Production of crushed stone from carbonate rocks intended for road construction produces а huge amount of screening fractions, which accumulate in landfills. To date, in the Leningrad region 70 million tons of waste from the production of crushed stone has been accumulated. Its use as an ameliorant can significantly reduce the severity of acid soil problems in the region and at the same time solve an important environmental problem – landfill disposal. In a 6-year 10-variant microfield experiment, a comparative study of the reclamation properties of the screening dolomite dropouts without separation into fractions and the particles of 5–7 and 7–10 mm in size used for liming in increasing doses was conducted on a medium-acid sod-podzolic light loamy soil. These dolomite screenings neutralized soil acidity already in the first year, while their positive aftereffect lasted for at least 6 experimental years. The use of a natural mixture of the screenings in high doses was not effective because of high losses of bases from soil. Clustering of individual experimental variables was carried out by their effect on the pH_KCl value over the entire experiment period.

Changes in the content, reserves, and composition of humus in a sandy gleyic iron-humus-illuvial soddy-podzolic soil under intensive, decreasing, and ceased agrotechnical impacts were studied. It was...

The rates of changes in the acid-base properties of the sandy-loamy soddy-podzolic soils of fallow lands abandoned for 5, 10, 30, and 63 years were determined. The transformation of the vegetation...

The dumps of dolomite dropouts from road construction occupy huge arable areas in north-western Russia. Although coarse dolomite particles neglected as a liming material due to its slow solubility, we hypothesise that they can serve as a cheap and long-lasting liming material. The weight loss of dolomite particles of various sizes from the dump applied to Albic Retisol and its effect on assimilation of Ca and Mg by barley and wheat were studied. The pot experiment with 300 g soil was conducted for 30 days in a laboratory phytotron. Results showed that coarse particles of dolomite waste had a positive effect on soil acidity already at the initial phases of the experiment. In the process of dissolution of dolomite, all forms of soil acidity decreased. The cultivation of barley had a stronger effect on the dissolution of dolomite particles than the cultivation of wheat. Barley plants accumulated Ca by 1.1-1.4 times higher than wheat, other factors being identical. The relationship between the yield of green biomass and the accumulation of calcium and magnesium in the plants were empirically described using regression analysis. Results of this preliminary study showed that the by-products from dolomite stone processing can be effectively used for reclamation of strongly acidic soil in north-western Russia. This has the dual benefit of reducing the burden on the environment and reclaiming acidic soils. Further studies should include soil microbiological and biological parameters to trace the effect of root activities and dolomite dissolution rate on a field scale.