Loose Rock As Biobarriers in Shallow Land Burial

Abstract

A layer of loose rock placed between buried waste and topsoil successfully prevented plant roots, burrowing mammals and ants from translocating waste materials into the biosphere in an arid climate. Air spaces between the rocks had to be maintained with stones of between 3.8 and 7.6 cm diameter. Small rocks and asphalt emulsion prevented the topsoil from sifting between the rocks that may make a pathway for plant roots to the waste material.