Coastal soil

The soils are calcareous Mainly found in Australia-iraq-vietnam-brunei-south Africa Also known as Coastal acid sulphate soil Formation---long ago,underwater,when ocean level was much higher.As sea receded these soil remained .And today it is found in low-lying coastal areas like coastal plain,wetland & mangroves
In an undisturbed and waterlogged state these soils are relatively harmless, but when disturbed and exposed to oxygen through drainage or excavation, these soils produce sulfuric acid in large quantities. After rain and particularly following prolonged dry periods, the built up sulfuric acid in these soils is released. As the acid moves through the soil profile it releases other toxins, like heavy metals. This toxic cocktail eventually flows into surrounding waterways. Toxic "slugs" of concentrated acid runoff can flow into estuaries significantly decreasing water quality, killing fish and damaging sensitive ecosystems. Coastal development for tourism, towns and agriculture has disturbed large areas of acid sulfate soils. This disturbance has caused major problems for New South Wales and Queensland. These states have the most coastal development and they account for most of the activity to address the problem. The impacts of coastal acid sulfate soil runoff come at a significant environmental, economic and social cost to coastal communities. Besides the obvious impact on the environment such as fish kills, acid runoff has been attributed to the decline or failure of fishery and aquaculture industries. Naturally, the ecological damage compromises valuable tourist resources like good fishing grounds, swimming areas and other water sports areas. Acid discharges also damage town services and structures like pipes, foundations, drains, bridges and flood controls.

This acid, together with associated toxic elements such as heavy metals and other contaminants, can: kill plants and animals contaminate drinking water and food such as oysters corrode concrete and steel.

Analytical techniques
In the laboratory, CSIRO researchers have developed and applied various techniques to improve the reliability, accuracy and speed of analysis of acid sulfate soils. These include:

geochemical mineralogical, particularly x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy wet chemical geophysical isotopic methods (S and Pb). They have also designed experiments to synthesise several minerals under conditions approaching those found in nature.