A number of rivers have been found to transport highly aged organic matter [OM]; however, the sources of this aged material remain a matter of debate. One potential source may be erosion and weathering of headwater lithologies rich in ancient sedimentary OM. In this study, waters, suspended particulates, streambed sediments, rocks and soils from fourteen small headwater watersheds of a mid-size...

The chemical composition of ambient aerosol particles affects numerous important aerosol parameters such as their hygroscopicity, optics, and mass as well as their potentially adverse health effects. The objective of this study was to derive both detailed chemical speciation and useful proxies for the quantitative classification of the organic matter (OM) content of carbonaceous aerosol samples...

The in situ effect of biological activity on herbicide degradation was studied in sediment. Early diagenesis indicators of organic matter (OM) was selected to provide information on the presence and the kinetics of the various biotic and abiotic processes involved in the degradation of fresh organic matter, the vector of herbicides in sediment. Two tandem-coring samples were taken in the Malaus...

Organic matter (OM) degradation from amendments used in the remediation of metal-contaminated soils leads to modifications soil chemical properties immediately after addition, which can also affect metal distribution. Therefore, speciation and potential mobility heavy metals e.g., lead (Pb) cadmium (Cd) were evaluated three amended with OM. Soils, both spiked (with nitrate solution) unspiked, t...

Organic compounds and liquid water are major aerosol constituents in the southeast United States (SE US). Water associated with inorganic constituents (inorganic water) can contribute to the partitioning medium for organic aerosol when relative humidities or organic matter to organic carbon (OM /OC) ratios are high such that separation relative humidities (SRH) are below the ambient relative hu...

Organic matter (OM) has been characterized using thermal analysis in O2 atmospheres, but it is not clear if OM can be characterized using slow thermal degradation in N2 atmospheres (STDN). This article presents a new method to estimate the behavior of OM in anaerobic environment. Seventeen different plants from Tai Lake (Ch: Taihu), China were heated to 600 °C at a rate of 10 °C min(-1) in a N2...

*Correspondence: Balwant Singh, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, 1 Central Ave., Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, NSW 2015, Australia e-mail: balwant.singh@ sydney.edu.au Organo-mineral interactions are important for the cycling and preservation of organic carbon (OC) in soils. To understand the role of soil mineral sur...

Understanding the responses of soil organic carbon to an increase in global temperature is crucial to estimate potential feedbacks on global warming. In such a context, Rock-Eval pyrolysis has been recently proposed as a screening tool to investigate soil organic matter (SOM) chemistry and vulnerability. In order to test the validity of Rock-Eval as an indicator of SOM chemistry and of OM trans...

The interaction of trace organic contaminants with bulk organic matter has implications for the transport and behavior of organic trace contaminants within the aquatic environment as well as water and wastewater treatment processes. Partition coefficients (K(OM)) of the steroidal trace organic contaminant estradiol were quantified for environmentally relevant concentrations of bulk organic matt...

Pilot scale experiments with forced aeration were conducted to estimate effects of aeration rates on the performance of composting penicillin mycelial dreg using sewage sludge as inoculation. Three aeration rates of 0.15, 0.50 and 0.90L/(min·kg) organic matter (OM) were examined. The principal physicochemical parameters were monitored during the 32day composting period. Results showed that the ...