Reclamation of bentonite mined lands in the northern great plains

Ninety percent of the nation's supply of bentonite is mined in Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. These lands are difficult to reclaim because of the chemical and physical properties of the soil/spoil material and the arid/semiarid climate of the area. Replacement of the limited topsoil available has shown some benefit but supplies are generally inadequate. The use of inorganic amendments, such as sulfuric acid, gypsum, calcium chloride, vermiculite and perlite, have not shown consistent benefits in plant establishment and growth. Organic amendments; sawmill wood residues, straw and manure, have provided the greatest benefits in the reclamation of bentonite mined lands. Cultural and management practices are important in determining the long-term success of these reclaimed lands. Reclamation technology development for bentonite mined lands is recent and limited and the refinement and application of such technology will depend on increased activity and cooperation among researchers, regulators and the mining industry.     

Developing a decision support tool for life-cycle cost assessments

Recent years have seen advancements in the development and use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) analytic techniques. Although these techniques have highlighted the power of LCA to identify the environmental consequences of a product system through its entire life cycle, they have also highlighted a major shortcoming of LCA—the lack of cost information. Because companies make daily decisions that involve trade-offs between economics and the environment, including cost information in LCA is critical for advancing its use as an overall environmental decision-making tool. This article outlines the current state of LCA methodology development, defines key life-cycle cost assessment terms and concepts, and evaluates existing cost assessment techniques with the objective of building an integrated life-cycle cost assessment tool.     

Modeling long-term attainable soil organic carbon sequestration across the highlands of Ethiopia

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The objectives of this study across the highlands of Ethiopia were: (i) to characterize the association between soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and...     

A novel role of computers in the natural products field

We describe several computer programs developed in our laboratory as aids in the determination of unknown molecular structures. These programs include CONGEN [1], for determination of all plausible structural candidates; REACT [2, 3], for simulation of sequences of chemical reactions; and STRUCC, for evaluating candidates and planning new experiments. We stress the importance of symbiosis between chemist and computer, the combination building on their respective strengths to increase the speed and accuracy of structural assignments.     

A new scincomorph lizard from the Palaeocene of Belgium and the origin of Scincoidea in Europe

Well-preserved jaw fragments and skull bones of a new scincomorphan lizard are described from the continental Hainin Formation (Middle Palaeocene) of the Mons Basin in southwestern Belgium. This taxon, Scincoideus haininensis gen. et sp. nov., is characterised by vermiculate dermal rugosities and represents the earliest formally recognised scincoid in Europe. It differs from cordylids (girdled lizards) by lacking the parietal downgrowth and differs from scincids (skinks) by having robustly built bones and a well-developed lingual cusp on tooth crowns. By its mosaic characters, S. haininensis is considered here as being a basal scincoid lizard close to the origin of cordylids and scincids. Palaeobiogeographic analysis suggests that scincoids were present in Europe from the Palaeocene or maybe even before the Cretaceous/Palaeogene boundary and that they were replaced by modern scincoids such as true scincids and cordylids during the Eocene. The origin of the latter two families in Europe was very likely related with the immigration of the first modern mammals.Electronic supplementary material  Supplementary material is available for this article at and accessible for authorised users.     

An aggregation pheromone of Sitona lineatus

The Science of Nature -