Soil genesis on relatively young surface mined lands in southern West Virginia

In this study I observed, described and measured differences in morphological, physical and chemical properties as a function of age on mine soils formed from overburden from the New River formation of the Pennsylvanian system in southern West Virginia. Within each group, we sampled nine separate sites and further categorized each to one of three predominant overburden types as observed in the exposed highwall (either predominantly sandstone or shale or an approximately even mixture of the two). Three “topsoiled” sites were sampled for comparative purposes, along with three contiguous soil series commonly found in the region.

The most striking differences attributable to age were depth of profile development and horizonation. Aggregate stability, hydraulic conductivity and soil color also showed significant variance with age.

The mine soils were generally more fertile in those elements analyzed than the natural soils, and the A horizons of mine soils and the natural soils contained approximately the same amounts of coarse fragments. Among the mine soils, the 5 year old soils were more fertile than the 2 or 10 year old soils.

Ten years was not enough time to cause significant differences in textural classification of these soils. Texture was reflective of the parent material.