This paper reviews the concentration of heavy metals particularly Cr and Ni in the serpentinised and ultramafic soil/rock throughout the different geological regions in the world which are produced due to anthropogenic means or due to natural weathering. Poor nutrient content, low Ca: Mg ratio, higher concentration of heavy metals is major reason for the sparse vegetation on such soil. The vege...

Background The ubiquity of nickel in the environment and its common presence in food and water mean that humans are constantly exposed to nickel. Although nickel is not acutely toxic at low levels, it is a carcinogen and has been linked to cellular oxidative stress [1]. Soils that develop on serpentinite, a metamorphic rock type derived from ultramafic igneous rocks (and the state rock of Calif...

[1] Field data from channels in the Henry Mountains of Utah demonstrate that abundant coarse sediment can inhibit fluvial incision into bedrock by armoring channel beds (the cover effect). We compare several small channels that share tributary junctions and have incised into the same sedimentary bedrock unit (Navajo Sandstone) but contain differing amounts of coarse diorite clasts owing to the ...

[1] Independent lithologic and structural controls in fluvial bedrock systems interact with coarse sediment transport processes to play a key role in bedrock incision processes such as abrasion. During a 3 year study on the Ocoee River in the Blue Ridge Province of the southern Appalachians, USA, we used painted tracer clasts to measure coarse sediment transport dynamics and address whether dif...

The mam plant communities of ultramafic (serpentine) outcrops of a Mediterranean area in central Italy are described and their successional pathway discussed. Four vegetation stages are distinguished: a) an endemic garigue stage, with high percentage of exposed rocky soil belonging to Armerio-Alyssetum bertolonii; b) a garigue stage similar to the previous one but with several Mediterranean eve...

1 Geological carbon capture and storage in mafic and ultramafic rocks – Muscat, 2011