Search results for "ORGANIC MATTER"

Direct Solid Phase Microextraction for the Determination of BTEX in Water and Wastewater

1996

Variability of near-surface saturated hydraulic conductivity for the clay soils of a small Sicilian basin

2019

Abstract Proper characterization of saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, of clay soils in a hillslope or a basin is still a challenge for soil science. In this investigation, the clay soils of the Maganoce (Sicily, Italy) basin were sampled at 19 sampling sites by the BEST procedure of soil hydraulic characterization. More OM implied less compact conditions (decreasing dry soil bulk density; coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.67), more stability to water of the soil aggregates (increasing water stable aggregates; R2 = 0.83) and, consequently, higher Ks values (R2 = 0.54). Variability of Ks was lower in the steeper zones of the basin than in the flatter ones. A comparison with the Ks data…

Effects of compost input and tillage intensity on soil microbial biomass and activity under Mediterranean conditions

2010

Organic amendment and tillage reduction are two common practices to contrast soil organic matter decline, thus promoting sustainable cropping and carbon sequestration. In a horticultural land use system under Mediterranean climate, we evaluated the 9-year effects of two compost inputs (15 and 30 t ha−1 y−1, low and high input, respectively) and two tillage intensities (intensive and reduced) on soil macronutrients concentration, microbial biomass and activity. Total organic C, total N and POlsen were smaller in plots amended at low input, whilst intensive tillage decreased them at both compost inputs. These decreases in intensively tilled plots was ascribed to the disruption of soil aggrega…

Long-term cropping systems and tillage management effects on soil organic carbon stocks and steady state level of C sequestration rates in a semiarid…

2010

A calcareous and clayey xeric Chromic Haploxerept of a long-term experimental site in Sicily (Italy) was sampled (0–15 cm depth) under different land use management and cropping systems (CSs) to study their effect on soil aggregate stability and organic carbon (SOC). The experimental site had three tillage managements (no till [NT], dual-layer [DL] and conventional tillage [CT]) and two CSs (durum wheat monocropping [W] and durum wheat/faba bean rotation [WB]). The annually sequestered SOC with W was 2·75-times higher than with WB. SOC concentrations were also higher. Both NT and CT management systems were the most effective in SOC sequestration whereas with DL system no C was sequestered. …

Isotopes Trace Biogeochemistry and Sources of Cu and Zn in an intertidal soil

2013

River floodplain soils are sinks and potential sources for toxic trace metals like Cu and Zn. We hypothesize that stable Cu and Zn isotope ratios reflect both the mobilization and the sources of metals. We determined the soil properties, the concentrations and partitioning of Cu and Zn, and variations in δ65Cu and δ66Zn values in a core obtained from an Aquic Udifluvent developed on a freshwater intertidal mudflat of the River Elbe, Germany. The core was sampled at 2 cm intervals to a depth of 34 cm, which corresponds to approximately 9 yr of sedimentation. Elevated concentrations of Cu (up to 320 μg g−1) and Zn (up to 2080 μg g−1) indicated anthropogenic pollution. At the time of sampling …

Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric determination of arsenic in mussel products

1993

A precise, accurate procedure is proposed for the determination of arsenic in mussel products by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Organic matter is destroyed by dry ashing. Experimental conditions for the determination of arsenic were selected and an interference study was carried out. The methodology developed has a detection limit of 0.1 μg g−1, a relative standard deviation of 3%, and a recovery percentage of 98±2%. The accuracy of the method was checked by analysis of a certified sample of NIST oyster tissue (certified 14.0±1.2 μg g−1; found 14.1±1.1 μg g−1). The proposed procedure was used to analyze real samples of mussel products.

Indirect analysis of urea herbicides from environmental water using solid-phase microextraction.

2000

We described here a solid-phase microextraction procedure used to extract six urea pesticides-- chlorsulfuron, fluometuron, isoproturon, linuron, metobromuron and monuron--from environmental samples. Two polydimethylsiloxanes and a polyacrylate fiber (PA) are compared. The extraction time, pH control, addition of NaCl to the water and the influence of organic matter such as humic acid on extraction efficiency were examined to achieve a sensitive method. Determination was carried out by gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. The proposed method requires the extraction of 2 ml of sample (pH 4, 14.3%, w/v, NaCl) for 60 min with the PA fiber. The limits of detection range from 0…

Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Sediments from Sicilian Coastal Area (Scoglitti) using Automated Soxhlet, GC-MS, and Principal Component Analysis

2014

A methodology for the PAHs and PCBs congener determination in sediment samples has been revised. We determined the distributions of PAHs and PCBs in the superficial sediments of the Scoglitti (Italy) coastal area to provide data for comparison with other marine systems and to hypothesize the sources. Extraction yield, for PCB, was never less than 60% in most cases, while for PAHs, utilizing perdeuterated surrogate standard (benz[a]anthracene-d12 and anthracene-d10) was never less than 72%. The total concentration of the 16 PAHs investigated, expressed as the sum of concentrations, PAHs, varied from 1–5087 μg/kg of dry matrix, while the PCBs ranged from detection limit to 36 μg/kg of dry mat…

COMPOSITION AND QUALITY OF FRESHWATER LAKE SEDIMENTS (BALVU AND PĒRKONU LAKES)

2019

Water quality, watershed basin and urbanization are key factors from the perspective of freshwater management; however, actual depth of waterbodies is often an overlooked element. Actual depth represents the overall depth of lake bed and depth of sediments. Some cases have been reported, where with increase of average depth of lake , it is possible to expect improvements of water quality when sediments are removed. If lakes are eutrophic, shallow, overgrown with macrophytes and contain high concentrations of biogenic elements water and lake ecosystem quality can be endangered. Removal of sediments can be an expensive procedure and also depends on the composition, structure, local conditions…

Effect of storage and composting on the properties and degradability of cattle manure

1995

Abstract Stockpiling or thermophilic composting of cattle manure resulted in significant carbon losses of 17% and 26.4% and relative nitrogen gains of 25% and 32.7% for stockpiled and composted manure, respectively. As a consequence, C/N ratios decreased with increasing time of storage or composting. However, neither the pH nor the mineral nitrogen and organic carbon contents of the 0–50 μm fractions were significant indicators of the transformations of these materials. The degradability of the manure was measured by incubation for 2 weeks in a brown calcareous soil, following 1 week of preincubation. The biodegradation index (BI) or the proportion of CO 2 released from the amended soil in …