Sorption of two s-triazines, atrazine and ametryn, by carbonatic soils, Histosols, Spodosols and Oxisols was examined. Linear isotherms were observed and sorption coefficients (K(d)) of both compounds were significantly lower (α = 0.05) onto carbonatic soils compared to non-carbonatic soils. Furthermore, among carbonatic soil types, the marl-carbonatic soils had the lowest sorption affinities. ...

Sewage-sludge-amended soils generally contain elevated levels of organic matter and heavy metals compared to control soils. Because organic matter is known to complex with heavy metals, the solubility behavior of the organic matter in such soils may exert a significant influence on the solubility of the metals. Little is known about such a process. Using batch experiments in which the solubilit...

Phosphatase enzymes regulate organic phosphorus (P) turnover in soil, but a clear understanding remains elusive. To investigate this, phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase activities were determined by using para-nitrophenol (pNP) analogue substrates in a range of temperate pasture soils from England and Wales. Substrate-induced phosphatase activity ranged between 2.62 and 12.19 micromol pN...

PURPOSE The sorption behavior of the herbicide 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) to three different artificial soil mixtures was investigated. Artificial soils serve as model systems for improving understanding of sorption phenomena. MATERIALS AND METHODS The soils consisted of quartz, ferrihydrite, illite, montmorillonite, and charcoal. In a previous study, several selected mixtures...

The use of fast growing trees could be an alternative in trace element contaminated soils to stabilize these elements and improve soil quality. In this study we investigate the effect of Paulownia fortunei growth on trace element contaminated soils amended with two organic composts under semi-field conditions for a period of 18 months. The experiment was carried out in containers filled with tr...

Mild steel coupons (MSCs) buried for thirty months in soils inoculated with bacterial isolate Bacillus cereus-SNB4 resulted in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) based average percent weight loss (APWL) and corrosion rate (CR) as 8.21% and 3.55mgdm d , respectively with 18.86% moisture and 2 1 0.218% organic contents. For nutrient added soils the corresponding figures were -8.95 and -...

The effect of fluctuating seasonal temperatures on the release of soluble NO3-N, NHJ-N, soluble organic N (SON), and solube organic C (SOC) into drainage effluent during soil organic matter mineralization was measured on organic soil profiles obtained intact from various locations in Florida. Soil columns were leached once every 25 days, followed by applying a suction of 100 cm. Soil columns we...

The decomposition of organic matter in coarse sandy calcareous soils (beach sand) is thought to be much higher than in acid fine sandy soils but relatively little research is performed on these soils. Laboratory incubation experiments in which the release of soil carbon (C) is determined may overestimate the release of the soil organic C, as part of the measured C may have been released from th...

Branched Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (GDGTs) are membrane spanning lipids synthesised by as yet unknown bacteria that thrive in soils and peat. In order to obtain more information on their ecological niche, the stable carbon isotopic composition of branched GDGT-derived alkanes, obtained upon ether bond cleavage, has been determined in a peat and various soils, i.e. forest, grassland ...

The extremely cold and arid Antarctic dry valleys are one of the most environmentally harsh terrestrial ecosystems supporting organisms in which the biogeochemical transformations of carbon are exclusively driven by microorganisms. The natural abundance of (13)C and (15)N in source organic materials and soils have been examined to obtain evidence for the provenance of the soil organic matter an...