Project information
Project manager
Marcelo Ketzer
Other project members
Mats Åström, Sina Ghahfarokhi, Linnaeus University, Henric Djerf, Högskolan Kristianstad
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, Högskolan Kristianstad
Financiers
Crafoordska stiftelsen 2018, Linnaeus University
Timetable
01 Jun 2018-31 May 2019
Subject
Environmental Science (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
More about the project
Contamination of water resources by metals is a matter of concern in areas where acid sulphate soils exist. The parent material of these soils in Sweden are sulphur-rich sediments that occur, for instance, around the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. Artificial drainage to lower groundwater table is a common practice to allow cultivation in those areas, but results in the formation of acid sulphate soils, which, in turn, may promote the release of metals to drainage channels, and ultimately surface waters.
We propose here a detailed investigation of the geochemical processes involved in the formation of acid sulphate soils in southern Sweden, in the vicinity of Kristianstad, where massive precipitation of iron and aluminium phases occurred in lakes and rivers. Although iron and aluminium have been reported as common by-products in acid sulphate soils formation, the precipitation of high quantities of these metals in a manner that has occurred in Kristianstad is previously unseen in Sweden and a puzzling phenomenon.
Our work will measure environmental parameters in the field, collect samples for soils and water characterisation, and run numerical models to better understand the geochemical behaviour of metals in water bodies around Kristianstad. It will bring new, solid scientific-based information to help the appropriated environmental management of water resources in southern Sweden and elsewhere.
