Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Mineralogical Transformations under Fire in the Montane Grassland Systems of the Southern Western Ghats, India


Affiliations
1 Department of Soil Science, KSCSTE – Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi 680 653, India
 

Forest systems in the Western Ghats region have undergone significant transformations over the past century and wild fires are considered as a major factor for such modifications. Apart from natural fires, prescribed fire is also adopted as a management strategy in some of the forest types in the region. The present study evaluated the impact of prescribed fires on soil components in the high-altitude montane grassland systems of the southern Western Ghats. Fireinduced mineral transformations were assessed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TGA), differential thermogravimetry (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermodynamic parameters. Organic carbon content which determines key soil functions was found to reduce from 1.96% before fire and stabilize at 1.48% in soils following fire. XRD and TGA–DTA analyses indicated that major changes in soil during fire occurred between 70°C and 110°C, 250°C and 320°C as well as 430°C and 500°C, corresponding to loss of interlayer water from phyllosilicate minerals, modification of gibbsite to amorphous minerals and goethite to hematite, and transformation of kaolinite to metakaolinite respectively. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS and ΔG) estimated from the DSC curves showed that such transformation had positive enthalpy (ΔH) and Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) values; hence they are not spontaneous or reversible by themselves.

Keywords

Clay Minerals, Forest Fire, Montane Grassland Systems, Thermodynamics.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Pausas, J. G. and Keeley, J. E., A burning story: the role of fire in the history of life. Bioscience, 2009, 59, 593–601.

  • Bento-Gonçalves, A., Vieira, A., Úbeda, X. and Martin, D., Fire and soils: key concepts and recent advances. Geoderma, 2012, 191, 3–13.

  • Brooks, M. and Lusk, M., Fire Management and Invasive Plants: A Handbook, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington Virginia, USA, 2009, p. 27.

  • Parker, T. J., Karen, M. C. and Mathiasen, R. L., Interactions among fire, insects and pathogens in coniferous forests of the interior western United States and Canada. Agric. For. Entomol., 2006, 8, 167–189.

  • Certini, G., Effects of fire on properties of forest soils: a review. Oecologia, 2005, 143, 1–10.

  • Hubbert, K. R., Preisler, H. K., Wohlgemuth, P. M., Graham, R. C. and Narog, M. G., Prescribed burning effects on soil physical properties and soil water repellency in a steep chaparral watershed, southern California, USA. Geoderma, 2006, 130, 284–298.

  • González-Pérez, J. A., González-Vila, F. J., Almendros, G. and Knicker, H., The effect of fire on soil organic matter – a review. Environ. Int., 2004, 30, 855–870.

  • Francos, M., Pereira, P., Alcañiz, M., Mataix-Solera, J. and Úbeda, X., Impact of an intense rainfall event on soil properties following a wildfire in a Mediterranean environment (North-East Spain). Sci. Total Environ., 2016, 572, 1353–1362.

  • Thomas, A. D., Walsh, R. P. D. and Shakesby, R. A., Nutrient losses in eroded sediment after fire in eucalyptus and pine forests in the Mediterranean environment of northern Portugal. Catena, 1999, 36, 283–302.

  • Shakesby, R. A., Post-wildfire soil erosion in the Mediterranean: review and future research directions. Earth Sci. Rev., 2011, 105, 71–100.

  • Ulery, A. L., Graham, R. C. and Bowen, L. H., Forest fire effects on soil phyllosilicates in California. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 1996, 60, 309–315.

  • Sarikaya, Y., Önal, M., Baran, B. and Alemdaroğlu, T., The effect of thermal treatment on some of the physicochemical properties of a bentonite. Clays Clay Miner., 2000, 48, 557–562.

  • Sertsu, S. H. and Sanchez, P. A., Effects of heating on some changes in soil properties in relation to an Ethiopian land management practice. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 1978, 42, 940–944.

  • Fonseca, F., De Figueiredo, T., Nogueira, C. and Queirós, A., Effect of prescribed fire on soil properties and soil erosion in a Mediterranean mountain area. Geoderma, 2017, 307, 172–180.

  • Subbiah, B. V. and Asija, G. L., A rapid procedure for the determination of available nitrogen in soils. Curr. Sci., 1956, 25, 259–260.

  • Jackson, M. L., Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA, 1958, p. 498.

  • Walkley, A. and Black, I. A., An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci., 1934, 37, 29–38.

  • Jackson, M. L., Soil Chemical Analysis – Advanced Course: A Manual of Methods Useful for Instruction and Research in Soil Chemistry, Physical Chemistry of Soils, Soil Fertility, and Soil Genesis, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA, 1979, 2nd edn, p. 895.

  • Bruylants, G., Wouters, J. and Michaux, C., Differential scanning calorimetry in life science: thermodynamics, stability, molecular recognition and application in drug design. Curr. Med. Chem., 2005, 12, 2011–2020.

  • Terefe, T., Mariscal-Sancho, I., Peregrina, F. and Espejo, R., Influence of heating on various properties of six Mediterranean soils. A laboratory study. Geoderma, 2008, 143(3), 273–280.

  • Úbeda, X. and Outeiro, L., Physical and chemical effects of fire on soil. In Fire Effects on Soils and Restoration Strategies (eds Cerdà, A. and Robichaud, P. R.), Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA, 2009, pp. 105–133.

  • Chandran, P., Ray, S. K., Bhattacharyya, T., Srivastava, P., Krishnan, P. and Pal, D. K., Lateritic soils of Kerala, India: their mineralogy, genesis, and taxonomy. Aust. J. Soil Res., 2005, 43, 839–852.

  • Sandeep, S. and Sujatha, M. P., Mineralogy of kaolin clays in different forest ecosystems of southern Western Ghats, India. Curr. Sci., 2014, 107, 875–881.

  • Ketterings, Q. M., Bigham, J. M. and Laperche, V., Changes in soil mineralogy and texture caused by slash-and-burn fires in Sumatra, Indonesia. Soil Sci. Soc., Am. J., 2000, 64, 1108–1117.

  • Bokhimi, X., Sanchez-Valente, J. and Pedraza, F., Crystallization of sol–gel boehmite via hydrothermal annealing. J. Solid State Chem., 2002, 166, 182–190.

  • Wang, H., Xu, B., Smith, P., Davies, M., Desilva, L. and Wingate, C., Kinetic modeling of gibbsite dehydration/amorphization in the temperature range 823–923 K. J. Phys. Chem. Solids, 2006, 67, 2567–2582.

  • Cornell, R. M. and Schwertmann, U., The Iron Oxides: Structure, Properties, Reactions, Occurence and Uses, VCH Weinheim, Berlin, 1996, p. 573.

  • Fan, H., Song, B. and Li, Q., Thermal behavior of goethite during transformation to hematite. Mater. Chem. Phys., 2006, 98, 148–153.

  • Mitra, G. B. and Bhattacherjee, C., X-ray diffraction studies on the transformation of kaolinite into metkaolin: I. Variability of interlayer spacings. Am. Mineral., 1969, 54, 1409–1418.

  • Iglesias, T., Cala, V. and Gonzalez, J., Mineralogical and chemical modifications in soils affected by a forest fire in Mediterranean area. Sci. Total Environ., 1997, 204, 89–96.

  • Badĭa, D. and Marti, C., Plant ash and heat intensity effects on chemical and physical properties of two contrasting soils. Arid Land Res. Manage., 2003, 17, 23–41.

  • Walker, G. F., Vermiculites and some related mixed layer minerals. In X-ray Identification of Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals, The Mineralogical Society of London, UK, 1951.

  • Ptáček, P., Kubátova, D., Havlica, J., Brandštetr, J., Šoukal, F. and Opravil, T., Isothermal kinetic analysis of the thermal decomposition of kaolinite: the thermogravimetric study. Thermochim. Acta, 2010, 501, 24–29.

  • Tan, K. H. and Hajek, B. F., Thermal analysis of soils. In Minerals in Soil Environments (ed. Dinauer, R. C.), SSSA, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 1977, pp. 865–884.


Abstract Views: 389

PDF Views: 126




  • Mineralogical Transformations under Fire in the Montane Grassland Systems of the Southern Western Ghats, India

Abstract Views: 389  |  PDF Views: 126

Authors

S. Sandeep
Department of Soil Science, KSCSTE – Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi 680 653, India
J. M. Ninu
Department of Soil Science, KSCSTE – Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi 680 653, India
K. A. Sreejith
Department of Soil Science, KSCSTE – Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi 680 653, India

Abstract


Forest systems in the Western Ghats region have undergone significant transformations over the past century and wild fires are considered as a major factor for such modifications. Apart from natural fires, prescribed fire is also adopted as a management strategy in some of the forest types in the region. The present study evaluated the impact of prescribed fires on soil components in the high-altitude montane grassland systems of the southern Western Ghats. Fireinduced mineral transformations were assessed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TGA), differential thermogravimetry (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermodynamic parameters. Organic carbon content which determines key soil functions was found to reduce from 1.96% before fire and stabilize at 1.48% in soils following fire. XRD and TGA–DTA analyses indicated that major changes in soil during fire occurred between 70°C and 110°C, 250°C and 320°C as well as 430°C and 500°C, corresponding to loss of interlayer water from phyllosilicate minerals, modification of gibbsite to amorphous minerals and goethite to hematite, and transformation of kaolinite to metakaolinite respectively. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS and ΔG) estimated from the DSC curves showed that such transformation had positive enthalpy (ΔH) and Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) values; hence they are not spontaneous or reversible by themselves.

Keywords


Clay Minerals, Forest Fire, Montane Grassland Systems, Thermodynamics.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv116%2Fi6%2F966-971