Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

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9. POLLUTION OF SOIL 
Pollutants  quite  often  penetrate  soil,  affecting  the  organisms 
that live there. However, the effect of the presence of pollutants in 
soil or the litho sphere on both terrestrial animals and ecosystems 
is much more considerable as these substances accumulate in food 
chains. The main specific feature of the pollution of the litho sphere 
and soil is its rather limited dispersal from the sources, determined 
by the properties of materials that compose the soil and litho-
spheric rocks. At the same time, the mobile component of the soil 
environ ment – water, or, more exactly, the underground water – can 
disperse the pollutants quite quickly. Thus, the soil and litho sphere 
environ mental pollution concentrates at its outlets yet can quickly 
dissipate, and it intensively interacts with the soil-forming rocks. 
Another significant specific feature of the soil environ ment is that 
the degradation processes of pollutants there take place relatively 
slowly because the availability of nutrients, water and oxygen 
indispensable to the life of micro-organisms is often quite limited. 
The soil environ ment and the litho sphere can be contaminated 
by substances that have entered them directly or through atmo-
spheric precipitation or water. Sulphur and nitrogen oxides, entering 
soil with atmo spheric precipitation, can substantially change its 
composition and affect even groundwaters.