Podzolization over ophiolitic materials in the western Alps (Natural Park of Mont Avic, Aosta Valley, Italy)

Edaphic influences of ophiolitic substrates on vegetation in the Western Italian Alps

“…The glacial till is of mixed lithology and contains serpentine rock in varying quantities. Subalpine (boreal) soils are podzolized (though not always classified as Spodosols) with deep acidification (D'Amico et al 2008). Cryoturbation is a common feature in the alpine zone and permafrost is present on north-facing slopes above 2600 m. Cryoturbation and sparse vegetative cover largely inhibit development of alpine soils as the rate of soil erosion exceeds soil formation (Sirois and Grandtner 1992).…”

“…Forest soils in Mont Avic Natural Park are generally well-developed influenced by the podzolization process on stable sites (D'Amico et al 2008), or they are Entisols in steep or disturbed areas. N concentrations were found to be variable and not dependent upon parent material.…”

Origin and concentration profile of chromium in a Greek aquifer

“…Reported Cr(VI) concentrations as high as 73 g/L in groundwater interacting with ophiolites and ultramafic rocks indicate that these lithotypes may cause Cr(VI) concentrations in groundwater that exceed the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 50 g/L for Crtot [6]. Such phenomena have been reported in several areas worldwide, including USA [7][8][9], Brazil [10,11], New Caledonia [12][13][14], Taiwan [15][16][17], Italy [6,18,19], France [20,21], Poland [22,23], Albania [24,25] and Greece [26][27][28][29].…”

Plant cover and epipedon SOM stability as factors affecting brown soil profile development and microbial activity

“…In spite of these results, the pedogenetic process for M con could not yet be regarded as a moderate leaching for several reason: a) the Fe o /Fe d ratio sometimes used as a diagnostic criterion for B horizons of podsolized soils (Blume and Schwertmann, 1969;Jarvis and Duncan, 1976;Zezschwitz et al, 1973) showed similar values in M con and M beech ; b) FAs in M con did not increase with depth decreasing to the Fe forms trend; c) the SI did not reach the limit required by Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2006) and WRB (D'Amico et al, 2008;FAO, 2006), therefore it was considered as a chemical indicator of Fe and Al leaching process.…”