) were the most abundant size class fractions in each rehabilitation field, representing 95-75% of the total soil mass. SOM played an important role in the formation of large macroaggregates, where the highest contribution to total OC content was observed. It became evident that plant derived carbon had a decisive role in the structural formation, because O/N-alkyl-C and alkyl-C chemical shift regions represented the highest relative intensities throughout the chronosequence.</p>

Perspective Of Using Muruntau Career’s Overburden As Back Up Sources Of Raw Materials

In given article questions of perspective use breeds of open-cast mine Muruntau as a reserve raw source are reflected. On the basis of the analysis it is established, that ore of the raised quality, and ore went to an initial stage of development of a deposit for processing more poor quality concerned to for the balance to stocks and collected in warehouses. Therefore the mountain weight saved up in sailings for today represents certain interest as gold-bearing raw materials, essentially suitable for industrial processing for the purpose of reception of additional quantity of gold.

Accumulation of chemical elements in tree waste of Pinus sylvestris L. growing in various ecological zones

We investigated the pattern of phosphorus, nitrogen and ashes accumulation in tree waste of Pinus sylvestris L. growing in various ecological zones. The studied areas were located in the Kemerovo Region: on flood-land of the Tom River (the Kuzbass Botanical Garden) and on the waste dump of the Kedrovsky open-cast mine. It was shown that the chemical composition of tree waste of Pinus sylvestris L. is correlated with ecological conditions of its vegetation. So, the tree waste of Pinus sylvestris L. growing on the waste dump is characterized by three-fold increased level of nitrogen compared to ones from the Kuzbass Botanical Garden. The concentration of phosphorus and ashes showed no differences between groups. We suggested that the diversity in destruction of tree waste proceeding in different conditions and microbial cenosis leads to differentiated accumulation of chemical elements in the tree waste.