Deposition and Storage of Spheroidal Carbonaceous Fly-Ash Particles in European Mountain Lake Sediments and Catchment Soils

Spheroidal carbonaceous particles(SCPs) are produced only from high temperaturecombustion of fossil-fuels. In mountain lakesystems, they provide an unambiguous indicator ofatmospheric deposition. In order to comparedepositional fluxes of SCPs between mountainareas experiencing various pollutant regimes,intensive bulk deposition sampling was undertakenat five sites across Europe. Catchment soil coresand lake sediment cores were also taken at eachsite to compare SCP storage over the post-industrial period. Atmospheric, sediment and soilSCP data showed similar patterns. Highestcontamination was found in Scotland, Slovakia andSpain with the Austrian site intermediate and themid-Norwegian site least contaminated. A highproportion of accumulated SCPs were found to bestored in catchment soils at each site.Therefore, a significant increase in soilerosion, possibly as a result of future climatechange, could lead to the input of largequantities of catchment stored SCPs and, byimplication, other atmospherically depositedcontaminants to the lake ecosystem.     

Management of an Agroecosystem

Agroecosystems (AESs) are autotrophic ecosystems managed by man. The goal of the management is to obtain the maximum possible amount of high-quality agricultural products while preserving agricultural resources, primarily the soils and biodiversity. The main components of the management of AES structures and functions, including primary and secondary biological production, the ratio between the energy flows in the plant–man and plant–livestock–man food chains, the efficiency of energy transfer in the plant–livestock link, and conservation of agricultural resources, are considered.     

The Fernow Watershed Acidification Study: Ecosystem Acidification, Nitrogen Saturation and Base Cation Leaching

In 1989, a watershed acidification experiment was begun on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia, USA. Ammonium sulfate fertilizer (35.5 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹and 40.5 kg S ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) was applied to a forested watershed (WS3) that supported a 20-year-old stand of eastern deciduous hardwoods. Additions of N and S are approximately twice the ambient deposition of nitrogen and sulfur in the adjacent mature forested watershed (WS4), that serves as the reference watershed for this study. Acidification of stream water and soil solution was documented, although the response was delayed, and acidification processes appeared to be driven by nitrate rather than sulfate. As a result of the acidification treatment, nitrate solution concentrations increased below all soil layers, whereas sulfate was retained by all soil layers after only a few years of the fertilization treatments, perhaps due to adsorption induced from decreasing sulfate deposition. Based on soil solution monitoring, depletion of calcium and magnesium was observed, first from the upper soil horizons and later from the lower soil horizons. Increased base cation concentrations in stream water also were documented and linked closely with high solution levels of nitrate. Significant changes in soil chemical properties were not detected after 12 years of treatment, however.     

基于GIS的安徽省土壤空间分布的分形特征研究

分维数和稳定性指数是土壤空间分布的重要指数。通过建立安徽省土壤的空间数据库,运用分形理论,获得安徽省土壤类型周长与面积的关系,进而计算出各类土属在空间上的分维数和稳定性指数大小,得出如下结论:①安徽省土壤图斑的周长与面积之间存在双对数函数关系,相关性系数大部分在0.9以上,证明了安徽省土壤空间分形的客观存在。②安徽省各类土壤空间分维数大小在1.1375—1.9948之间,平均值为1.6138,最大的是泥质岩砾质土,最小的是脱青湖泥田。分维数在空间分布上存在差异,总的趋势是从西北向东南逐渐变大。③各种土属的稳定性指数在1.0252—0.0124之间,平均值约为0.2324,最大的是湿潮土,最小的是砂礓黄土。     

The Use of Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes to Study Watershed Erosion Processes1

Abstract:  Tracer studies are needed to better understand watershed soil erosion and calibrate watershed erosion models. For the first time, stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C) and the carbon to nitrogen atomic ratio (C/N) natural tracers are used to investigate temporal and spatial variability of erosion processes within a sub‐watershed. Temporal variability was assessed by comparing δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C, and C/N of eroded‐soils from a non‐equilibrium erosion event immediately following freezing and thawing of surface soils with two erosion events characterized by equilibrium conditions with erosion downcutting. Spatial variability was assessed for the equilibrium events by using the δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C signatures of eroded‐soils to measure the fraction of eroded‐soil derived from rill/interrill erosion on upland hillslopes as compared to headcut erosion on floodplains. In order to perform this study, a number of tasks were carried out including: (1) sampling source‐soils from upland hillslopes and floodplains, (2) sampling eroded‐soils with an in situ trap in the stream of the sub‐watershed, (3) isotopic and elemental analysis of the samples using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, (4) fractioning eroded‐soil to its upland rill/interrill and floodplain headcut end‐members using an unmixing model within a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo framework, and (5) evaluating tracer unmixing model results by comparison with process‐based erosion prediction models for rill/interrill and headcut erosion processes. Results showed that finer soil particles eroded during the non‐equilibrium event were enriched in δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C tracers and depleted in C/N tracer relative to coarser soil particles eroded during the equilibrium events. Correlation of tracer signature with soil particle size was explainable based on known biogeochemical processes. δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C were also able to distinguish between upland rill/interrill erosion and floodplain headcut erosion, which was due to different plant cover at the erosion sources. Results from the tracer unmixing model highlighted future needs for coupling rill/interrill and headcut erosion prediction models.     

FORESTED WETLANDS IN EASTERN CONNECTICUT: THEIR TRANSITION ZONES AND DELINEATION1

ABSTRACT: The delineation of inland wetlands requires close field examination of the biological and physical gradients (transition zones) between wetlands and bordering uplands. As part of a study on the detection and delineation of inland wetlands in eastern Connecticut by remote sensing techniques, this effort was designed to investigate vegetation distribution and composition and selected physical and chemical properties of the soils of wetland to upland transition zones in deciduous wetland forests. Field research was conducted during the growing season of 1975 within a test area consisting of the 45 mi² Town of Mansfield, Connecticut. Changes in vegetation composition and structure, soil pH, and soil water content were determined along line transects extended over wetland to upland transition zones. Differences in soil pH occurred along the transects but were of such magnitude that they probably have little impact on plant distribution. There were significant changes in soil water content along the wetland to upland gradients. Discriminant analysis applied to statistical “index of abundance” data describing vegetation distribution among the various zones (wetland, transition, upland) showed which plant species best distinguish wetlands from uplands. Of the criteria studied, vegetation composition and distribution, soil water content, and relief are the most useful criteria for delineating deciduous wetland forests.     

新疆某石化企业污水库周边土壤对钴的吸附行为研究

采用静态吸附法研究了新疆菜石化企业污水库周边土壤对重金属钴的吸附特征,考察了溶液pH值、钴离子平衡质量浓度、背景电解质浓度、吸附时间和环境温度等因素对钴吸附量的影响,并对吸附机理进行了初步探讨.结果表明:溶液pH值为1～4时,改变pH值对土壤吸附钴的影响显著;吸附时间在3h左右时钴吸附量趋于稳定;随溶液背景电解质浓度增大,土壤对钴的吸附量呈现先急剧后缓慢的下降趋势;土壤对钴的吸附量随温度升高而增加.拟合结果表明,Langmuir和Freundlich模型能较好地描述土壤对钴吸附的热力学过程;在3h内,土壤对钴吸附的动力学过程可以用一级反应动力学方程表示.方差分析结果表明,对土壤吸附钴量有显著性影响的因素有溶液pH值、钴离子平衡浓度、吸附时间和温度等.     

紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物群落的季节变化

采用稀释平板法和Biolog-ECO微平板技术,以剌槐（Robinia pseudoacacia）天然次生林为研究对象,研究湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地表层（0~10 cm）土壤微生物群落的季节变化特征。结果表明：1）夏季,土壤微生物总数,细菌数量、真菌数量和放线菌数量最高,分别为16.34×106、16.09×106、10.43×104和14.64×104 cfu·g-1干土,春季次之：11.61×106、11.45×106、5.00×104和10.65×104 cfu·g-1干土,秋季最低：5.87×106、5.78×106、4.67×104和4.08×104 cfu·g-1干土,春、夏和秋3季的差异达显著水平（P<0.05）;2）在培养168 h时,土壤微生物C源平均颜色变化率（Average well color development, AWCD）以夏季最高（1.20）,春季次之（0.88）,秋季最低（0.83）;3）土壤微生物功能多样性表现为夏季明显高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,夏季的Patrick丰富度指数（R）（28）、Shannon-Wiener指数（H）（3.22）、Simpson指数（D）（0.96）和McIntosh指数（U）（8.20）显著高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,而春、秋2季的R（23,24）、H（3.06,3.08）、D（0.95,0.95）和U（5.90,5.91）无显著差异（P>0.05）;4）氨基酸类、聚合物类和羧酸C源类是衡阳紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物偏好且利用率较高的C源类型;5）主成分分析表明,土壤微生物群落的C源利用可分为2类,一类在夏季,另一类在春、秋2季,其得分系数的分布范围分别为（2.59~6.00,2.43~5.09）和（-7.65~-1.90,-6.38~-3.43）。研究结果为科学评价湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地土壤生境质量退化和恢复过程中微生物特征的变化提供了本底值参考。     

Assessment of lead pollution in topsoils of a southern Italy area: Analysis of urban and peri-urban environment

Exposure to lead (Pb) may affect adversely human health. Mapping soil Pb contents is essential to obtain a quantitative estimate of potential risk of Pb contamination. The main aim of this paper was to determine the soil Pb concentrations in the urban and peri-urban area of Cosenza–Rende to map their spatial distribution and assess the probability that soil Pb concentration exceeds a critical threshold that might cause concern for human health. Samples were collected at 149 locations from residual and non-residual topsoil in gardens, parks, flower-beds, and agricultural fields. Fine earth fraction of soil samples was analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry. Stochastic images generated by the sequential Gaussian simulation were jointly combined to calculate the probability of exceeding the critical threshold that could be used to delineate the potentially risky areas. Results showed areas in which Pb concentration values were higher to the Italian regulatory values. These polluted areas were quite large and likely, they could create a significant health risk for human beings and vegetation in the near future. The results demonstrated that the proposed approach can be used to study soil contamination to produce geochemical maps, and identify hot-spot areas for soil Pb concentration.