Search results for "ORGANIC MATTER"
showing 10 items of 577 documents
Chemical speciation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments: partitioning and extraction of humic substances.
2010
The primary objective of this study was to examine the chemical speciation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in sediments endowed with different characteristics. To achieve this purpose and because the nature of the sediments influences the distribution of PAHs, we have analyzed four different types of sediments. To study the role of organic matter in the sequestration of PAHs, we fractionated humic substances into humic acids and humin–mineral fractions. After their separation and purification, the humic components were examined for their sorptive reactivity by extracting them with organic solvents; these extracts were subsequently subjected to GC/MS analysis. Our results sh…
Decomposer animal communities in forest soil along heavy metal pollution gradient
1996
Responses of soil decomposer animals to heavy metal contamination and to concomitant changes in organic matter quality and quantity and in soil microbial biomasses have been studied along a pollution gradient from a Cu-Ni smelter. Samples have been taken separately for nematodes, enchytraeids and microarthropods 0.5, 2 and 8 km from the smelter. Special attention has been paid to the changes in the collembolan fauna. The sampling sites have been located in homogeneous Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris) forests with podsolic soil profiles. In addition, an experiment has been carried out in which intact soil cores have been transferred in mesh baskets between the sites 2 and 8 km from the smelter…
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments of Marine Coastal Lagoons in Messina, Italy: Extraction and GC/MS Analysis, Distribution and Sources
2004
The content of 21 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been determined in 16 samples of sediments collected from Ganzirri and Faro marine coastal lagoons in Messina (Italy). Analysis was performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The total concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ranged from 74 to 5755 ...g/Kg of dry matrix. The resulting distributions and molecular ratios of specific compounds have been discussed in terms of sampling location and origin of organic matter. The results obtained show that levels of contamination are not homogeneous throughout the stations, while the relative distributions of PAH are…
Relationships between sediment physico-chemical characteristics and heavy metal bioaccumulation in Mediterranean soft-bottom macrophytes
2001
Abstract Concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb and Zn in the two seagrasses ( Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa ), green alga Caulerpa prolifera and sediment and some physico-chemical characteristics of the sediment (organic matter, fine fraction (particles Significant correlations between the concentrations of metals in the plants and sediment (alone or normalized with respect to the physico-chemical characteristics) were usually found for Hg and Zn. For Pb only C . prolifera fractions were correlated to the Pb content of the sediment. For Cd no significant correlations were obtained between the metal in the plants and sediment. The concentration factors of the metals in the plants with respe…
Organic chlorine compounds in lake sediments. V. Bottom of Baikal near a pulp mill
1990
Abstract Organically bound chlorine (OCl) together with inorganic chloride (Cl − ) was measured from bottom surface samples of the Lake Baikal near a pulp mill and compared to organic matter contents (OM). Although total contents of OCl, Cl − and OM were much lower than, the ratio of OCl to OM was of the same order of magnitude as in pulp mill recipients of Finland.
UV-B-Induced acute toxicity of pyrene to the waterflea Daphnia magna in natural freshwaters.
1999
Abstract The effects of various water characteristics in natural freshwaters on the acute toxicity of one polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), pyrene, to a pelagic invertebrate Daphnia magna was studied under ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation and in the dark. Pyrene was photoactivated and was more toxic to D. magna in the presence of UV-B radiation. Dissolved organic material (DOM), measured as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), significantly reduced the photoenhanced toxicity of pyrene. Under UV-B radiation the EC50 values were lower and in relation to the amount of DOM, ranging from 3.0 to 30.0 μg/L pyrene, whereas in the dark they were between 29.2 and 54.8 μg/L and not related to the amount…
Wastewater COD characterization: analysis of respirometric and physical-chemical methods for determining biodegradable organic matter fractions
2010
BACKGROUND: In this work, a comprehensive study of the respirometric and physical–chemical methods has been performed to evaluate the information provided by these two methodologies in order to assess the biodegradable organic matter fractions of wastewater. RESULTS: First, an analysis was performed of the influence of the initial substrate on biomass ratio (F0/X0) in the assessment of readily biodegradable organic matter, SS, through respirometric experiments. In order to achieve an adequate assessment of the SS component, similar conditions (given by the initial F0/X0 ratio) must be employed in experiments that are carried to determine SS and YH (heterotrophic yield). Second, a comparativ…
Defoliation and the availability of currently assimilated carbon in the Phleum pratense rhizosphere
2002
Abstract It has been hypothesised that defoliation and aboveground herbivory increase the availability of currently assimilated C to organisms living in plant rhizospheres. We established a growth chamber experiment consisting of Phleum pratense individuals growing in sand culture to examine the short- and long-term effects of defoliation on the availability of current C assimilates in the P. pratense rhizosphere. Using 14CO2 pulse labelling, we followed partitioning of currently assimilated C between shoots, roots and rhizosphere-derived organic matter (RDOM). The experiment constituted of two treatments, defoliation history and recent defoliation, in a fully factorial design. Defoliation …
Vibrational spectroscopy in soil and sediment analysis
2014
The literature concerning the use of vibrational spectroscopy for soil and sediment analysis, published in the last years, has been revised in order to provide a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of these direct techniques to characterize soil composition and properties. Many soil components as water, organic matter, like humic substances, and minerals, can be determined together with physicochemical parameters as pH, conductivity or redox potential. The main strategies to obtain sample spectra and to extract, as many as possible, useful information were evaluated, taking into account the progress on chemometrics and discussing the whole analytical process, from sampling to sample pre…
Effect of ramp size and sample spinning speed on CPMAS 13C NMR spectra of soil organic matter
2011
Abstract Cross polarization (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) 13C NMR spectroscopy is a solid state NMR technique widely applied to study the chemical composition of natural organic matter. In high magnetic fields (>7 T), fast sample spinning is required in order to reduce the influence of spinning sidebands underlying other chemical shift regions. As the spinning speed increases, the Hartmann–Hahn matching profiles break down into a series of narrow matching bands. In order to account for this instability variable amplitude cross polarization techniques (e.g. VACP, ramp-CP) have been developed. In the present study, we experimentally verified the stability of the Hartmann–Hahn condition unde…