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Percent Clay - This is the percent of the soil material that consists of <br />particles smaller than .002 mm in diameter. Soils containing >40% <br />clay particles when associated with high SAR values (>10) and <br />extreme saturation percentages (>80) may be considered suspect <br />(Merritt 1983). Clay percentages >40 are suitable when SAR values <br />are <12 and saturation % < 80. Trapper spoil clay content ranged <br />from a low of 4% to a high of 50% (z = 35.7%). <br />Texture - The relative percentage of sand, silt and clay in soil material <br />that is less than 2 mm in diameter. Merritt (1983) reported a vari- <br />ety of suitability classifications for soils. In accordance with <br />his suitability criteria, Trapper spoils ranged from poor to good <br />(z = fair). <br />Mercury - Mercury is not a common parameter of concern in soils and over- <br />burden evaluation for mined land reclamation, however it may be of <br />interest in some circumstances. Much of western North America is in <br />a mercuirferous zone that contains numerous Hg deposits and pros- <br />pects. Total Hg concentration commonly reported for soils, sedi- <br />ments, and geologic deposits are less than .1 ppm (Williams 6 <br />Funston 1987). Merritt (1983) reported concentrations of .4 to .5 <br />ppm to be suspect. Trapper spoils range from .OS to .1 ppm (z = <br />.06). (1987 only.) <br />Fluorine - Fluorine is a non-metalic element. The range of fluorine con- <br />centration in soils which sometimes occur as enviromnental contami- <br />nants is between 30-300 ppm (Brady 1974). Fluorine concenta[ions in <br />Trapper spoils ranged from .12 to 1.3 ppm (z = .26 ). (1987 <br />only.) <br />Total Sulfur - Total sulfur measures the oxidation potential of pyrite in <br />spoils to accurately quantify their acid producing potential. Oxi- <br />dation of pyrite is the main source of acidity in most mine spoils <br />(Sobek etal 1987). The percent total sulfur on Trapper spoils is <br />very low and ranged from <.O1 to .35% (x = .10). (1987 only.) <br />Acid-base potential - A method to quantifying the net acid-base balance <br />of a particular spoil material by combining the acid and neutraliza- <br />tion potentials. Calcium carbonate is the acid neutralizing com- <br />pound in spoils which tends to ameliorate its acid producing poten- <br />tial. Positive (+) laboratory values reflect an excess of CaC03 <br />to neutralize any acid producing potential. Suitable values are <br />generally <-5. Trapper spoils ranged from +13.9 to +88.7 (z = <br />51.4). (1987 only.) <br />A comparison of topsoil and in-place spoil material is made in Table I-4. <br />As you can see the quality of the regraded spoil is comparable to that of <br />the in-place topsoii, <br />cont. <br />