The microbial community structure in various microaggregates in a loamy sand soil was investigated. The microaggregates were separated into outer and inner aggregates using a series of soil washes. Further physical fractionation of inner aggregates was achieved by separation into coarse and fine sand as macroaggregate fractions, coarse and fine silt as microaggregate fractions, and clay. Resear...

The authors and collaborators have devised innovative technologies that decrease foundry costs, pollution, materials use, and energy. These include: (a) applying advanced oxidation to green sand and baghouse dust to diminish clay, coal, sand, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and costs; (b) replacing phenolic urethane core binders with collagen-alkali silicate binders to diminish VOCs; (c) rep...

Cultivation in semiarid grasslands induces large changes in soil organic matter (SOM) stock. To better predict the effects of cultivation on SOM pools, there is a need to identify the soil fractions that are affected and the extent to which they are affected. Using four cultivation chronosequences in Inner Mongolian grasslands of northern China, we investigated the changes in soil organic carbo...

Soil moisture is among the key environmental variables controlling evaporation, infiltration and runoff. However, the temporal evolution of soil moisture is not easy to measure or monitor at large scales due to its spatial variability, which is largely driven by local variation in soil properties and vegetation cover. Consequently, soil moisture estimates using land surface models are typically...

It is well known that geomembranes frequently and easily fail at the seams, which has been a ubiquitous problem in various applications. To avoid failure of geomembrane photocuring was carried out with 1~5% photoinitiator 2% carbon black powder. This can be sprayed cured on soil surface. The obtained then used as barrier, separator, or reinforcement. In this study, direct shear tests were aim t...

The surface area of the individual phyllosilicates (clay minerals) in Athabasca oil sands determined from XRD crystallite size measurements was found to be comparable to the bulk surface area measured by ethylene glycol monoethyl ether adsorption. The primary phyllosilicates are kaolin and illite but the large surface area is imparted by varying degrees of smectitic interstratifications in the ...

This research compared the influence of (1) dissolution of iron oxides and (2) alteration of electrostatic interactions on the mobilization of colloids in a clayand iron oxidecoated sand obtained from an Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer in which colloids have been found suspended only in anoxic groundwater. The sediment was flushed with solutions of varying ionic strength, pH, and reductant and s...

background and objectives:anionic polyacrylamide application as an organic conditioner alone or in combination with organic material, can improve soil properties. the objective of this study was to investigate the influence some organic conditioners on mean weight diameter (mwd) and dispersible clay percentage (dcp).materials and methods:soil samples collected from the top 30-cm layer of two lo...