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What are Acid Sulfate Soils?

Acid Sulfate Soils (ASS) occur naturally in both coastal (tidal) and inland or upland (freshwater) settings. Left undisturbed, these soils are harmless, but when excavated or drained, the sulfides within the soil react with the oxygen in the air, forming sulfuric acid. This acid, together with associated toxic elements (heavy metals and other contaminants), can kill plants and animals, contaminate drinking water and food such as oysters, and corrode concrete and steel. Land managers need to be able to identify those areas where development is either best avoided, or is going to need some special treatment. Already, there are many examples of costly mistakes in Australia (particularly in NSW, Queensland and South Australia), involving considerable damage to land, buildings and waterways. More on Acid Sulfate Soils from the CSIRO

Shouldn’t ’sulfate’ be spelt ’sulphate’?

Wikipedia tells us: In Latin, the word is variously written sulpur, sulphur, and sulfur (the Oxford Latin Dictionary lists the spellings in this order). It means brimstone. It is an original Latin name and not a Classical Greek loan, so the ph variant does not denote the Greek letter φ. Sulfur in Greek is thion (θείον), whence comes the prefix thio-. The simplification of the Latin word’s p or ph to an f appears to have taken place towards the end of the classical period, with the f spelling becoming dominant in the medieval period. The CSIRO tells us: Much of the variation in spelling arises from scientific spelling as opposed to usage in day to day literature. About 20 years ago, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the equivalent of a ‘United Nations’ of world chemistry, and other scientific organisations adopted the ‘sulfur’ form. For scientific correctness, most scientists have followed this form. The Australian journals of science have also adopted this spelling.