Soil physicochemical properties, soil microbial biomass and bacterial community structures in a rice-wheat cropping system subjected to different fertilizer regimes were investigated in two seasons (June and October). All fertilizer regimes increased the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. Both fertilizer regime and time had a significant effect on soil physicochemical properties and ba...

Fractal dimensions of aggregates can potentially be used to classify aggregate morphology as well as to identify coagulation mechanisms. Microbial aggregates of Zoogloeu rumigera have a cluster fractal dimension of 1.8kO.3 (+ SD), suggesting that these aggregates are formed through cluster-cluster coagulation. An analysis of size-porosity correlations for two types of marine snow aggregates yie...

Persistence of tidal wetlands under conditions sea level rise depends on vertical accretion organic and inorganic matter, which vary in their relative abundance across estuarine gradients. We examined the contribution matter to soil using lead-210 (210Pb) dating cores collected spanning a freshwater brackish gradient Chesapeake Bay subestuary. Only 8 out 15 subsites had rates higher than for ar...

A sink for atmospheric carbon (i.e., CO2) in soils may derive from the application of conservation tillage and the regrowth of native vegetation on abandoned agricultural land. Accumulations of soil organic matter on these lands could offset emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, in the context of the Kyoto protocol. The rate of accumulation of soil organic matter is often higher on fert...

In Thomas Mann’s unfinished novel, Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man, Professor Kuckuck comments to the Marquis de Venosta on the three fundamental and mysterious stages of creation. Foremost is the creation of something—namely, the universe—out of nothing. The second act of genesis is the one that begat life from inorganic, dead matter. The third mysterious act is the birth of conscio...

The ability to image light elements in soft matter at atomic resolution enables unprecedented insight into the structure and properties of molecular heterostructures and beam-sensitive nanomaterials. In this study, we introduce a scanning transmission electron microscopy technique combining a pre-specimen phase plate designed to produce a probe with structured phase with a high-speed direct ele...

Biochars (n=94) were found to have ash contents from 0.4% to 88.2%, volatile matter from 13.2% to 70.0%, and fixed carbon from 0% to 77.4% (w/w). Greater pyrolysis temperature for low-ash biochars increased fixed carbon, but decreased it for biochars with more than 20% ash. Nitrogen recovery varied depending on feedstock used to a greater extent (12-68%) than organic (25-45%) or total C (41-76%...

The glaciations of the Neoproterozoic Era (1,000 to 542 MyBP) were preceded by dramatically light C isotopic excursions preserved in preglacial deposits. Standard explanations of these excursions involve remineralization of isotopically light organic matter and imply strong enhancement of atmospheric CO(2) greenhouse gas concentration, apparently inconsistent with the glaciations that followed....

Interactions between Bacteria and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the open ocean are poorly understood. While it is likely that particular compounds may disproportionately regulate heterotrophic activity, very little is known about the underlying processes. Through 10 cruises between December 1996 and April 1998 we investigated how heterotrophic (non-pigmented) Bacteria cell production, per c...

Insect-proof net cultivation (IPN), rice-duck farming (RD), and organic matter return (OM) are important methods to realize sustainable development of rice production. A split-plot field experiment was performed to study the effects of IPN, RD, and OM on the rice yield, dry matter accumulation and N utilization. Results showed that compared to inorganic N fertilizer (IN), wheat straw return, an...