The Effects of Mining and Land Reclamation on Soil Carbon Storage and Flux.

The demand for oil is growing worldwide. Conventional oil deposits have already been extracted and our future oil supply is of great concern. New technology is allowing us to extract unconventional oil, also called shale oil using hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing uses high purity silica sand as a proppant.  Wisconsin’s bedrock sand is one of the best sources of frac sand in the world. Silica sand mining has rapidly expanded in Wisconsin.  A long-term field study is being conducted in Chippewa County, Wisconsin to evaluate the impact of this mining on soil physical, hydrological and biological characteristics and how best to reclaim the land after mining. Specifically this project evaluated soil carbon dynamics in pre and post mined (reclaimed) areas. During Summer 2015, a single soil was quantified across three stages of mining operations: 1.) native soil (pre-mining), 2.) stripped/stockpiled soil, and 3.) reclaimed soil. A total of ten sampling points were randomly chosen at each stage. Surface soil samples were collected and total soil carbon measured using an Elementar CNS analyzer. Carbon flux was also measured at each site using a Li-Cor 8100A automated gas flux system.  The results from our analysis will be summarized.