Quantifying the impacts of coal seam gas (CSG) activities on the soil resource of agricultural lands in Queensland, Australia

Vacher, C. A. and White, S. and Eberhard, J. and Schmidt, E. and Huth, N. I. and Antille, D. L. (2014) Quantifying the impacts of coal seam gas (CSG) activities on the soil resource of agricultural lands in Queensland, Australia. In: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting (ASABE 2014), 13-16 Jul 2014, Montreal, Canada.

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Abstract

Coal seam gas (CSG) activities in the Surat and Bowen Basin areas of Queensland, Australia, cover approximately 300,000 km2 including regions of good quality agricultural lands. Without adequate knowledge of soil properties, hydrologic processes and control measures, the disturbed soil structure and landform in these regions are highly susceptible to soil degradation. The construction and installation of CSG infrastructures (e.g. roads, pipelines, hardstand and plant areas) cause various degrees of disturbance to the soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics. This disturbance may result in soil degradation through various forms including compaction, erosion processes, changes to organic carbon and soil nutrient store, exposure of potentially reactive/poor quality soils (e.g. acid sulphate soils, hyper-saline soils) or introduction of outside contaminants (poor quality water, weeds). Not only are soils directly disturbed by the footprint of the CSG operation but the surrounding soil landscape may be disturbed by secondary processes such as erosion and sedimentation. Soil compaction changes caused by CSG operations, including vehicle impacts and trench line installation, have been assessed by soil bulk density measurements. This measurement has been identified as a common impact by CSG operation and a key element of soil degradation of agricultural areas contributing poor vegetation establishment, tunnel and surface erosion processes and an ongoing decline for soil productivity. Quantifying the impacts of CSG activities on soils will inform the development of industry guidelines for impact minimisation and management of the soil resource on joint CSG-agricultural lands.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Commonwealth Reporting Category E) (Paper)
Refereed:	No
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	This publication is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for the purposes of study, research, or review, but is subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source.
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	No Faculty
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	No Faculty
Date Deposited:	05 Feb 2015 04:30
Last Modified:	17 Jul 2017 02:30
Uncontrolled Keywords:	coal seam gas; erosion; soil compaction; soil conservation; soil degradation; soil management
Fields of Research (2008):	05 Environmental Sciences > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050209 Natural Resource Management 05 Environmental Sciences > 0503 Soil Sciences > 050302 Land Capability and Soil Degradation 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences > 0701 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management > 070101 Agricultural Land Management
Fields of Research (2020):	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410406 Natural resource management 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4106 Soil sciences > 410601 Land capability and soil productivity 30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3002 Agriculture, land and farm management > 300202 Agricultural land management
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	D Environment > 96 Environment > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960504 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Environments
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/26695

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