Search results for "Oil water"
showing 10 items of 843 documents
Modelling vertical and lateral seed bank movements during mouldboard ploughing
2000
Abstract The vertical distribution of weed seeds in the soil is of fundamental importance because seedling emergence depends on seed depth. The lateral displacement of the earth during mouldboard ploughing contributes to the dispersal of the weeds inside the tilled field. In order to model vertical and lateral seed displacements during ploughing, an existing model describing soil particle movements for different ploughing characteristics (depth and width) and soil structures was tested on a multilocal field trial. The trials were carried out in 1996 and 1997 and comprised two soil textures and three soil structures; tillage was performed with a mouldboard plough at varying ploughing widths …
Modelling vertical and lateral weed seed movements during mouldboard ploughing with a skim-coulter
2001
Abstract The vertical distribution of weed seeds in soil is crucial because seedling emergence varies with seed depth, whereas lateral soil displacement during mouldboard ploughing contributes to weed dispersal within the tilled field. In order to model vertical and lateral seed displacements during ploughing, an existing model describing soil particle movements for different ploughing characteristics (depth and width) and soil structures was adapted to integrate the effect of a skim-coulter. This model was tested in two field trials, in Northern France, using coloured plastic beads to imitate weed seeds. The trial in Dijon was set up on an eutric cambisol and comprised both compacted and u…
Soil properties and tree growth along an altitudinal transect in Ecuadorian tropical montane forest
2008
In tropical montane forests, soil properties change with increasing altitude, and tree-growth decreases. In a tropical montane forest in Ecuador, we determined soil and tree properties along an altitudinal transect between 1960 and 2450 m asl. In different vegetation units, all horizons of three replicate profiles at each of eight sites were sampled and height, basal area, and diameter growth of trees were recorded. We determined pH and total concentrations of Al, C, Ca, K, Mg, Mn, N, Na, P, S, Zn, polyphenols, and lignin in all soil horizons and in the mineral soil additionally the effective cation-exchange capacity (CEC). The soils were Cambisols, Planosols, and Histosols. The concentrati…
Influence of plant traits, soil microbial properties, and abiotic parameters on nitrogen turnover of grassland ecosystems
2016
International audience; Although it is known that multiple interactions among plant functional traits, microbial properties , and abiotic soil parameters influence the nutrient turnover, the relative contribution of each of these groups of variables is poorly understood. We manipulated grassland plant functional composition and soil nitrogen (N) availability in a multisite mesocosm experiment to quantify their relative effects on soil N turnover. Overall, root traits, arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization, denitrification potential, as well as N availability and water availability, best explained the variation in measured ecosystem properties, especially the trade-off between nutrient sequest…
Comparative assessment of a foam-based method for ISCO of coal tar contaminated unsaturated soils
2019
Abstract In situ delivery of liquid reagents in vadose zone is limited by gravity and soil anisotropy. A new foam-based delivery method of persulfate (PS) solutions in unsaturated soils was previously shown to overcome these limitations. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the efficiency of this method regarding contaminant removal. Hence, the comparative oxidation of 200 mg.kg−1 coal tar artificially contaminated soils with thermally activated PS was carried out after PS-delivery using foam, surfactant solution and pure water. The foam-based method was compared in unfavorable conditions to the reference methods. Especially, in the latter, soil and oxidant solutions were thoroughly mix…
Soil genetic erosion: New conceptual developments in soil security
2019
In the last decades, in some Mediterranean areas, pedodiversity decreased mainly due to pedotechnique application in large-scale farming that transformed original soils into Anthrosols. Supporting the consideration that soils can be considered as living systems, the original concept of 'soil genetic erosion' is re-proposed. Data, extrapolated and modeled from a Soil Information System in a study case representative of a Mediterranean landscape, predicted that most of the soil types would disappear in few years leading to a decrease of the soil diversity and originating soil genetic erosion. This circumstance is intentionally here told in form of a story where the fairy tale characters are s…
Testing soil water repellency in a Sicilian area two years after a fire
2019
The water drop penetration time (WDPT) technique was applied in 2018 to check persistence of soil water repellency (SWR) in a Sicilian mountain area affected by a wildfire on June 2016. A total of four sites, that were severely water repellent immediately after burning, were sampled. Depending on the site, wettable soil conditions, less SWR and maintenance of a noticeable SWR were detected two years later. At the site showing a near-constant SWR, WDPTs were particularly high in the top soil layer (0-0.03 m) and they appreciably decreased more in depth. Signs of decreasing SWR in drier soil conditions and in association with coarser soil particles were also detected at this site. High gradie…
Determining hydraulic properties of a loam soil by alternative infiltrometer techniques
2015
Testing infiltrometer techniques to determine soil hydraulic properties is necessary for specific soils. For a loam soil, the water retention and hydraulic conductivity predicted by the BEST (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters) procedure of soil hydraulic characterization was compared with data collected by more standard laboratory and field techniques. Six infiltrometer techniques were also compared in terms of saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, Ks. BEST yielded water retention values statistically similar to those obtained in the laboratory and Ks values practically coinciding with those determined in the field with the pressure infiltrometer (PI). The unsaturated soil hyd…
Experimental study of a naturally weathered stiff clay
2016
Studying the shear strength of a naturally weathered clay is important to understand rain-induced slope failures in weathered soils. However, experimental studies on naturally weathered soils are limited. The paper focuses on the laboratory experimental investigation carried out to analyse the shear strength of a naturally weathered stiff clay that can be found in unsaturated conditions in situ. This has an important practical relevance in the evaluation of the stability conditions of natural slopes at clay outcrops. Different experimental techniques of suction measurement were used to obtain the soil-water retention curve of the clay over a wide range of suctions. Scanning electronic micr…