Joanna Sposób

Concentration of soil CO2 as an indicator of the decalcification rate after liming treatment

Abstract This paper presents the results of investigation of decalcification of acid sandy and loamy sand soils by infiltration waters, and potential Ca-leaching after liming treatment. For this purpose, monthly measurements were made of the concentration of CO2 in the soil air, dissolved inorganic carbon in the soil waters, and their ionic composition. The determined dissolved inorganic carbon ranged from 5.9 to 10.6 mg dm−3 and from 9.9 to 16.5 mg dm−3 for the sandy and loamy sand soil, respectively. The Ca concentration in soil waters was determined as 5.9-12.4 mg dm−3 in sandy soil and 14.2-19.8 mg dm−3 in soil loamy sand. The calculated rate of decalcification amounted to 23.0 kg ha−1 year−1 in soil sandy and 19.4 kg ha−1 year−1 in loamy sand soil. The potential Ca-leaching is predicted as 124 kg ha−1 year−1 for S and 87 kg ha−1 year−1 for loamy sand soil. At the treatment level of 3 000 kg ha−1 4 year−1 of CaO, ~20% of the Ca-fertilizer can be leached after the liming treatment. The results of the CO2 concentration in the soil air may be useful in estimation of Ca-leaching from soils developed by slightly clayey sands and clayey sands in zones with a moderate climate.

Diverse Sediment Permeability and Implications for Groundwater Exchange in Closed Lake-Wetland Catchments (West Polesie, East Poland)

Seepage lakes lacking surface-water inflow or outflow, but with surrounding peatlands, are important and vulnerable ecosystems with water budgets that depend largely on inputs from precipitation and groundwater discharge. We studied the sediment diversity in two such lake-wetland systems and their surrounding catchments. The lakes were located in relatively close proximity to one another within the West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, West Polesie, East Poland. In spite of physiographic similarities, the studied lake-wetland systems and their catchments displayed considerable diversity in their underlying sediments. This was determined from data collected from several hundred geological boreholes and 164 determinations of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the organic and mineral sediments (constant and falling head methods). Our research results showed that the functioning of a closed lake-wetland ecosystem is greatly influenced by the hydrogeological properties of its sediments. In the case of wetland zones surrounding lakes, especially closed-drainage seepage lakes, it is very important to identify the geological settings and the hydrogeological properties of those sediments in order to better understand groundwater influences.

CO2 Emission to the Atmosphere from Carbonate Waters: The Study Case of the Lublin Upland and Roztocze Regions

Abstract The concentration of carbon dioxide dissolved in water (CO2(aq)) was measured in consecutive phases of the hydrological cycle. Its potentially possible degassing from groundwaters to the atmosphere was also assessed. The research was conducted in the area of occurrence of carbonate rocks of the Lublin Upland and Roztocze (SE Poland). The results of the measurements of CO2(aq) concentration varied as follows (min-max/mean): precipitation waters < 1-3/2.6 mg · dm−3, soil waters 3-50/14.2 mg · dm−3, groundwaters 10-70/30.3 mg · dm−3, river waters < 1-21/7.6 mg · dm−3. The measure of degassing of carbon dioxide from groundwaters to the atmosphere was a decrease in CO2(aq) concentration in fluvial outflow. Based on the value of groundwater outflow from the Lublin Upland and Roztocze, the annual carbon dioxide emission from waters to the atmosphere was calculated at a level of 50 thousand Mg · year−1. This value constitutes approximately 1% of anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide originating from environmentally harmful industrial plants in the Lublin province.