Cumulative impact of 40 years of industrial sulfur emissions on a forest soil in west-central Alberta (Canada)

Jörg Prietzel; Bernhard Mayer; Allan H. Legge

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2004.03.016

Cumulative impact of 40 years of industrial sulfur emissions on a forest soil in west-central Alberta (Canada)

Jörg Prietzel
, Bernhard Mayer
, Allan H. Legge

Chair of Soil Science

University of Calgary
Biosphere Solutions

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

The impact of 40 years of sulfur (S) emissions from a sour gas processing plant in Alberta (Canada) on soil development, soil S pools, soil acidification, and stand nutrition at a pine (Pinus contorta×Pinus banksiana) ecosystem was assessed by comparing ecologically analogous areas subjected to different S deposition levels. Sulfur isotope ratios showed that most deposited S was derived from the sour gas processing plant. The soil subjected to the highest S deposition contained 25.9kmolSha ^-1 (uppermost 60cm) compared to 12.5kmolSha ^-1 or less at the analogues receiving low S deposition. The increase in soil S pools was caused by accumulation of organic S in the forest floor and accumulation of inorganic sulfate in the mineral soil. High S inputs resulted in topsoil acidification, depletion of exchangeable soil Ca ²⁺ and Mg ²⁺ pools by 50%, podzolization, and deterioration of N nutrition of the pine trees.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	129-144
Number of pages	16
Journal	Environmental Pollution
Volume	132
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2004.03.016
State	Published - Nov 2004

Keywords

Pine ecosystem
Soil acidification
Soil sulfur pools
Stand nutrition
Sulfur deposition gradient

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10.1016/j.envpol.2004.03.016

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@article{e7f5bea403964113a7b72ae5c598f2ea,

title = "Cumulative impact of 40 years of industrial sulfur emissions on a forest soil in west-central Alberta (Canada)",

abstract = "The impact of 40 years of sulfur (S) emissions from a sour gas processing plant in Alberta (Canada) on soil development, soil S pools, soil acidification, and stand nutrition at a pine (Pinus contorta×Pinus banksiana) ecosystem was assessed by comparing ecologically analogous areas subjected to different S deposition levels. Sulfur isotope ratios showed that most deposited S was derived from the sour gas processing plant. The soil subjected to the highest S deposition contained 25.9kmolSha -1 (uppermost 60cm) compared to 12.5kmolSha -1 or less at the analogues receiving low S deposition. The increase in soil S pools was caused by accumulation of organic S in the forest floor and accumulation of inorganic sulfate in the mineral soil. High S inputs resulted in topsoil acidification, depletion of exchangeable soil Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ pools by 50\%, podzolization, and deterioration of N nutrition of the pine trees.",

keywords = "Pine ecosystem, Soil acidification, Soil sulfur pools, Stand nutrition, Sulfur deposition gradient",

author = "J{\"o}rg Prietzel and Bernhard Mayer and Legge, \{Allan H.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the financial support by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to Bernhard Mayer. The collaboration among the authors was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the German/Canadian Science \& Technology Cooperation program (Project CAN 98/037). We also gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of M. Englschall, R. Heibl, and I. S{\"u}ss.",

year = "2004",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.envpol.2004.03.016",

language = "English",

volume = "132",

pages = "129--144",

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AU - Prietzel, Jörg

AU - Mayer, Bernhard

AU - Legge, Allan H.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the financial support by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to Bernhard Mayer. The collaboration among the authors was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the German/Canadian Science & Technology Cooperation program (Project CAN 98/037). We also gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of M. Englschall, R. Heibl, and I. Süss.

PY - 2004/11

Y1 - 2004/11

N2 - The impact of 40 years of sulfur (S) emissions from a sour gas processing plant in Alberta (Canada) on soil development, soil S pools, soil acidification, and stand nutrition at a pine (Pinus contorta×Pinus banksiana) ecosystem was assessed by comparing ecologically analogous areas subjected to different S deposition levels. Sulfur isotope ratios showed that most deposited S was derived from the sour gas processing plant. The soil subjected to the highest S deposition contained 25.9kmolSha -1 (uppermost 60cm) compared to 12.5kmolSha -1 or less at the analogues receiving low S deposition. The increase in soil S pools was caused by accumulation of organic S in the forest floor and accumulation of inorganic sulfate in the mineral soil. High S inputs resulted in topsoil acidification, depletion of exchangeable soil Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ pools by 50%, podzolization, and deterioration of N nutrition of the pine trees.

AB - The impact of 40 years of sulfur (S) emissions from a sour gas processing plant in Alberta (Canada) on soil development, soil S pools, soil acidification, and stand nutrition at a pine (Pinus contorta×Pinus banksiana) ecosystem was assessed by comparing ecologically analogous areas subjected to different S deposition levels. Sulfur isotope ratios showed that most deposited S was derived from the sour gas processing plant. The soil subjected to the highest S deposition contained 25.9kmolSha -1 (uppermost 60cm) compared to 12.5kmolSha -1 or less at the analogues receiving low S deposition. The increase in soil S pools was caused by accumulation of organic S in the forest floor and accumulation of inorganic sulfate in the mineral soil. High S inputs resulted in topsoil acidification, depletion of exchangeable soil Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ pools by 50%, podzolization, and deterioration of N nutrition of the pine trees.

KW - Pine ecosystem

KW - Soil acidification

KW - Soil sulfur pools

KW - Stand nutrition

KW - Sulfur deposition gradient

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/3342895936

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AN - SCOPUS:3342895936

SN - 0269-7491

VL - 132

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EP - 144

JO - Environmental Pollution

JF - Environmental Pollution

IS - 1

ER -

Cumulative impact of 40 years of industrial sulfur emissions on a forest soil in west-central Alberta (Canada)

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Keywords

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