The influence of physical and chemical material properties on mining soil deterioration processes around Mineral Salts Company in Mighan playa, Arak, Iran

Abstract

In this work, we determine the factors affecting soil erosion and its effect on dust formation around the Mineral Salts Company in Mighan playa of Arak. Seventy samples are randomly sampled from a depth of 10 cm above the ground around Mighan playa. Some factors involved (e.g. sample aggregation, lime, organic matter, pH, Na, K, Ca, and electrical conductivity) are determined and compared with the statistical parameters such as the correlation matrix and cluster analysis in order to determine the erosion rate in each sample based on the soil properties. The results obtained show that soil salinity, as a major factor in erosion, causes soil depletion and degradation in the area. Also a high amount of sand in the environment causes the soil texture instability. The factors such as the amount of gravel, organic matter, and K are the main erosion inhibiting factors, which have little effect on the majority of the samples. The organic matter content in most samples is less than 4%, and does not have much effect on erosion. The amount of clay in the samples is less than 10%, and has no effect on the adhesion of soil texture. The main factor affecting the erosion rate is EC and Na in the soil. The inhibitors such as gravel, organic matter, K, and clay amount in the samples can be considered as a protective or reducing factor in erosioning. Rising in the mentioned factors in the soil causes a lack of density and instability in the soil, and increases the rate of soil erosion. The results of this work show that addition of soil erosion increases the amount of fine-grained soil, and dust is a result of increased production. Also the presence of mineral salt in the area increases the production rate of dense soil, and as a result, rises the amount of dust produced in the area. Therefore, we need to stabilize mining soil, and prevent dust generation around the Mineral Salts Company.