The intensive use for over 100 years of copper sulfate (Bordeaux mixture) to fight against mildew in vineyard soils has led to an important, widespread accumulation of Cu (100 to 1500 mg Cu kg-1 soil). In Champagne vineyards, organic amendments are used currently to increase soil fertility and to limit soil erosion. Organic amendments may have a direct effect on the retention of Cu in the soil....

Nano zero valent iron particles (nZVI) are popular the last few years because of the numerous applications in remediation of a wide range of pollutants in contaminated soils and aquifers. The nZVI particles can be 10 1000 times more reactive than granular or micro-scale ZVI particles due to the small particle size, large specific surface area and high reactivity. An alternative green synthesis ...

Coke oven site soil was characterized to assess the particle association and availability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We identified various carbonaceous materials including coal, coke, pitch, and tar decanter sludge. Most of the PAHs were associated with the polymeric matrix of tar sludge or hard pitch as discrete particles, coatings on soil mineral particles, or complex aggrega...

Remediation of sites contaminated by toxic chlorinated organic compounds by using nanoscale iron particles (NIP) has received great attention owing to their high reactivity resulting from small size and large reactive surface area. However, adequate delivery of NIP into the contaminated zones for in situ remediation applications is difficult because of NIP agglomeration and sedimentation. Diffe...

Environ. Entomol. 23(2): 211-219 ABSTRACT The first field study of a genetically altered virus in the United States was performed with an isolate of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV), which lacks a polyhedrin gene. In the first year of the study, three applications of 7.4 x 1011 AcMNPV polyhedra containing 48% genetically altered and 52% wild-type virus particles (c...

This study investigated the effects of soil particle size on the reflectance spectra of sandy soils using ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectroscopy in sensing phosphorus (P) concentration. Pure sandy soil was graded into three particle sizes. Sieve sizes were 125, 250, and 600 m for fine, medium, and coarse, respectively. Phosphorus application rates for the soil samples were 0.0, 12...

Many studies report that, under some circumstances, amending soil with biochar can improve field capacity and plant-available water. However, little is known about the mechanisms that control these improvements, making it challenging to predict when biochar will improve soil water properties. To develop a conceptual model explaining biochar's effects on soil hydrologic processes, we conducted a...

Practical removal of radioactivity from polluted soil in Fukushima, Japan was done using a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides SSI, immobilized in alginate beads. The beads were put in a mesh bag and soaked in which soil was suspended (5 kg of soil/10 L of tap water). The radioactivity of the broth decreased by 31% after 15 d of aerobic treatment. When lactic acid bacterial cultur...

Exact estimates of soil clay (<2 μm) and silt (2-20 μm) contents are crucial as these size fractions impact key soil functions, and as pedotransfer concepts based on clay and silt contents are becoming increasingly abundant. We examined the effect of removing soil organic matter (SOM) by H2O2 before soil dispersion and determination of clay and silt. Soil samples with gradients in SOM were retr...