Abstract
Man-made islands occupy about 230 ha in Tokyo Bay. Surface soil for green spaces covering the reclaimed land consists of bark compost brought from greenery areas in the Tokyo Metropolis. Limited amounts of degradable organic wastes are also mixed with the surface soil. Surface soil is usually top-dressed to a depth of 30 cm, to ensure root growth of the planting base. The deep soil layer is strongly compacted during the construction process by the use of heavy machines, and contains miscellaneous artificial materials such as asphalt, concrete, bricks, and dredged materials. Even with complicated soil composition, early stages of the soil development process are recognized in soil properties with time and/or depth. On the man-made island established on 1987, artificial soils covered with trees planted within this decade gradually develop as Urbic Spolic Technosols due to high contents of artifacts derived from rubble and refuse of human settlements and industrial waste. The boundary in the soil profile, which changes from abrupt to diffuse with the passage of time from afforestation, suggests soil mixing process by development of plant root systems at the boundary. Land improvement works using heavy machines strongly influences the physical difference between surface and deeper horizons. Soil development processes were verified through analysis of the chemical properties of the surface horizons, which have higher contents of organic carbon and nitrogen, and lower pH values, common properties of soils beneath well-developed vegetation. Development of soil on the man-made islands definitely increases with the growth of vegetation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bureau of Port and Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2001) The survey of stabilization in garbage basement in Tokyo port. Bureau of Port and Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo, pp 1–17 (in Japanese)
Bureau of Port and Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2010) Web page for “The progress report of forestation in Uminomori-park”. http://www.kouwan.metro.tokyo.jp/seisakujouhou/h22/saisakujouhoupageindex8.html. Latest citation on 2nd, Feb, 2017 (in Japanese)
IUSS Working Group WRB (2014) World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014. International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps, World soil resources reports no. 106. FAO, Rome
Matsufuji Y (1995) Purification mechanism by activated cover soil and new waste disposal system. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 6:278–284 (in Japanese with English abstract)
Mori H (2012) Stability indices of refuse landfill in Tokyo Port. Trans Jpn Soc Irrig Drain Rural Eng 80:549–554 (in Japanese with English abstract)
Research Committee of Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture (2001) Ground maintenance manual in landscape planting. J Jpn Inst Landsc Archit 63:224–241 (in Japanese)
Sakagami K (1978) Soils of reclaimed land along Tokyo Port area: a case with construction discharge. J Jpn Soc Pedol 22:115–126 (in Japanese with English abstract)
Takani Y (2001) Consideration on the formation process of parks and open spaces as a case study on Wakasu Seaside Park in Port of Tokyo. J Jpn Inst Landsc Archit 64:719–722 (in Japanese with English summary)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Matsudaira, H. (2019). Soils on Man-Made Islands in Tokyo Bay. In: Watanabe, M., Kawahigashi, M. (eds) Anthropogenic Soils in Japan. International Perspectives in Geography. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1753-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1753-8_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-1752-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-1753-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)