Search results for "Soils."

Search for biological signature of the degradation of chlordecone in soil of the French West Indies

2015

The use of chlordecone (CLD) to eradicate the weevil populations in the banana plantations in the French West Indies (Guadeloupe and Martinique) between 1972 and 1993 led to the contamination of the soil and the environment. This very hydrophobic organochlorine insecticide persists in the soil where it slowly transfers not only to the water resources but also to terrestrial and aquatic biota (plants, animals, fishes, shellfishes). Deemed “non-degradable”, CLD is resistant to photolysis, hydrolysis and biodegradation. To date, there is no method to remediate the 20,000 hectares of polluted soil with this insecticide. Given the extent of CLD pollution, biological decontamination processes app…

Relationship between microbial diversity and soil organic matter turnover

2011

International audience

Diversity and complexity of microbial communities from a chlor-alkali tailings dump

2015

Abstract Revegetation of the tailings dumps produced by various industrial activities is necessary to prevent dust storms and erosion and represents a great challenge for ecological restoration. Little is known about the microbial colonisation and community structure of revegetated tailings following site exploitation. Here, we report the sequencing of 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) fungal RNA gene amplicons from chlor-alkali residue and from an adjacent undisturbed soil to define the composition and assembly of the rhizosphere microbial communities. After quality filtering, a total of 72,373 and 89,929 bacterial sequences and 122,618 and 111,209 fungal sequences remained fo…

Erosion des sols viticoles par les évènements orageux (Vosne-Romanée) : quels risques pour le futur ?

2007

International audience; Des différences de maturité des raisins ont été constatées, en particulier entre les fruits produits sur les sols clairs et ceux provenant de vignes poussant sur des sols plus sombres. Ce constat a été testé par une expérience de mesures de températures en continu dans le Clos Vougeot et dans Les Cras, deux stations situées à la même altitude, distantes d'environ cent mètres et caractérisées par des sols plus bruns et plus argileux pour la première et par des sols plus clairs et pierreux pour la seconde. Dans les deux stations, les mesures de températures automatiques et régulières (toutes les trente minutes) ont été réalisées pendant un an à partir du 18 mai 2003, à…

A self-consistent quantification of contributions to differential TGA results of volcanic soil samples

2002

1400 years of man-environment interactions and soil evolution in the Saint-Mont mountain (Remiremont, Vosges)

2021

International audience; The SolHoM(a) project aims at determining the degree of landscape anthropisation in the Fossard massif (Remiremont, Vosges, France) by estimating the impact of past human occupations on current soils. Nowadays, a forest covers this relatively inhospitable mountain (hard climate, steep slopes, acid soils ...), but some remains suggest human presence for at least 1400 years.The Saint-Mont is a variscan orogenic granitic summit (height 672m) with valuable preserved archaeological relics, located south of the Fossard. At the top was founded the monasterium Habendum (from the 7th century to the French Revolution), which potentially comes after a late-antic castrum.Further…

Soil interpretation in the context of anthropedogenic transformations and pedotechniques application

2018

Abstract Following a long and vigorous study carried out by the International Committee on Anthropogenic Soils (ICOMANTH), the Soil Taxonomy (ST) classification system recently incorporated a number of changes to include Human-Altered and Human-Transported soils, generally called anthropogenic soils. These changes underwent careful scrutiny as they affect the current classification of existing soil series, and as the proposals and logics are as yet untested against existing data and descriptions. Particular attention was given to the diagnostic characteristics of the anthropogenic soils and to the Subgroups for Human-Altered and Human-Transported soils. In this study, we consider a frequent…

The safety of an industrial archaeological heritage

2013

The present paper analyses an underground and inactive quarry of calcarenite, which belong to a localised area called Cave di calcarenite in Contrada Cuccidenna that has been recognised as a typical example of industrial archaeological heritage. The study of this typical quarry is finalised to the preservation and safe fruition of this site, which represents the history of manufacturing technologies of rocky ashlars. Rock samples from the pillars have been collected and, at first, a petrographic characterisation has been performed. The strength parameters have been estimated by means of triaxial and isotropic compression tests. Through a finite element analysis, the mechanical characterizat…

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…

The influence of weathering processes on labile and stable organic matter in Mediterranean volcanic soils

2008

The relationship and mechanisms among weathering processes, cation fluxes, clay mineralogy, organic matter composition and stability were studied in soils developing on basaltic material in southern Italy (Sicily). The soils were transitions between Phaeozems and Vertisols. Intense losses of the elements Na, Ca and Mg were measured indicating that weathering has occurred over a long period of time. The main weathering processes followed the sequence: amphibole, mica, volcanic glass or if ash was the primary source→smectite→interstratified smectite–kaolinite→kaolinite. Kaolinite formation was strongly related to high Al, Mg and Na losses. The good correlation between oxyhydroxides and kaolin…