Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-77).

Bibliography: leaves 78-81. / Evaporation ponds are used for treating wastewaters in arid regions worldwide. Namakwa Sands an Anglo American plc operation, mines heavy minerals along the semi arid West Coast of South Africa. An acid effluent is generated during treatment of these heavy minerals. The effluent is neutralized and disposed of into unlined evaporation ponds. Seepage from the ponds affects the surrounding environment as well as the subsurface waters. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the seepage on the groundwater resources and potential implications for contaminant migration in the subsurface environment.

Bibliography: leaves 104-118. / This study gives a first-order estimation of the chemical composition of the recharge, discharge, and ground waters, along with the bedrock, soil, and vegetation of the Olifants River Valley around Citrusdal. The valley occurs in a synclinal fold with the main aquifers, the Table Mountain Group (MG) sandstones of the Peninsula Formation and the Nardouw Subgroup, folded beneath the central valley.

Bibliography: leaves 71-78. / It is widely accepted that afforestation adversely affects soil chemical properties. A significant decrease in pH, base cation status and acid neutralising capacity (ANC), coupled with increasing acidity have been observed to occur in acid coniferous forest soils both in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. International and local studies in Southern Africa have observed declining productivity over successive rotations in pine plantations. Increasing acidity loads in the Northern Hemisphere and their adverse effects on forest health have generated a search for chemical indices that would assist in pursuing thresholds beyond which forest vitality is damaged. A common and widely used chemical index is the Ca/Al ratio. The most common parameter adopted is the Ca/Al molar ratio in soil solutions. Recent studies in Southern Africa (Swaziland. Kwazulu-Natal) and in the Sabie area (Eastern Escarpment) have indicated that some forest compartments (Pinus sp.) may experience Ca/Al molar ratios dropping below unity. The value of unity is widely used and proposed as a threshold beyond which tree vitality may be adversely affected. This study was conducted to determine the state of surface (0-20cm) soils underlying pine plantations of different ages in the Sabie area on the Eastern Escarpment of Southern Africa. The pine plantations were selected in areas overlying a uniform bedrock (shale), high attitude, high rainfall, north facing aspect and confined to 3 pine species (P. elliottii, P. patuia and P. taeda). A composite sample was taken from each of 22 forest compartments varying in age (between 22 and 67 years) and rotation (first, second and third). In addition, the results of previous investigations of forest soils in the Eastern Escarpment region were considered in order to expand the array of forest compartment ages and the size of the overall data set used for statistical analysis, so that comparisons could be made.

Includes bibliographical references. / The objective of the study was to evaluate the potential impact of atmospheric sulfur deposition on the soils surrounding Arnot power station. In particular, the study focused on the relationship between sulfur and organic carbon (OC) and on the various pools of sulfur in the soil. A representative selection of collected soil samples was characterized both physically and chemically in the laboratory. In addition to the representative soils sampled in 2000, archived soils sampled in 1996 and 1999 from the same area were included in some of the chemical analyses.

Bibliography: pages 64-67. / This study constitutes a preliminary assessment of the behaviour of effluent-associated vanadium, and its possible effects on the biotic components of land treatment sites, used for the disposal of liquid industrial wastes from a chemical plant in the eastern Transvaal. A review of the literature showed that although the emission of vanadium into the environment is on the increase, very little information is available regarding its behaviour and impact as an environmental pollutant. This study is therefore important not only in the context of the land treatment operation in question, but clearly in a more universal context as well. The study involved a three-phase approach to the problem. Firstly, vanadium sorption was considered in four soils encountered on the sites in question. Secondly, an investigation was conducted into the potential toxicity of vanadium to relevant plant species. Finally, the potential inhibition of soil biological activity at increasing levels of vanadium was examined, although the results of this experiment were inconclusive.

Bibliography: leaves 96-101. / Recent research in the eastern escarpment area of South Africa has documented enhanced NO₃- concentrations in soil solution and stream water resulting from afforestation. There has been much research in the Northern Hemisphere regarding the qualitative and quantitative causes and consequences of N saturation in forest ecosystems. In order to assess the significance of local observations of afforestation-induced NO₃- enhancement in a global context, a study was conducted to evaluate the influence of forest plantations (Pinus spp.) on N form and mobility in soils in the eastern escarpment area of South Africa. Twenty soil samples were taken, half in grassland and half in forest, in the Graskop and Kaapsehoop areas of the eastern escarpment. Forest samples were taken as composites of approximately five individual samples in each stand from the top 20-25 em of soil, combining partially decomposed organic litter layer with the subjacent upper mineral soil horizon. Grassland samples were taken, again as composites, consisting of the upper mineral soil horizon (an organic litter layer was for the most part absent). Approximately three-quarters of each sample was air-dried, and crushed to pass through a 2-mm sieve and stored for analysis. The remaining quarter of each sample was passed through a 2-mm sieve and refrigerated at about 4°C in order to maintain field-moist conditions and to inhibit microbial transfornlations. Refrigerated samples were used for KCI-extractable NO₃- and NH₄+ analyses and N mineralisation experiments. The remaining analyses were performed on the air-dried samples. This study included two facets: physical and chemical characterisation of soil samples; and a series of laboratory experiments. The solid phase of the soils was analysed for organic carbon, total nitrogen and particle size distribution. The soil solution was investigated by making saturated paste extracts which were analysed for major ions, trace elements, electrical conductivity (EC) and pH. Extractable base cations, acidity and inorganic nitrogen (NH₄+ and NO₃-) were also analysed after extraction with NH₄OAc or KCl solutions. The laboratory experiments, intended to investigate the apparent differences in soil N transformations and mobility resulting from vegetation, consisted of both aerobic and anaerobic incubation to assess N mineralisation, a NO₃- sorption experiment and a soil to extract ratio dilution experiment.

Bibliography: pages 117-121. / De Hoop Vlei is a saline coastal lake situated 53 kilometres north-east of Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is probably of estuarine origin but is now separated from the sea by mobile sand dunes and, therefore, has no surface outflow. Inflow to the vlei is from a catchment area of approximately 1200 km2 in which intensive grain farming is practised. The vlei is situated within the De. Hoop Nature Reserve and its ecological value, particularly as a breeding ground for water birds, has been recognised in its designation as an international RAMSAR conservation site. Agricultural practices in the catchment have been identified as a potential threat to the ecology of the vlei. The overall objective of this study was to provide a geochemical characterisation of De Hoop Vlei. It focused on identifying the geochemical factors and processes which control the water chemistry of the vlei and attempted to identify any influence of agricultural activities on water quality. This was achieved through a geochemical interpretation of the results obtained from analyses of water and sediment samples collected during the study. Use was also made of Department of Water Affairs and Forestry monitoring data in order to examine long term behaviour of the system, particularly with respect to the effect of evaporative concentration on water composition. Furthermore, chemical equilibrium was modelled, using the geochemical model MINTEQA2, in order to give an indication of processes likely to occur in the water as well as the behaviour of certain possible pollutants in the vlei. Water and sediment core samples, collected during two separate sampling trips, were taken along the entire length of the vlei and some water samples were taken in the catchment. Interstitial waters were obtained by suction from sediment cores. Samples of secondary precipitates, found along the edge of the vlei, were also taken. The following laboratory analyses were performed on water samples: pH, EC, alkalinity, major cations and anions, dissolved P, fluoride, and the trace metals Fe, Mn, Al, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb. The following laboratory analyses were performed on sediment samples: pH of wet and dried sediments, organic C content, carbonate content, total elemental concentrations of major and trace elements, mineralogy, clay percentage and extractable P, Zn and K. Scanning electron microscopy and mineralogical analyses were performed on samples of secondary precipitates.

Includes bibliography. / The Noordhoek Valley is situated on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa (34°07'S, 18°22'E). Towards the east, the valley hosts numerous townships, while to the west it opens into a lowland marsh area, bordered by a five-kilometre beach. The wetland is subjected to various forms of anthropogenic pollution; the two most important being the discharge of urban runoff and treated effluent from the local sewage works. During the period of the study (Jan-Oct 1998), the occurrence of toxic cyanobacteria of the species Microcystis aeruginosa was reported for the two main water bodies within the wetland. The objective of this study was to conduct an investigation of geochemical and limnological aspects of phosphorus contamination within the wetland. The investigation concentrated on the two main water bodies of the wetland: The Lake and Wildevoëlvlei.

Lake Sibaya (27°15'-21'25'S; 32°32'-32°44'E) is situated in the northern region of the Zululand coastal plain, and is remarkable in that it embodies a near-pristine· freshwater coastal lake preserving clear residual signs of its former estuarine origin. Despite the· fact that the lake constitutes perhaps the most intensively studied of all freshwater bodies in South Africa, little is known .of its geochemical character. The objective of this study was therefore to conduct an investigation of the waters and sediments of the lake system, which might then provide a chemical baseline against which the future environmental quality of the system could be gauged, and in terms of which the current functioning of the ecosystem can be better understood. In line with this rationale, water and sediment samples were collected from each of fourteen sampling sites located along three transects running, variously, S-N, SW-NE and W-E across peripheral arms of the lake. Waters in direct contact with the sediments were thoroughly agitated with the sediments and thereafter decanted for analysis. Since the lake is purported to be fed almost exclusively by groundwater flow, water samples were collected from three groundwater . . wells located north-west of the lake. The Department of Water Affairs (DW AF) databases for groundwater chemistry, and for lake level and chemistry over the period 1980 to 1998, were used to supplement this data, and to provide an indication of any medium-term parameter changes. A water sample was also· collected from the non-perennial Mseleni River, although the river is known to contribute minimally to the lake volume. The majority of laboratory analyses were conducted within the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town, adhering to standard analytical methods wherever possible.