Soil Variability on Surface‐Mined and Undisturbed Land in Southern Illinois

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Abstract
Five different soil units were defined on surface‐mined land to group soils that were constructed by similar mining and reclamation methods and from similar materials. Three soil units were defined on undisturbed landscape using the traditional soil series concepts of soil classification and mapping. The goal in defining and mapping soil units on both surface‐mined land and undisturbed land was to minimize variation of soil properties within soil units.A nested sampling design allowed for testing the lateral variation of selected properties within and among the five units on surface‐mined land and within and among the three units on undisturbed land. The analysis of variance conducted separately for the constructed soil units and the undisturbed units indicate that there are more significant differences among the five constructed soil units than among the three undisturbed soil units.Variability, as measured by the coefficient of variation, within the constructed soil units was similar to that within the soil units on undisturbed land. Pre‐mine overburden characteristics and method of soil construction are useful guides for mapping soils on surface‐mined land.

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