Stephanie Ross
Soil characteristics of LUSI’s mud Feb 12 2008
p. 1
http://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/es196/projects/2008final/Ross_2008.pdf
Soil Characteristics of Mud From the Indonesian Mud Volcano “LUSI ...
nature.berkeley.edu/classes/es196/projects/2008final/Ross_2008.pdf
by S Ross - Related articles
Feb 12, 2008 - This study establishes a simple fertility index of LUSI's mud, by ...Unique among mud volcanoes is “LUSI”, which erupted May 29 th ..... Laboratory of Mud Volcanism, GIA. http://bulletin.gia.az/ .... Lloyd J. and J.A. Taylor. 1994.
Soil Characteristics of Mud From the Indonesian Mud Volcano “LUSI”
Stephanie Ross
Abstract
In Sidoarjo, on the island of Java, Indonesia, a mud volcano nicknamed “LUSI” has been erupting since May of 2006. Although belated efforts were made to contain the mudflow, a region greater than 600 hectares (Jakarta AFP 2008) has been completely inundated.
The mud has become the new substrate of the region, so its fertility may influence species recolonization of the area as well as indicate the potential of future land-use.
Since most mud volcanoes are studied for their fluid mosaics and gaseous effluxes, no studies have specifically investigated the mud for its nutritive qualities.
This study establishes a simple fertility index of LUSI’s mud, by testing for three soil properties that are important for plant growth: Carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N), pH and cation exchange capacity (CEC). LUSI’s C:N ratio (12.1 ± 1.01, n = 13) fell at the low end of the of corresponding tropical soil data range (10.3-27) (Trumbore 1993).
LUSI’s pH was found to be basic (8.22 ± 0.062, n = 13) relative to the range of tropical soil pH (3.9-6.3) (Motavalli et al. 1995).
LUSI’s CEC (19.72 cmol+ /kg ± 1.28, n = 12) was high relative to tropical soil CEC (6.55 cmol+ /kg ± 1.12, n = 9) (Trumbore 1993)More specifically, LUSI’s %C (1.293% C ± 0.0448, n = 13) and %N (0.1076% N ± 0.0052, n = 13) were both very low (Motavalli et al. 1995, Ewel et al. 1991).
These values indicate that C and N may need to be fertilized for plant growth because levels are so minimal, and buffering for the basic pH may be necessary as well.
The high CEC levels indicate there are reasonable amounts of nutrient cations present in the mud.
Together these results indicate that although the mud is not completely infertile, but reutilization of the region for agricultural use will probably require a significant amount of modification to the mud.