Search results for "soil"

Mercury Speciation in Floodplain Soils and Sediments along a Contaminated River Transect

1998

A novel mercury-specific sequential extraction procedure (SEP) for the assessment of mercury (Hg) speciation in soils and sediments, with emphasis on studying the interaction between Hg and organic matter (OM), was developed and tested. It was applied to determine Hg speciation in floodplain topsoils and surface sediments along the Hg-contaminated part of the river Elbe, and to simultaneously derive some information on the (re)mobilization potentials for Hg from these matrices. The majority of the total Hg in the ecosystem today is bound in the floodplains, which also still geographically reflect the historic emission record. Most of the Hg in both matrices is bound strongly to OM, suggesti…

Tracing the source of gypsum in New Caledonian soils by REE contents and SSr isotopic compositions

1998

Gypsum minerals forming in pedogenic environments in New Caledonia were examined for their S and Sr isotope compositions and REE distributions. Three possible sources were identified: volcanic, soil-derived and marine. However, differentiation based only on the REE contents and normalized patterns was not possible, but, the best preserved volcanic sample yields a negative EuEu∗ anomaly and the lowest GdNYbN ratio due to the high content of organic matter. Mixing calculations of the δ34S values and 87Sr86Sr ratios confirmed that the marine gypsum has a δ34S value close to + 21‰ and an 87Sr86Sr ratio close to 0.70912, and that the volcanic gypsum has a δ34S value of 0‰ and an 87Sr86Sr ratio o…

Peat humic acid properties and factors influencing their variability in a temperate bog ecosystem

2013

Studies of the properties of soil organic matter are essential for understanding the humification reactions and soil diagenesis processes. The aim of this study is to analyse properties of peat and peat humic acids as well as factors influencing their variability. Humic acids isolated from an ombrotrophic bog peat profile were used as study objects. Relations among peat age, decomposition and humification degree, botanical composition, and properties of peat humic acids (elemental, functional composition, spectral characteristics) were studied. The variability of peat properties was found to be less significant than the differences in the properties of peat-forming living matter, which indi…

2018

Abstract. Here we present a sensitive method to analyze lignin oxidation products (LOPs) in speleothems and cave drip water to provide a new tool for paleo-vegetation reconstruction. Speleothems are valuable climate archives. However, compared to other terrestrial climate archives, such as lake sediments, speleothems contain very little organic matter. Therefore, very few studies on organic biomarkers in speleothems are available. Our new sensitive method allows us to use LOPs as vegetation biomarkers in speleothems. Our method consists of acid digestion of the speleothem sample followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) of the organic matter. The extracted polymeric lignin is degraded in a m…

Characterization of Humic Acids from Raised Bog Peat

2014

Abstract Humic substances form most of the organic component of soil, peat and natural waters, but their structure and properties are very much dependent on the source. The aim of this study was to characterize humic acids from raised bog peat to evaluate the homogeneity of humic acids isolated from the bog bodies and to study peat humification impact on the properties of humic acids. Peat humic acids (HA) have an intermediate position between the living organic matter and coal organic matter, with their structure formed in a process where the relatively labile moieties (carbohydrates, amino acids, etc.) are destroyed, and thermodynamically more stable aromatic and polycyclic structures eme…

Organic matter dynamics and aggregation in soils under rain forest and pastures of increasing age in the eastern Amazon Basin

1997

Abstract In the eastern Amazon basin, four neighbouring clayey Oxisols with similar particle-size distributions were selected, one under rain forest and three under pasture for 7, 12 and 17 years, respectively. These soils were sampled at depth intervals of 0.1 m down to 1 m. Although no clear effect of pasture establishment on aggregate stability was assessed, significant negative effects of cattle trampling on porosity and water retention and of vegetation change on clay water-dispersion were observed in the organic-rich horizons (0–0.40 m layers). Indirect evidence of a great change of the nature of organic materials was also suggested, particularly with (i) an increase in both negative …

Influence of operational variables on the photodegradation kinetics of Monuron in aqueous titanium dioxide dispersions

1994

The degradation of Monuron [N′—(4-chlorophenyl)—N, N dimethyl urea] in aqueous TiO 2 dispersions irradiated in the near-UV region has been investigated using a Pyrex batch photoreactor. The influence on the degradation kinetics of pH, initial Monuron concentration and catalyst concentration has been studied. The mineralization of the pollutant was also investigated. Measurements of photon absorbed flows allowed to determine the quantum yield values; they were found to increase by increasing the initial pH of the dispersion.

Determination of fluoride in rocks, soils, and fluoride-bearing minerals by separation using direct distillation in sulfuric acid medium and spectrop…

1989

Abstract An analytical method for fluoride determination in geological samples is proposed. It is based on a previous fluoride separation by distillation with a Teflon reactor. The variables that influence distillation quantitation (temperature, time, and acid concentration) are optimized. The influence of some species on fluoride recovery during distillation are studied, and conditions to avoid this influence are suggested. Fluoride determination is carried out by means of a spectrophotometric method [La(III)-F−-Alizarin complexone system] (N. T. Crosby, A. L. Dennis, and J. G. Stevens, Analyst (London), 1968, 93, 643–652). The method is applied to the analysis of soils, rocks, and fluorid…

Linking food webs to ecosystem processes: Piecewise linear models of soil microcosms

2008

Abstract A piecewise linear approach to link decomposer biomass and soil nitrogen dynamics is proposed. Dynamics of a detritus–fungus–nematode food chain were studied in a microcosm experiment and modelled to evaluate the role of fungal-feeding nematodes in N mineralization. The nematode dynamics switched from exponential growth to a resource-limited phase. At the same time the amount of ammonium nitrogen in soil started to increase, following an initial immobilization phase. Both nematode and ammonium dynamics could be described by two-phase linear equations. Two nitrogen models were compared. A model in which the nematode accounted for all mineralization could be fitted to the ammonium da…

Soil‐plant relationships, micronutrient contents, and cardenolide production in natural populations of Digitalis obscura

2004

The production of secondary metabolites by plants growing in natural populations is conditioned by environmental factors. In the present study, we have investigated the relationships among soil properties, micronutrients in soils and plants, and cardenolide production from wild Digitalis obscura (Scrophulariaceae) populations. Young and mature leaves and soil samples were collected in ten different populations, corresponding to three Mediterranean bioclimatic belts (Thermo-, Meso-, and Supramediterranean belts). Soil (total and EDTA-extractable) and leaf micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu), and leaf cardenolide accumulation have been determined. Significant negative correlations were observ…