Soils of Urban and Human‐Impacted Landscapes

Abstract

Soils of urban and human‐impacted landscapes (Anthrosols) differ from soils normally found in natural settings in that they have been modified so profoundly by human activity that they have characteristics outside the range of native soil series and require reclassification as a different type of soil. Anthrosols are widely distributed in agricultural, archaeological, mine‐related, and urban geographical settings. Agricultural Anthrosols are formed by long‐term artificial additions of manure (Plaggenic) or irrigation water (Anthraquic). Anthrosols found at archaeological sites (Plaggenic, Dark Earth, Terra Preta, and Midden soils) are developed in various historical contexts (agricultural, occupation, ceremonial, and burial sites). They have formed through human additions of organic and mineral material. Mine‐related Anthrosols are formed from parent materials which have been artificially sized by blasting, and mixed together in an unnatural way by mechanized equipment. These soils are frequently biologically unproductive, difficult to reclaim, and many have become highly acidic by weathering of pyritic parent materials. Two types of urban Anthrosols are distinguished depending on whether they were formed in human‐altered material (native parent materials modified in place) or human‐transported material (anthropogenic deposits formed from mixed soil materials and other earthy fill). Urban Anthrosols often contain large amounts of artifacts in the form of waste building materials or carbonaceous wastes related to fossil fuel combustion. Some artifacts are comprised of substances (e.g., coal tar, plastic) not found in nature, and have a high preservation potential. Further study is needed because Anthrosols have unique properties that greatly affect their use and management.

Human activity in the surroundings of a former mill pond (Turznice, N Poland): implications for soil classification and environmental hazard assessment

“…The high importance of human impact on the environment, including soil (Howard and Daniels, 2017) is reflected in the evolution of soil classification systems, which includes adjustments to enable the proper and complex classification of anthropogenic soils (IUSS, 2015;Galbraith, 2018;Kabała et al, 2019). When dealing with such specific, strongly transformed or even humanmade soils, potential pollution should be taken into account, especially in health risk assessments (Charzyński et al, 2018).…”