Date of Graduation

1996

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Committee Chair

John Sencindiver

Committee Co-Chair

Jeffery Skousen

Committee Member

Rabindar Singh

Committee Member

J. Steven Kite

Committee Member

Bradford Bearce

Abstract

Fly ash, a "waste" product from coal fired power plants, may show great potential for use as a topsoil substitute in revegetating extremely adverse minesites such as abandoned mine land (AML) and coal refuse due to improvements in chemical and physical properties. In the period 1989 to 1991, two separate studies examined the effects of fly ash used as a topsoil substitute on the physical properties of minesoils in northcentral West Virginia. One study, involving fly ash from three different power plant sources, examined effects on physical properties three years after plot establishment. The other study, which involved fly ash/wood waste applications on two sites with different slopes, examined erodibility and physical property changes over a three-year time period. Overall, results of the research showed fly ash to be superior to minesoil for most of the physical properties which affect plant growth Bulk density was much lower in fly ash than in minesoil. Likewise, total porosity was higher in fly ash. Incorporation of organic matter (sawdust) into fly ash resulted in even lower bulk density and higher total porosity than in pure fly ash. Fly ash had a higher proportion of pores in the mesopore (.0002-.03 mm) range and a lower proportion in the micropore ({dollar}

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