Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, 1983969411 Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University.
3
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham,
Abstract
Microplastics change the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil. In this study the effect of polyethylene terephthalate(PET) on some physicochemical properties of soil was investigated. After establishing experimental plots and adding PET with sizes smaller than 500 μm to the soil, three stages of irrigation and surface tillage were carried out in agricultural plots, while three rainfall events and three stages of surface tillage were carried out in pasture plots. clay.silt and sand percentage,pH,sodium(Na),potassium(K),electrical conductivity(EC) and organic carbon(OC) were the variables that were measured in the soil before and after adding PET to the soil and during the irrigation, rainfall and surface tillage stages. In the pasture plots, after introducing microplastics into the soil, all the chemical properties examined, except pH, increased insignificantly. The amount of clay increased by 2% and silt by 0.19%, while sand decreased by 6.04%. In the agricultural plots, pH (t-value = 4.3, p = 0.002) and K (t-value = 5.9, p = 0.001) increased significantly, while Na and OC increased insignificantly and EC decreased. The percentage of clay in the soil (t-value = 3.99, p = 0.003) decreased significantly, while the percentage of silt (t-value = 2.33, p = 0.042) and sand (t-value = 4.93, p = 0.001) increased significantly. Due to flood irrigation in agricultural plots, most of the changes in soil texture are related to surface erosion, and the introduction of PET did not significantly change the soil texture, because no significant changes in soil texture occurred in pasture plots.
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