Catena 140 (2016) 155–163

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Catena

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/catena

Assessment of soil properties of different land uses generated due to

surface coal mining activities in tropical Sal (Shorea robusta) forest, India
Jitendra Ahirwal, Subodh Kumar Maiti ⁎
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Center of Mining Environment, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Large scale surface coal mining activities resulted disturbance of the local ecosystem by creating different land
Received 27 July 2015 uses that alter soil properties and hydrological balance of the mining area and surrounding environment. The
Received in revised form 28 January 2016 present study aims to evaluate the changes in soil properties in mining affected lands (mine face topsoil, waste-
Accepted 29 January 2016
land and agriculture land) and reclaimed mine soil (RMS), and to quantify the changes of the selected soil prop-
Available online xxxx
erties with respect to reference Sal forest (Shorea robusta Gaertn. F.). Changes in soil properties were analyzed on
Keywords:
a profile basis (0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm). The study indicates that soil pH, electrical conductivity, and bulk
Agriculture land density were increased significantly, while a decrease in nutrient content (N, P, and K) was observed in the min-
Infiltration rate ing affected lands. The infiltration rate in RMS was found ten times lower than the Sal forest. In comparison to Sal
Reclaimed mine soil forest, the cumulative infiltration rate declines 85%, 80% and 75%, in RMS, topsoil and agriculture soil, respective-
Sal forest ly. The overall findings of this study indicated that conversion of Sal forest into other land uses due to mining
Topsoil significantly reduced the nutrient contents and soil quality of the area. Reclamation of the mine degraded land
in short duration does not restore the overall properties of the soils, particularly the infiltration rate, which has
long term impacts on the surrounding ecosystem.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction (Maiti, 2006). Consequently, these dumps are reclaimed with an

Coal is the second largest source of energy accounts for 24% of total
energy consumed globally and fulfills 67% of the electricity demand in
India (CEA, 2015). In 2014, India produced 654 million tonnes (Mt) of
coal (ranked 3rd), next to China (3474 Mt) and USA (924 Mt)
(Enerdata, 2015). Coal India Limited (CIL) accounts for around 80% of
India's total coal production and committed to an ambitious target of
one billion tonnes by 2019–20, from the current level of 556 Mt. in
2013–14 (MoC, 2015). CIL depends largely on two of its subsidiaries;
Mahanadi coalfield limited (MCL) and South eastern coalfield limited
(SECL), which can contribute nearly half of the target production.
Switching to full mechanization and adoption of the latest technolo-
gy to meet the target, massive expansion of opencast mines is
envisaged and 90% of the coal is extracted by the opencast mining
(MoC, 2015).
Mining is site specific and the method of extraction depends on
the occurrence of the coal deposits (Maiti, 2013). Direct and indirect
activities of mining totally change the land use of the area. Direct
activities include deforestation, topsoil removal followed by excava-
tion of overburden and coal, resulted the creation of deep voids, ex-
ternal dumps and internal overburden (OB) dumps (backfilled)
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: skmism1960@gmail.com (S.K. Maiti).
aim to develop forestry (Maiti, 2013). These reclaimed sites are char-
acterized by high rock fragments, deprived of soil nutrients, high
bulk density, very low infiltration due to compaction, change in en-
tire drainage and undulating topography (Mummey et al., 2002;
Reynolds and Reddy, 2012; Shrestha and Lal, 2008). Indirect activi-
ties like timber felling during construction of the approach road,
houses and other infrastructure facilities, such as school, hospital
and residential colony, which cause migration of population due to
the creation of job opportunities that increase anthropogenic or
biotic pressure in the periphery of the open cast project (OCP) and
creates different types of land uses.
We hypothesized that conversion of forest land into different
land uses due to surface mining activities directly and indirectly
alter the physicochemical and hydrological properties of the area.
Thus, the magnitudes of changes in soil quality due to direct and in-
direct impacts of surface mining were evaluated by comparing with a
pristine Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. F.) forest. We also assess whether
reclamation of overburden dumps, in short duration improves the
overall soil quality and ecosystem functions or it is just a cosmetic
work for the natural esthetics. Therefore, the objectives of the present
study were (i) to quantify the changes in soil quality under different
land uses in a mining area with respect to the Sal forest, (ii) to study
the impacts of mining on the infiltration rate, and (iii) to identify the
soil parameters which modified due to changes in land use as a result
of mining activities.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.01.028
0341-8162/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
156 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163

Fig. 1. Location of the study site Ananta open cast project in MCL, Odisha, India.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Study area

The study was carried out in the Ananta open cast project
(20 ° 56′–21°00′ N and 85 ° 08′–85°09′ E), Angul district located in
Talcher Coalfield, MCL, Odisha, India (Fig. 1). The climate is dry
tropical, characterized by a rainy season (June–October), winter
(November–February) and summer (March–May) with mean annual
precipitation of 1421 mm and temperature ranges from 6.5 °C to 44 °C.
Talcher coalfields represent the south eastern part of Gondwana
basin surrounded by igneous and metamorphic rocks, and produce
non-coking coal (sub-bituminous to high-volatile bituminous type).
The method of mining is opencast mining by shovel-dumper combina-
tion for the OB removal and dumping, while surface-miner, loader and
tipper were used for excavation and loading of coal. The average
stripping ratio is 1:2.2 (Coal: OB) and average gradient is 2°–4°.
External OB dumps and back-filled areas are technically reclaimed
(like, regrading, slope formation, and digging of plantation pits filled
with topsoil) and planted with saplings of fast growing tree species. Fig. 2. Distance view of reclaimed mine soil (RMS) showing Cassia seamea and Acacia
The description of land uses is as follows: nilotica plantation.
 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163
Fig. 3. Wasteland originated from degraded Sal forest showing grass species.
(i) Reclaimed mine soil (RMS): Dump sites were reclaimed in the
year 2003 by planting fast growing tree saplings, such as Cassia seamea
Lamk., Dalbergia sissoo Roxb., Gmelina arborea Roxb., Acacia nilotica (L.)
Delile, and Acacia mangium Willd. (Fig. 2). Newly developed RMS has
poor soil quality with high rock and boulders, compacted surface and
promotes the invasion of xeric weeds. Ground vegetation consists of
shrubs (Calotropis procera (Aiton) WT Aiton, Datura spcemonium L.,
Crotalaria retusa L., and Lantana camara L.) and herbaceous plants
(Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers., Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd.,
Cyperus rotundus L., Allotropis semialata (R.Br.) Hitchc. and Borreria
hispida L. The density of saplings were 2500/ha.
(ii) Wasteland is the part of Sal forest, which was deforested by the
local communities and migrated population for the shelter (Fig. 3). The
area is mostly barren and infrequent saplings of S. robusta along with
under shrubs Chromolaena odorata (L.) King & Robins, C. procera, Sida
hipsida L., Clerodendrum infortunatum L., and L. camara were noticed.
(iii) Agriculture land: Mostly used for single crop (Paddy; Oryza
sativa L.) cultivation by the local communities (Fig. 4).
(iv) Mine face topsoil is a disturbed soil, located towards the direc-
tion of development of mine face which will be subsequently removed
with the expansion of mine (Fig. 5). These areas are located inside the
project boundary (core zone). The vegetation cover consists of saplings
of S. robusta, Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub., and Lagerstroemia speciosa
(L.) Pers. Ground vegetation was very sparse.
Fig. 4. Distance view of agriculture land in the mining affected area.
157
Fig. 5. Mine face topsoil can be seen on the upper surface of the direction of development
of mine face.
(v) Sal forest (Reference forest site): Sal forest is a unique ecosys-
tem characterized by laterite soil, low pH, sandy soil, rich in Fe and Al
contents, and high IR (compared to wasteland and agriculture land)
with high recharge potential (Chitale et al., 2014; Maiti and Maiti,
2015; Singh et al., 2001) (Fig. 6). S. robusta forest represents the
climax species, along with other associates such as Haldina cordifolia
(Roxb.) Ridsdale, Aegle marmelos L., Terminalia elliptica Willd., and
Acacia catechu L., Ziziphus jujuba Mill., Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. The
dominant understory species include Murraya koenigii (L.) Sprengel,
Tiliacora acuminate L., C. infortunatum, Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) W.T.
Aiton, and B. monosperma.
2.2. Sample collection
In five land use types (i.e., RMS, Mine face topsoil, wasteland, agricul-
ture land and Sal forest), five random grids (10 m × 10 m) were laid
down based on surface topography, vegetation cover and color, which
is representative to the area, collected during November 2008. From
each grid, five subsamples were collected on profile basis; 0–20 cm,
20–40 cm, and 40–60 cm and mixed thoroughly at the spot, and weight
was reduced to 0.5 kg by using the Coning and quartering method
(Maiti, 2013). Thus, from each land use type, 5 soil samples from three
Fig. 6. Reference forest site represent the dense canopy of Sal (Shorea robusta) trees and
laterite soil.
158 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163

30 cm and outer ring diameter of 50 cm were installed into the soil sur-
face (Fig. 7). The larger ring was placed around the smaller ring and
water was poured into both cylinders and same water level was main-
tained in the inner and outer rings. The amount of water that infiltrated
the soil from the inner cylinder was recorded periodically. Movement of
water was assumed in the vertical direction only.

2.4. Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was conducted to determine mean and standard

deviation by using a data analysis package of MS Excel 2013 (Microsoft
Inc.). The significant difference between the mean values of different
soil parameters in various land use were analyzed using analysis of var-
iance (ANOVA), where significant F value was tested using Duncan's
multiple range test at α b 0.05. All the statistical analyses were
performed using SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, USA).

3. Results

Fig. 7. Infiltration test is carried out by a double-ring infiltrometer in Shorea robusta forest. 3.1. Change in physical properties

profiles were collected (15 samples). In total 75 soil samples were
collected from the study area. All the samples were transferred in air
tight polypropylene zip bags and brought to the laboratory.
2.3. Analysis of soil samples
Samples were air-dried at room temperature, lightly crushed with a
mortar and pestle and passed through a 2-mm sieve and kept for further
analysis. Samples were analyzed for coarse fraction (N2 mm size) by
sieving method using the standard mesh size (Indian Standard, 1985)
and particle size was analyzed by the international pipette method
(Gee and Bauder, 1986). Bulk density was determined by estimating
the dry weight of the unit volume of soil in metallic core (Sobek et al.,
1978) and the field moisture was estimated by the oven dried soil
using the gravimetric method (Dakshinamurthi and Gupta, 1968). Soil
pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were determined in soil: water
(1:2.5, w/v) suspension with a pH meter and Conductivity meter
(LabMan Scientific Instruments, LMMP-30), respectively. Soil organic
carbon (SOC) was determined by rapid dichromate oxidation technique
(Nelson and Sommers, 1996), available nitrogen (N-NH4) by alkaline
potassium permanganate method (Subbiah and Asija, 1956) and
available phosphorus was extracted by Brays reagent and deter-
mined by spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV Spectrophotometer,
UV-1800) (Bray and Kurtz, 1966). Exchangeable potassium (K +),
calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) were extracted by ammonium
acetate solution followed by flame photometer (Microprocessor flame
photometer, ESICO-1388) determination for K+ and Ca2+, and Mg2+
is determined in atomic absorption spectrophotometer (GBC Avanta,
Australia) (Jackson, 1973). Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was esti-
mated by the Na saturation method (Jackson, 1973).
Infiltration rate (IR) was measured in-situ at all the sampling loca-
tions using a double ring infiltrometer method (Dakshinamurthi and
Gupta, 1968). Two metal cylinders, with an inner ring diameter of
The soil physicochemical characteristics of RMS, mine face topsoil,
wasteland, and agriculture land were analyzed and compared with Sal
forest. In this study, soil showed higher percentage of sand and charac-
terized as sandy clay loam, sandy loam and loamy sand. Decrease in
sand percentage was more pronounced in agriculture land, RMS, and
mine face topsoil, whereas it increases in the wasteland than that of
Sal forest (Table 1). Likewise, in different soil profiles sand proportion
decreases from 11 to 23% in RMS and 10–23% in mine face topsoil
(Fig. 8A). Silt content was relatively higher in the mine face topsoil
and agriculture soils, and lower in RMS and wasteland compared to
Sal forest (Table 1). While no clear trends were observed between silt
content and soil depths (Fig. 8B). Clay content was found high in RMS
and decline with the soil depth (Fig. 8C).
A significant difference was found in soil bulk density that ranged
from 1.10–1.34 Mg m−3 in different land uses. The increase in bulk den-
sity was more pronounced in RMS (18%) and did not show any clear
patterns with soil depths (Table 2, Fig. 8D). Higher moisture content
was exhibited by RMS followed by Sal forest, agriculture land, mine
face topsoil and wasteland. Moisture content compared to natural forest
reduces by 23%, 43%, and 11% for mind face topsoil, wasteland and agri-
culture land, respectively (Table 2).
3.2. Change in chemical properties
Soils of all the sites were acidic ranged from 4.5 to 6.5 and signifi-
cantly different in different land uses. The decrease in pH was more pro-
nounced in the 20–40 cm soil depth of RMS and agriculture soil
(Fig. 9A). EC ranged between 0.03 and 0.46 dS/m and comparatively
higher values were found at all the sites compared to Sal forest. EC
showed the increasing patterns from 0 to 20 cm to 20–40 cm in RMS,
mine face topsoil and agriculture soil. Whereas, no clear patterns were
observed in all the three profiles of the different land uses studied
(Fig. 9B).

Table 1
Soil texture analysis of different land use at different soil depths (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm).

Land use Sand (%) Silt (%) Clay (%)

0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60

Reclaimed OB dump 65.33Ab 69.58Ab 70.84Ac 9.31Ab 7.61Bc 5.20Cc 25.53Aa 24.40Aa 24.04Aa
Mine face topsoil 65.20Ab 71.99Ab 72.13Abc 30.68Aa 25.72ABa 20.04Ba 4.03Ac 3.15Ab 8.14Ab
Wastelands 87.15Aa 84.43Aa 84.48Aa 11.33Ab 13.0Ab 12.57Ab 2.30Ac 3.23Ab 3.09Ab
Sal forest 85.48Aa 80.18Aa 80.04Aab 11.26Ab 14.48Ab 14.74Ab 3.62Ac 5.92Ab 6.06Ab
Agriculture land 56.71Ac 49.39Ac 48.32Ad 29.13Aa 26.64Aa 22.85Ba 13.43Bb 23.94Aa 28.45Aa

Values in the same row followed by different capital alphabetical letters and values in the same column followed by different small alphabetical letters are significantly different at p b 0.05
level, (n = 5).
 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163 159

Fig. 8. Percentage change in (A) sand, (B) silt, (C) clay, and (D) bulk density at different soil depths of different land uses in comparison with reference site (Shorea robusta forest). Bars
represent the standard deviation from the mean value, (n = 5).

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were decreased in all
the land uses studied as compared to the natural Sal forest and ex-
hibited a strong trend of decreasing nutrient content with soil
depth (Table 3, Fig. 10). In comparison to Sal forest, SOC concentra-
tion decreases 70%, 66%, 66% and 48% in RMS, mine face topsoil,
wasteland, and agriculture soil, respectively (Table 3). In all the soil
types except RMS, increases in depth followed decreasing trends in
SOC concentration (Fig. 10A). Av. N ranged from 21 to 125 mg kg−1,
and decreases significantly in order of 74% in RMS, 50% in mine face
topsoil and 34% in wasteland in 0–20 cm soil depth (Fig. 10B). Similarly,
P content was found in the order of 54–60% in RMS, 30–34% in mine face
topsoil and 26–70% in wasteland in all the three soil profiles compared
to Sal forest (Fig. 10C).
Concentration of K+ ions was declined up to 50%, 37% and 50% in
RMS, mine face topsoil and wasteland, respectively at 0–20 cm depth
(Fig. 10D). K+ ions also followed a decreasing trend with soil depth
and lower values were found at 40–60 cm depth. Mg2+ and Ca2+ con-
centrations were found higher in RMS than that of Sal forest soil.
Significant differences in CEC values were observed in wasteland, RMS
and mine face topsoil compared to Sal forest (Table 4).
3.3. Infiltration rate
Infiltration rate (IR) and cumulative infiltration rate (CIR) under dif-
ferent land uses are presented in Fig. 11. Infiltration curves indicate that
in the early stage of infiltration (up to 30 min), water flows rapidly
through the soil and showed higher IR. IR found in the order of Sal
forest (2.96 cm hr.−1) N wasteland (2.76 cm hr.−1) N agriculture land
(1.01 cm hr.−1) N mine face topsoil N (0.99 cm hr.− 1) N RMS
(0.28 cm hr.−1). In comparison to Sal forest, CIR decline 85%, 80% and
75% in RMS, mine face topsoil and agriculture land, respectively.
Comparative study of the CIR at 1 h and 3 h for all the land use patterns
indicates that approximately 80% of the water was infiltrated in 1 h and
the rest 20% were infiltrated in the remaining 2 h.
4. Discussion
Anthropogenic pressure results in conversion of natural forest into
agriculture land, wasteland and establish the human habitat that leads
to range of ecological consequences (Islam and Weil, 2000; Singh

Table 2
Soil physicochemical characteristics of different land use at different soil depths (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm).

Land use pH EC(dS/m) Bulk density (Mg m−3) Moisture (%)

0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60

Reclaimed OB dump 5.62Ab 5.11Bc 5.53Ab 0.46Aa 0.57Aa 0.52Aa 1.34Ba 1.37Ba 1.55Aa 7.55Ba 8.64ABa 9.20Aa
Mine face topsoil 5.82Ab 5.78Ab 5.60Ab 0.11Bb 0.13Bb 0.23Ab 1.24Ab 1.33Aa 1.44Aab 5.72Ac 6.73Ab 7.09Ab
Wastelands 4.52Bc 5.28Ac 4.86ABc 0.05Ac 0.04Bc 0.04 Bd 1.10Ab 1.07Ab 1.02Ac 3.91 Bd 6.09Ab 6.77Ab
Sal forest 4.61Ac 4.65Ad 4.62Ac 0.03Ac 0.03ABc 0.02 Bd 1.14Bb 1.29Aab 1.26Ab 7.23ABab 7.04Bb 7.86Aab
Agriculture land 6.57Aa 6.24ABa 6.19Ba 0.15Bb 0.20Ab 0.14Bc 1.32Aa 1.25Aab 1.34Ab 6.42Abc 6.88Ab 7.25Ab

Values in the same row followed by different capital alphabetical letters and values in the same column followed by different small alphabetical letters are significantly different at p b 0.05
level. (n = 5).
160 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163

Fig. 9. Percentage change in (A) soil pH, and (B) electrical conductivity at different soil depth of different land uses in comparison with reference site (Shorea robusta forest). Bars represent
the standard deviation from the mean value, (n = 5).

et al., 2010; Srivastava and Singh, 1991). Many studies have investigated
the impact of surface coal mining and reclamation on the soil quality
and ecological processes (Banning et al., 2008; Mukhopadhyay and
Maiti, 2014; Pandey et al., 2014; Shrestha and Lal, 2008). The present
study showed the changes in physicochemical properties in the core
and buffer zone of the mining areas. To examine the significant differ-
ence between the soil parameters ANOVA was performed between
the different soil depths of individual land use and between the differ-
ent land uses.
Soil texture is a major physical property to predict soil hydrodynam-
ics and dominantly controls the variability of soil quality parameters
(Kumar et al., 2015). Sand content was found significantly different in
various land uses and insignificant among all the three soil depths
(Table 1). No significant difference was found between the sand content
of Sal forest and wasteland, and RMS and mine face topsoil. Sand per-
centage was found low in mine face topsoil and it increases slightly in
the wasteland among all the soil depths as compared to Sal forest.
Shrestha and Lal (2011) have also reported that sand content between
the soil profiles was not significantly different. Silt content of the RMS
was found significantly different and found 17–64% lower as compared
to the Sal forest in all the three soil depths. In mine face topsoil silt con-
tent was found 35–172% higher, however, changes were not significant
in the wasteland as compared to the Sal forest. Clay content was found
up to six hundred times higher in RMS. RMS did not show any clear pat-
tern with depth possibly due to its heterogeneity (Maiti, 2007). The ver-
tical increase in the clay content of different land uses agreed with the
simultaneous decrease in silt content of surface and subsurface horizons
in different lands. High clay content in subsurface horizons is the result
of the percolation of water along the cracks in the parent material
(Shaw et al., 2004).
Bulk density was significantly higher in the RMS and it increases
with soil depths (Table 2). This change may be associated with the com-
paction of the soil due to the movement of the heavy earth moving ve-
hicles (Maiti, 2013). Field moisture content that was observed high in
the RMS may be due to high clay content, litter accumulation and cano-
py cover (Maiti, 2013). Soil moisture plays a vital role in the ecosystem
functioning and it may depend on the time of sampling, height of
the dump, texture, OC, vegetation cover and thickness of litter layer
(Huang et al., 2016; Mukhopadhyay et al., 2013). In this study, soil mois-
ture content increased with increases in soil depths in all the land use
patterns (Table 2). Venkatesh et al. (2011) also found an increase in
moisture content with the soil depth in different land uses in Western
Ghats.
There was no significant difference observed between the soil pH of
RMS and mine face topsoil, maybe due to a similar kind of soil texture
and parent materials. Soil pH in agriculture land was found close to neu-
tral (6.57–6.19) compared to Sal forest and wasteland (acidic). pH of the
soil mainly depends on the geology and parent material of the rock
(Mukhopadhyay et al., 2014). Natural Sal forest soils were more acidic
due to the intense leaching of the base cations (Islam and Weil, 2000).
There were no significant changes observed in pH with the soil depth
in mine face topsoil and Sal forest. Increase in EC from Sal forest
(0.03 dS/m) to RMS (0.46 dS/m) in all the three soil depths possibly
due to the mixing of the topsoils and salty subsurface soil that enhance
the salt concentration of the soils and further watering and degradation
of organic material solubilized these salts that increase the EC
(Mummey et al., 2002).
SOC concentrations in the Sal forest (1.38 mg kg−1) and agriculture
land (0.69 mg kg−1) were found significantly different. The higher
concentration of SOC in Sal forest due to higher amount of litter accu-
mulation and decomposition, and higher microbial biomass carbon
compared to agriculture land. Conversion of native forest into waste-
land and agriculture land results in marked changes in the SOC and nu-
trients. In natural forest, litter fall and biomass increase the SOC content,
however, in agriculture soil, it was removed periodically for consump-
tion that may reduce the SOC content in agriculture soil (Tripathi and
Singh, 2009). Decrease in the SOC with an increase in soil depths was
found in all the land uses and similar results were also reported by the
Richter et al. (1999) and Jobbagy and Jackson (2000).
The soil profile study showed reduction of N up to 79% in RMS, 70%
in mine face topsoil and 49% in wasteland in all the soil depths com-
pared to the Sal forest. N was significantly decreased with increases in

Table 3
Soil nutritional characteristics of different land use at different soil depths (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm).

Land use Av. N (mg kg−1) Av. P (mg kg−1) SOC (%)

0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60

Reclaimed OB dump 21.05Ad 19.28ABd 15.76Bc 2.95Ab 3.24Ac 2.65Acd 0.42Ac 0.49Ac 0.33Bc
Mine face topsoil 51.31Ac 25.70 Bd 22.99Bbc 4.88Aab 4.63Ab 4.43Ab 0.47Ac 0.39Ac 0.28Ac
Wastelands 66.55Ac 43.60Bc 36.45Bb 4.59Aab 5.23Ab 1.93 Bd 0.47Ac 0.27 Bd 0.19 Bd
Sal forest 101.84Ab 85.32ABb 72.05Ba 7.01Aa 7.06Aa 6.61Aa 1.41Aa 1.18Ba 1.14Ba
Agriculture land 125.97Aa 97.44Ba 70.25Ca 4.88ABab 5.58Ab 3.36Bc 0.72Ab 0.61ABb 0.50Bb

Values in the same row followed by different capital alphabetical letters and values in the same column followed by different small alphabetical letters are significantly different at p b 0.05
level, (n = 5).
 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163 161

Fig. 10. Percentage change in (A) organic carbon (B) available nitrogen (C) available phosphorus, and (D) exchangeable potassium at different soil depths of different land uses in
comparison with reference site (Shorea robusta forest). Bars represent the standard deviation from the mean value, (n = 5).

soil depths in all the land use studied (Table 3). The decrease in the N
may be associated with the decline in humus content and organic mat-
ter with the depth. N is an important nutrient for the plant growth, al-
though it does not occur in the mineral form in the soil (Bradshaw,
1997) and supplied externally to improve the fertility of the soils that
may increase the N concentration in the agriculture soils. The impact
of mining on soil N were also studied by Singh et al. (2012) and
Shrestha and Lal (2011), and found 52% and 61% decline in soil N,
respectively. Tripathi and Singh (2009) have also reported low levels
of organic matter and total N in cultivated soils. Av. P was found 60%
low in RMS, 34% in mine face topsoil and 70% in wasteland compared
to Sal forest. Variation in P content was observed with increase in soil
depths in different land uses. The factors like plant species, plantation
age and spoil characteristics significantly affect the amount of P in the
soil (Singh and Zeng, 2008). The distribution of the P may vary with
the depth mainly due to the substrate abundance, abiotic condition
and root activity (Jobbagy and Jackson, 2001).
Base cations were found significantly different in all the land uses.
Compare to the rest of the base cations, K+ concentration in the
exchangeable pool of soils was found 66%, 42% and 50% lower in RMS,
mine face topsoil, and wasteland than the Sal forest (Table 4). In RMS,
Mg2+ and Ca2+ were found high probably due to dolomite content of
the subsurface soil (Ciarkowska et al., 2016). In comparison to Sal forest,
CEC was found 11% higher in the agriculture soil, and 18%, 33%, and 60%
reduced in mine face topsoil, RMS and wasteland, respectively. In this
study CEC varies with land uses and decreased with an increase in soil
depth.
Among the soil properties that altered due to the mining, IR may act
as a positive feedback loop of the ecosystem recovery (Nicolau, 2003;
Reynolds and Reddy, 2012). A significant reduction of 7%, 65%, 66%
and 90% in IR were found in the wasteland, agriculture land, mine face
topsoil and RMS, respectively. Under different land uses, IR varies con-
siderably depending upon the surface cover, micro-topography of
humus, litter and biomass cover (Gaur, 2003). Changes in IR mainly oc-
curred over millions of years in response to pedogenesis and vegetation
cover (Ritter and Gardner, 1993). However, mining extensively disturbs
the topography that subsequently alters the IR. Study of Indian Sal forest
showed high IR (4.14 cm hr.−1) due to the thick litter layer (Ram et al.,
1993), whereas it was 2.96 cm hr.− 1 in the present study. IR in
reclaimed forest soils of temperate climate was reported 3 cm hr.− 1

Table 4
Cations and cation exchange capacity of different land use at different soil depths (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm)).

Land use Ex. K (cmol·kg−1) Ex. Mg (cmol·kg−1) Ex.Ca (cmol·kg−1) CEC (cmol·kg−1)

0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60 0–20 20–40 40–60

Reclaimed OB dump 0.03Ac 0.02Aa 0.02Ad 0.74Aa 0.52ABa 0.37Ba 1.49Aa 1.12Aa 0.71Bab 8.82Ac 7.86Ac 7.63Abc
Mine face topsoil 0.05Ac 0.04ABc 0.03Bc 0.30Ab 0.35Ab 0.28Aa 0.92Aab 0.90Aa 0.88Aa 10.87Abc 7.20Bcd 6.29Bc
Wastelands 0.03Ac 0.03Ac 0.02Bcd 0.34Ab 0.30Ab 0.21Aa 0.78Ab 0.53Bb 0.40Bc 5.18Ad 4.18ABd 2.97 Bd
Sal forest 0.07Ab 0.06ABb 0.05Bb 0.02Ac 0.01Ac 0.01Ab 0.64Ab 0.51Bb 0.49Bbc 13.27Aab 12.20Ab 10.36Ab
Agriculture land 0.11Aa 0.09ABa 0.07Ba 0.02Ac 0.02Ac 0.01Bb 0.62Ab 0.54ABb 0.48Bbc 14.72Aa 17.80Aa 18.23Aa

Values in the same row followed by different capital alphabetical letters and values in the same column followed by different small alphabetical letters are significantly different at p b 0.05
level, (n = 5).
162 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163
Fig. 11. Infiltration rate in different land uses (A) Comparison of infiltration rate (IR) in different land uses, (B) cumulative infiltration rate (CIR) in different land uses, (C) trends in decrease
of cumulative infiltration rate (CIR) at 1 h and 3 h in different land uses, and (D) percentage decrease in cumulative infiltration rate (CIR) in different land uses in comparison with
reference site (Shorea robusta forest).
(Shrestha and Lal, 2008). In semiarid climate, 20–25 year-old RMS and
the undisturbed site showed IR of 5.8 cm hr.−1 and 7.4 cm hr.−1, respec-
tively (Reynolds and Reddy, 2012). In the RMS of the present study, IR
was observed 0.28 cm hr.− 1, which is categorized as very slow
(Donahue et al., 1990).
The decrease in IR and CIR in RMS may be associated with the high
soil compaction (Chong and Cowsert, 1997; Meek et al., 1992;
Moreno-de las Heras, 2009). The change in the sand and silt proportion
of the mine soil may modify the IR and may enhance the biological ac-
tivity of the mine soils. Shrestha and Lal (2008) also observed high IR
in reference forest compared to RMS. IR in all the land uses were initially
very high, then reduce with time, that indicates the maximum pore
spaces of the soils were filled in the first hour, thereafter runoff takes
place (Brady and Weil, 2002). Although mining severally changes the
IR of the affected land, the percentage of the infiltration in 1 h remains
approximately similar in all the land uses studied. The significant reduc-
tion in CIR might be associated with the degree of the disturbance that
changed the structural attributes of the affected land.
5. Conclusions
Study inferred that surface mining directly creates anthropogenic
soil (RMS) and indirectly generates other forms of land uses (agriculture
land, waste land) that originated from Sal forest. These newly formed
land use significantly alters soil characteristics and ecosystem functions
of the area. Increase in soil pH, EC and bulk density, and decrease in IR,
SOC, and soil nutrients are major impacts of opencast coal mining. Very
high IR rate in the S. robusta forest favorable for ground water recharge
and reduces run-off to a great extent. While reclaiming mine degraded
land, mine soil gets compacted (as indicated high bulk density) and
there is an overall decrease in soil ground water recharge and moisture
regime of the area. The study concludes that removal of natural
S. robusta prior to mining and reforestation with fast growing tree spe-
cies during reclamation, will not lead to the regeneration of original
ecosystem, due to complete alteration in the soil properties. Therefore,
the habitat transfer method could be a viable technique to restore the
S. robusta forest ecosystem. During restoration of mine degraded land
in the dry tropical climate, proper regrading of spoil material, topsoil
blanketing, use of grass legume mixture as pioneer species and organic
amendments can enhance the overall properties of the soils and mimic
the attributes of the ecosystem prior to the mining.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad to provide necessary research facilities. We are thankful to
Mahanadi Coal Field Limited (MCL), India (MCL/SAMB/ENVT/2008/
3336) to provide financial support for this project and other supporting
staff of MCL for assisting during the field study. The authors appreciate
the help of Usmani Z for writing assistance. The authors are also grateful
to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions and insight-
ful comments.
References
Banning, N.C., Grant, C.D., Jones, D.L., Murphy, D.V., 2008. Recovery of soil organic matter,
organic matter turnover and nitrogen cycling in a post-mining forest rehabilitation
chronosequence. Soil Biol. Biochem. 40, 2021–2031.
Bradshaw, A.D., 1997. Restoration of mined land — using natural processes. Ecol. Eng. 8,
255–269.
Brady, N.C., Weil, R.R., 2002. The Nature and Properties of Soil. 13th ed. Prentice-Hall Inc,
USA.
Bray, R., Kurtz, L.T., 1966. Determination of total, organic and available forms of phosphorus
in soil. Soil Sci. 59, 39–45.
CEA (central electricity authority), 2015. Executive Summary, Power Sector January-15.
Ministry of Power, Government of India.
Chitale, V.S., Behera, M.D., Matin, S., Roy, P.S., Sinha, V.K., 2014. Characterizing Shorea
robusta communities in the part of Indian Terai landscape. J. For. Res. 25, 121–128.
Chong, S.K., Cowsert, P.T., 1997. Infiltration in reclaimed mined land ameliorated with
deep tillage treatments. Soil Tillage Res. 44, 255–264.
 J. Ahirwal, S.K. Maiti / Catena 140 (2016) 155–163
Ciarkowska, K., Gargiulo, L., Mele, G., 2016. Natural restoration of soils on mine heaps with
similar technogenic parent material: a case study of long-term soil evolution in
Silesian-Krakow upland Poland. Geoderma 261, 141–150.
Dakshinamurthi, C., Gupta, R.P., 1968. Practicals in Soil Physics. IARI, New Delhi.
Donahue, R.L., Miller, R.W., Shickluna, J.C., 1990. Soils — An Introduction to Soils and Plant
Growth. fifth ed. Prentice-Hall Inc, New Delhi.
Enerdata, 2015. Global Energy Statistical Yearbook. 2015. (https://yearbook.enerdata.net/
#coal-and-lignite-production.html accessed on 16/12/2015).
Gaur, M.L., 2003. Characterizing surface infiltration variability in a small natural forest
watershed. Indian Forester 129, 341–348.
Gee, G.W., Bauder, J.W., 1986. Particle-size analysis. In: Klute, A. (Ed.), Methods of Soil
Analysis, Part 1. 2nd Ed. Agron. MonogrNo 9. ASA and SSSA, Madison, WI,
pp. 383–411.
Huang, X., Shi, Z.H., Zhu, H.D., Zhang, H.Y., Ai, L., Yin, W., 2016. Soil moisture dynamics
within soil profiles and associated environmental controls. Catena 136, 189–196.
Indian Standards, 1985. Indian Standards: 2720. Grain Size Analysis. Indian Standard
Institute, New Delhi, Part IV.
Islam, K.R., Weil, R.R., 2000. Land use effects on soil quality in a tropical forest ecosystem
of Bangladesh. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 79, 9–16.
Jackson, M.L., 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis. PHI Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
Jobbagy, E.G., Jackson, R.B., 2000. The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its
relation to climate and vegetation. Ecol. Appl. 10, 423–436.
Jobbagy, E.G., Jackson, R.B., 2001. The distribution of soil nutrients with depth: global pat-
terns and the imprint of plants. Biogeochemistry 53, 51–77.
Kumar, S., Maiti, S.K., Chaudhuri, S., 2015. Soil development in 2–21 years old coalmine
reclaimed spoil with trees: a case study from Sonepur-Bazari opencast project,
Raniganj Coalfield. India Ecol. Eng. 84, 311–324.
Maiti, S.K., 2006. Properties of mine soil and its affects on bioaccumulation of metals in
tree species: case study from a large opencast coalmining project. Int. J. Min. Reclam.
Environ. 20, 96–110.
Maiti, S.K., 2007. Bioreclamation of coalmine overburden dumps—with special empasis on
micronutrients and heavy metals accumulation in tree species. Environ. Monit. As-
sess. 125, 111–122.
Maiti, S.K., 2013. Ecorestoration of the Coalmine Degraded Lands. Springer, New York.
Maiti, S.K., Maiti, D., 2015. Ecological restoration of waste dumps by topsoil blanketing,
coir-matting and seeding with grass–legume mixture. Ecol. Eng. 77, 74–84.
Meek, B.D., Rechel, E.R., Carter, L.M., DeTar, W.R., Urie, A.L., 1992. Infiltration rate of a
sandy loam soil: effects of traffic, tillage, and plant roots. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56,
908–913.
MoC (ministry of coal), 2015. Record Note of Discussions and the Recommendations
of the Workshop on “The Technology Development & Mechanisation of Mines in
CIL in the Context of Reaching 1 Billion Tonne Coal Production in 2019–20.
(New Delhi, http://www.coal.nic.in. accessed on 28.9.2015).
Moreno-de Las Heras, M., 2009. Development of soil physical structure and biological
functionality in mining spoils affected by soil erosion in a Mediterranean-
Continental environment. Geoderma 149, 249–256.
Mukhopadhyay, S., Maiti, S.K., 2014. Soil CO2 flux in grassland, afforested land and
reclaimed coalmine overburden dumps: a case study. Land Degrad. Dev. 25, 216–227.
Mukhopadhyay, S., Maiti, S.K., Masto, R.E., 2013. Use of reclaimed mine soil index (RMSI)
for screening of tree species for reclamation of coal mine degraded land. Ecol. Eng. 57,
133–142.
163
Mukhopadhyay, S., Maiti, S.K., Masto, R.E., 2014. Development of mine soil quality index
(MSQI) for evaluation of reclamation success: a chronosequence study. Ecol. Eng.
71, 10–20.
Mummey, D.L., Stahl, P.D., Buyer, J.S., 2002. Soil microbiological properties 20 years after
surface mine reclamation: spatial analysis of reclaimed and undisturbed sites. Soil
Biol. Biochem. 34, 1717–1725.
Nelson, D.W., Sommers, L.E., 1996. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In:
Sparks, D.L., et al. (Eds.), Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 3, Chemical Methods, third
ed. SSSA Book Series 5. ASA and SSSA, Madison, WI, pp. 961–1010.
Nicolau, J.M., 2003. Trends in relief design and construction in opencast mining reclama-
tion. Land Degrad. Dev. 14, 215–226.
Pandey, B., Agrawal, M., Singh, S., 2014. Coal mining activities change plant community
structure due to air pollution and soil degradation. Ecotoxicology 23, 1474–1483.
Ram, N., Patel, S., Gupta, M.P., 1993. Effect of compactness by Timber Operations on the
Infiltration Rate in a Sal Plantation. Indian Forester 119, 173–179.
Reynolds, B., Reddy, K.J., 2012. Infiltration rates in reclaimed surface coal mines. Water Air
Soil Pollut. 223, 5941–5958.
Richter, D.D., Markewitz, D., Turmbore, S.E., Well, C.S., 1999. Rapid accumulation and
turnover of soil organic carbon storage in a re-establishing forest. Nature 400, 56–58.
Ritter, J.R., Gardner, T.W., 1993. Hydrologic evolution of drainage basins disturbed by sur-
face mining, Central Pennsylvania. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 105, 101–115.
Shaw, J.N., West, L.T., Bosch, D.D., Truman, C.C., Leigh, D.S., 2004. Parent material influence
on soil distribution and genesis in a Paleudult and Kandiudult Complex, Southeastern
USA. Catena 57, 157–174.
Shrestha, R.K., Lal, R., 2008. Land use impacts on physical properties of 28 years old
reclaimed mine soils in Ohio. Plant Soil 306, 249–260.
Shrestha, R.K., Lal, R., 2011. Changes in physical and chemical properties of soil after sur-
face mining and reclamation. Geoderma 161, 168–176.
Singh, A.N., Zeng, D.H., 2008. Effects of indigenous woody plantations on total nutrients of
mine spoil in Singrauli Coalfield. India J. For. Res. 19, 199–203.
Singh, J.S., Singh, D.P., Kashyap, A.K., 2010. Microbial biomass C, N and P in disturbed dry
tropical forest soils, India. Pedosphere 20, 780–788.
Singh, K.P., Mandal, T.N., Tripathi, S.K., 2001. Patterns of restoration of soil
physciochemical properties and microbial biomass in different landslide sites in the
sal forest ecosystem of Nepal Himalaya. Ecol. Eng. 17, 385–401.
Singh, R.S., Tripathi, N., Chaulya, S.K., 2012. Ecological study of revegetated coal mine spoil
of an Indian dry tropical ecosystem along an age gradient. Biodegradation 23,
837–849.
Sobek, A.A., Schuller, W.A., Freeman, J.R., Smith, R.M., 1978. Field and Laboratory Methods
Applicable to Overburden and Minesoils, USEPA Rep. 600/2–78-054. U.S. Gov. Print.
Office, Washington, DC.
Srivastava, S.C., Singh, J.S., 1991. Microbial C, N and P in dry tropical forest soils: effects of
alternate land-uses and nutrient flux. Soil Biol. Biochem. 23, 117–124.
Subbiah, B.V., Asija, G.L., 1956. A rapid procedure for the determination of available
nitrogen in soils. Curr. Sci. 25, 259–260.
Tripathi, N., Singh, R.S., 2009. Influence of different land uses on soil nitrogen transforma-
tions after conversion from an Indian dry tropical forest. Catena 77, 216–223.
Venkatesh, B., Lakshman, N., Purandara, B.K., Reddy, V.B., 2011. Analysis of observed soil
moisture patterns under different land covers in Western Ghats. India J. Hydrol.
397, 281–294.