Improving the physical properties of soil from the Biancana Badlands, Tuscany, Italy, by use of amendment materials

Weakly weathered clay bedrock and samples of A horizon of a developed Biancana soil were incubated with compost or green manure in the presence of two physical forms of gypsum: one mined and ground and the other from flue-gas desulphurization (FGDG). The gypsum efficiency was evaluated in combination with two organic polymers: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyacrylamide. Compost and green manure increased permeability only in the presence of gypsum. The FGDG was more effective than the mined gypsum, alone or in combination with PVA.