BASALT SLUDGE COMPOST - MATERIAL AND STRU CTURE CHARACTERISTIC

A Basalt/sludge compost two years old was investigated in the region o f a purification plant in Styria. After the end of the decay processes chemical, mineralogical and morphological analyses were done. The res ults of the soil chemical investigation correlate very well with the f ield studies showing clearly formed horizons by intensive processes of weathering and humification. Few alterations in mineralogy and microm orphology could be observed, stronger transformations occurred only in the contact between the organic matter (from sludge) and the basaltic material, e. g. neoformations of gypsum and amorphic ion-hydroxides.