Soil reclamation: what is it, what restoration measures are there

The development of mankind leads to an increase in the area of disturbed lands and a decrease in the number of natural ecosystems. Also, this process is accompanied by a decrease in recovery functions and resistance to the influence of anthropogenic factors. Reclamation works are considered an important part of measures to protect the lithosphere. This helps to restore the productivity of land resources and normalize their structure.

What is reclamation?

This term is understood as a set of measures aimed at the economic and environmental restoration of land and water resources, the productivity of which has been significantly reduced in the process of human activity.

The main task of reclamation is considered to be the normalization of environmental conditions. These activities are aimed at restoring the productivity of land and water bodies.

Causes of land and water bodies in need of restoration

Different human activities lead to problems. They fall into 2 major categories:

1. Economic activity. The reasons for the violation of the structure of land and water bodies are: mining, deforestation, construction of cities. Also, the creation of hydraulic structures and other similar facilities, the appearance of landfills, and deforestation lead to problems.
2. Conducting military tests. These can be various activities, including nuclear weapons testing.

What is taken into account in the project?

When drawing up a reclamation project, it is recommended to consider the following:

1. Assessment of the direction of reclamation and determination of the intended purpose of land. They can be used for agricultural purposes, for fisheries or forestry.
2. Organization and features of activities aimed at soil reclamation.
3. Assessing the need for mechanical devices.
4. Search for areas to place the removed soil layer.
5. Drawing up a work schedule.

Stages of reclamation

Recultivation is carried out in stages. This must be taken into account when drawing up a work plan.

Technical stage

At this stage, engineering and technical measures are being carried out, which are aimed at preparing disturbed lands for the elimination of the consequences of human activity and solving the tasks of biological reclamation.

The technical stage includes works of different types:

1. Structural and design - these include, among other things, the creation of new surfaces and landforms. It can be peat, earthing, profiling. Work may include creating screens or clearing areas of stones, plants, stumps.
2. Chemical - include liming, use of sorbents, fertilization.
3. Hydrotechnical - this category includes drainage and irrigation. Regulation of the timing of flooding of sites with surface waters can also be carried out.
4. Heat engineering - aimed at heating areas. To do this, use mulching materials or insulation.

Important works that are carried out at the technical stage are planning and grounding. At the same time, the layout can be continuous or partial - it all depends on the direction of reclamation.

Solid planning is required in case of preparing the site for the formation of forests or agricultural use. Partial work is carried out at the stage of preparation for landscaping or the creation of protective strips.

Biological stage

This stage completes the reclamation. It includes the formation of a vegetative soil layer, biological purification of the soil, agro-reclamation measures aimed at normalizing the processes of soil formation.

The key task of biological reclamation is the renewal of processes, an increase in the self-cleaning capacity of the soil and the restoration of biocenosis.

At the first stage of biological remediation, it is necessary to grow pre-crops that are able to adapt to existing conditions and have a high regenerative capacity. At the second stage, it is necessary to move on to the intended use.

Soil that is contaminated with organic matter, processed products or heavy metals is first cleaned with sorbents. In this case, it is recommended to use plants or microorganisms. Then the land is included in the economic use. At the same time, control of sanitary and epidemiological authorities is required.

If the land is planned to be used for agricultural purposes, biological remediation includes the following:

• ground leveling;
• cultivating pioneer plants to enhance soil formation processes;
• introduction of a special crop rotation to normalize the structure of the soil layer;
• monitoring of soil composition by special regulatory authorities.

Methods and technologies for reclamation of disturbed lands

Today there are many methods that are used for land reclamation. When choosing a specific method, you need to take into account the characteristics of the territory.

Stone quarries

During the extraction of stone, embankments are formed, which consist of an overburden layer of soil. It cannot be used for industrial purposes. Such a substrate can be divided into a fertile layer and parent rock.

Because all activities are aimed at solving such problems:

• surface formation planning;
• filling loose soil - the thickness of this layer should be at least 1 meter;
• planting seed;
• reclamation of worked-out areas of peat deposits.

Dumps and embankments

Dumps are understood as mounds of earth that do not have a specific purpose and are formed during the dumping of the developed soil. For the reclamation of such sites do the following:

• removal of topsoil;
• creating slopes of the dump;
• planning work on created surfaces;
• transportation from the warehouse and application of the soil-vegetative layer to the formed areas;
• construction of targeted roads, land reclamation;
• creation of hydraulic structures if needed;
• planting seed.

Hydraulic dumps

This term refers to dumps that were formed by the alluvial method. For the reclamation of such sites, the following is required:

• removal of fertile soil layer;
• designing the arrangement of structures for the diversion of surface water that comes from the surface of the catchment;
• reclamation of the external slopes of dams - this requires filling a fertile layer of soil, planting sod-forming grasses and planting trees and shrubs at intervals of 5-6 meters, recultivating the beach part.

Materials that are washed into hydraulic dumps are usually very toxic. Therefore, they must be recultivated from a sanitary and hygienic point of view. Under the influence of water and wind erosion, such deposits can lead to environmental pollution.

Dumps and landfills

Dumps and landfills are caused by human activity. Such formations cause great damage to the environment. Depending on the purpose of the territories where landfills and landfills are located, different types of reclamation can be used.

Before work is required to carry out engineering and geological research. Based on their results, a grid of landfill soil profiles is formed and the structure of the underlying layers is evaluated. Of no small importance is the determination of the level of pollution and the location of groundwater.

Landfill soils need to be moved to landfills for disposal and disposal of waste. After that, it is necessary to bring in mineral soil, which is clean in various parameters - chemical, bacteriological and radiometric. At the final stage, the fertile soil layer is rolled in and the seed is planted.

After underground mining

Mining provokes disturbance of the soil structure due to the formation of rock dumps, tailings and sludge dumps on it. Also, the formation of negative landforms due to underground mining can also cause problems. These can be dips, deflections or funnels.

To restore negative landforms, it is necessary to fill in the formed depressions and carry out a set of planning works. For this, loose deposits or bedrocks are used, which are mined in special quarries.They also often use rock produced from mines.

Recultivation is considered an important activity that contributes to the restoration of soil structure. At the same time, it is necessary to plan the work correctly depending on the nature of the problems.

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