Effects of fire on the state of several elements in some soils of Sardinia

In order to individuate the modifications induced in the soil by fires rela tively to the mobility of metals and rare earth three soils of Sardinia whi ch differ in their mineralogical and physico-chemical characteristics were sampled. The analytical results obtained on the samples drawn at different depths (0-5 and 10-30 cm) three months after a fire and on the tests indica te that only the surface layer underwent significant modifications. The dyn amics of metals and the distribution of the rare earths were found to depen d, besides the amount and quality of the burned material, on the different behaviour of elements towards leaching. The diffractometric analysis showed that the soil surface layer of all the samples did not exceed 400 degreesC .