Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals Released from Ashes after a Wildfire
Journal Title: Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management - Year 2010, Vol 18, Issue 1
Abstract
Heavy Metals (HM) in great amounts in soil and water resources can cause coercive effects in the environment and human health. Ash contains high quantities of HM that depend on combusted species, type and part burned and soil characteristics. After a fire, the HM released from ash can lead to a soil solution and water resources contamination. This liberation of HM in solution can be highly variable across the affected area. This work pretends to study the spatial variation of the HM – Aluminium (Al[sup]3+[/sup]), Manganese (Mn[sup]2+[/sup]), Iron (Fe[sup]2+[/sup]) and Zinc (Zn[sup]2+[/sup]) – in a [i]Quercus suber [/i]and [i]Pinus pinaster [/i]stand affected by a wildfire in Portugal, applying some interpolation methods. The results showed that on average across the plot, Al[sup]3+[/sup] was the HM released in higher quantities and Zn2+ in lower. The higher variability was observed in Zn[sup]2+[/sup] and in Fe[sup]2+[/sup]. The interpolation methods assessed showed that polynomial regression (PR) method was the more accurate to predict the distribution of the HM across the plot. Al[sup]3+[/sup] and Mn[sup]2+[/sup] showed a rise in their concentration from south towards north section of the plot, and Fe[sup]2+[/sup] and Zn[sup]2+[/sup] a decrease from northwest to southeast section of the plot. The liberation of Al[sup]3+[/sup] and Mn[sup]2+[/sup] is related with species burning severity, and Fe[sup]2+[/sup] and Zn[sup]2+[/sup] with plot topography. The fire evolution across the plot and the consequent rising temperatures can have higher impacts than burned species in HM spatial variability. Over time, with the decreasing ash pH, HM will become more mobile and will be released in soil solution, with potential coercive effects in the environment.
Authors and Affiliations
Paulo Pereira, Xavier Úbeda
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP83476
- DOI 10.3846/jeelm.2010.02
- Views 139
- Downloads 0
Modelling of Noise Level in the Northern Part of Klaipėda City
Noise is an urgent problem not only in Lithuania but also all over the world. There are no noise-reducing walls in the nor-thern part of Klaipėda that could be used as reducers of noise spread from streets to the residen...
Numerical Simulation of Solid Particle Dispersion in the Air of Vilnius City
One of the main methods for the air quality assessment and forecast is numerical simulation of pollutants. In order to simulate the dispersion of solid particles (SP) in the air, there may be applied the package of “Phoe...
Soil Remediation from Heavy Metals Using Mathematical Modelling
The essence of the contemporary mathematical modelling methodology is the replacement of a real object in question (a process, phenomenon or system) with its “image” – a mathematical model. The mathematical modelling pro...
Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals Released from Ashes after a Wildfire
Heavy Metals (HM) in great amounts in soil and water resources can cause coercive effects in the environment and human health. Ash contains high quantities of HM that depend on combusted species, type and part burned and...
Aerodynamics of Ceramic Regular Sedimentation for Heat and Mass Transfer Apparatuses of Environmental Protection
A new efficient ceramic regular sedimentation for heat and mass transfer in apparatuses of environmental protection is proposed. A new sedimentation realization with isotropic properties of a structure is offered. The ae...