Sand Silt

Wars and Soil Pollution

Soil pollution is defined as the build-up in soils of persistent toxic compounds, chemicals, salts, radioactive materials, or disease causing agents, which have adverse effects on plant growth and animal health.  Land pollution occurs massively during earth quakes, land slides, hurricanes and floods. All cause hard to clean mess, which is expensive to clean, and sometimes take years to restore the affected area. These kinds of natural disasters are not only a problem in that they cause pollution but also because they leave many victims homeless. After the World War II, many countries suffered from food shortage and this facilitated the introduction of fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals.

 

Soil is a thin layer of material on the Earth's surface in which plants have their roots. It is made up of many things, such as weathered rock and decayed plant and animal matter. Soil is formed over a long period of time. Soil Formation takes place when many things interact, such as air, water, plant life, animal life, rocks, and chemicals. The formation of soil happens over a very long period of time. It can take 1000 years or more. Soil is formed from the weathering of rocks and minerals. The surface rocks break down into smaller pieces through a process of weathering and is then mixed with moss and organic matter. Over time this creates a thin layer of soil. Plants help the development of the soil. The plants attract animals, and when the animals die, their bodies decay. Decaying matter makes the soil thick and rich. This continues until the soil is fully formed. The soil then supports many different plants.

Weathering is the process of the breaking down rocks. There are two different types of weathering: physical weathering and chemical weathering. In physical weathering it breaks down the rocks, but what it's made of stays the same. In chemical weathering it still breaks down the rocks, but it may change what it's made of. For instance, a hard material may change to a soft material after chemical weathering. Soils are a mixture of different things; rocks, minerals, and dead, decaying plants and animals. Soil can be very different from one location to another, but generally consists of organic and inorganic materials, water and air. The inorganic materials are the rocks that have been broken down into smaller pieces. The size of the pieces varies. It may appear as pebbles, gravel, or as small as particles of sand or clay. The organic material is decaying living matter. This could be plants or animals that have died and decay until they become part of the soil. The amount of water in the soil is closely linked with the climate and other characteristics of the region. The amount of water in the soil is one thing that can affect the amount of air. Very wet soil found in a wetland probably has very little air. The composition of the soil affects the plants and therefore the animals that can live there.

Soil Profile refers to the layers of soil; horizon A, B, and C. Horizon A refers to the upper layer of soil, nearest the surface. It is commonly known as topsoil. In the woods or other areas that have not been plowed or tilled, this layer would probably include organic litter, such as fallen leaves and twigs. The litter helps prevent erosion, holds moisture, and decays to form a very rich soil known as humus. Horizon A provides plants with nutrients they need for a great life. The layer below horizon A, of course, has to be horizon B. Litter is not present in horizon B and therefore there is much less humus. Horizon B does contain some elements from horizon A because of the process of leaching. Leaching resembles what happens in a coffee pot as the water drips through the coffee grounds. Leaching may also bring some minerals from horizon B down to horizon C. If horizon B is below horizon A, then horizon C must be below horizon B. Horizon C consists mostly of weatherized big rocks. This solid rock, gave rise to the horizons above it. Soil profiles look different in different areas of the world. They are affected by climate and other things.

Sand, silt, and clay are the basic types of soil. Most soils are made up of a combination of the three. The texture of the soil, how it looks and feels, depends upon the amount of each one in that particular soil. The type of soil varies from place to place on our planet and can even vary from one place to another in our own backyard. Soil erosion, caused by wind and rain, can change land by wearing down mountains, creating valleys, making rivers appear and disappear. It is a slow and gradual process that takes thousands, even millions of years. But erosion may be speeded up greatly by human activities such as farming and mining. Soil develops very slowly over a long period of time but can be lost too quickly. The clearing of land for farming, residential, and commercial use can quickly destroy soil. It speeds up the process of erosion by leaving soil exposed and also prevents development of new soil by removing the plants and animals that help build humus. Today's farmers try to farm in a way that reduces the amount of erosion and soil loss. They may plant cover crops or use a no-till method of farming. Soil is an important resource that we all must protect. Without soil there is no life.

The wars that hit the earth are probably the immediate cause of soil pollution. Not talking in the sense of how many people died but in that it is through this period that many countries found the necessity to improve their living standards. After the world war two, many countries suffered from food shortage and this facilitated the introduction of fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals. Although KNP [Potassium, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus] fertilizers have not led to soil pollution, the application of trace elements has. Pesticides such as DDT [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane] a colorless chemical pesticide, which is a potent nerve poison in insects, was first widely used to combat diseases such as yellow fever and malaria. It was later used to control and/ or eradicate disease carrying and crop eating insects. DDT was later on discovered to cause endangerment of species in the same food chain as the controlled insects, particularly birds. DDT prevents the shelling of bird eggs and in humans causes health threats.

In yet another famous war of Vietnam in 1970's was introduced another Chemical substance which had a more adverse effect than that of DDT, Dioxin a chemical impurity resulting from the production of the auxin 2,4, 5T. Dioxin is a toxic chemical and was used as a defoliant by the American army. Dioxin was a major constituent of argent orange which was applied on trees which would then fall off reaviling enemy camps. After the war it was found that the chemical cause congenital deformalities and mental effects to the children born to the American soldiers and in the area over which it was applied. In minute amount dioxin has the ability to cause cancer, chloracne, miscarriage, and fetal abnormalities. 

Glass industries have also been responsible of soil pollution. The glass industries use Arsenic to eliminate a green colour caused by impurities of iron compounds. Because arsenic is a violent poison, yet it is widely used and therefore is a frequent contaminant.  Arsenic is sometimes added to lead to harden it and is also used in the manufacture of such military poison gases as lewisite and adamsite. Until the introduction of penicillin, arsenic was of great importance in the treatment of syphilis. In other medicinal uses, it has been displaced by sulpha drugs or antibiotics. Lead arsenate, calcium arsenate, and Paris green are used extensively as insecticides.

Pollution of land by heavy metals is a result of the mining of ores to extract metals such as tin, silver, nickel, lead, iron, chromium and copper. Most of these metals occur naturally as ions in the soils. Though some metals, such as copper, iron, and zinc, are necessary for plant growth, it is the high concentration if these ions that renders the land unsuitable for plant growth. Soil pollution is widely linked to chemical substances but irrigation is somehow linked to it as well. Soil pollution has been slightly controlled by putting regulations on the use of DDT and introduction of alternatives to it. However the task of eliminating completely soil pollution is not easy, third some third world countries still utilize pollutants such as DDT as pesticides. Mining cannot be stopped because we are in constant need for mineral ores for different applications. 

About the Author

Dr.Badruddin Khan, teaches Chemistry in the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India. He loves to enrich the most valuable raw material of the society, the students, in all possible ways. His contact details are: E. mail: khanbudr@yahoo.co.in; Phone: 00919906415909.

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