Evaluating soil quality at a landfill: a study case from morocco (tangier)

In recent decades, landfill sites have been a potential source of contamination, which can hurt the environment due to the accumulation of heavy metals and processed organic products. In the Tangier landfill, the different types of wastes are missing any prior treatment or any soil of protection. This behavior constitutes a risk factor of contamination for the soil and groundwater. Between the waste and soil, many physicochemical and biological reactions occur. The objective of this work effort is to derive a global and in-depth characterization of the organic and mineral matter of the soil samples from the Tangier landfill. The study of organic matter (OM) in soils helps to understand the evolution of soil contamination. Eight samples of soil have been studied using a range of chemical and physical analytical methods. FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses have used to investigate the nature of organic matter. The analysis of heavy metals in the soil showed that there is a significant presence of Pb, Cd, As, Cr and Zn quantities which are mainly due to industrial waste.