Geodiversity is considered as the natural range of geological, geomorphological, and soil features, including their assemblages, relationships, properties, interpretations, and systems. A method developed for the quantitative assessment of geodiversity was applied to Paraná, a Brazilian state with an area of about 200,000 km(2). The method is based on the overlay of a grid over different maps a...

Recent increases in nitrate concentrations in the Suwannee River and associated springs in northern Florida have raised concerns over the contributions of non-point sources. The Middle Suwannee River Basin (MSRB) is of special concern because of prevalent karst topography, unconfined aquifers and sandy soils which increase vulnerability of the ground water contamination from agricultural operat...

To assess the distribution and diversity of members of the recently identified bacterial kingdom Acidobacterium, members of this kingdom present in 43 environmental samples were surveyed by PCR amplification. A primer designed to amplify rRNA gene sequences (ribosomal DNAs [rDNAs]) from most known members of the kingdom was used to interrogate bulk DNA extracted from the samples. Positive PCR r...

Bacteria are the most abundant forms of life we know on our planet that can be able to survive in a variety of habitats, from hot to cold springs, from soils to deep sedimentary rocks, in radioactive wastes and in living organisms. It has been estimated (Whitman et al., 1998; Lipp et al., 2008) that the prokaryote number is 3.5 5.0·1030 and although global subseafloor sedimentary microbial abun...

Abstract—In this paper, analysis of an infinite beam resting on multilayer tensionless extensible geosynthetic reinforced granular fill-poor soil system overlying soft soil strata under moving load with constant velocity is presented. The beam is subjected to a concentrated load moving with constant velocity. The upper reinforced granular bed is modeled by a rough membrane embedded in Pasternak...

Population studies of grass grub and black beetle have revealed simple patterns of population determination. Populations fluctuate in response to variations in soil moisture and temperature. The upper limit to population growth is set by density dependent factors (larval mortality of grass grub and variation in natality of black beetle). Parasites and predators appear to be generally unimportan...

The potential risk posed by contaminants in surface and shallow subsurface soil at WAGS 6 and 10 were evaluated by developing models to determine exposure pathways and receptors, and using bioenergetics-based exposure models to estimate exposure. However, an assumption that no pathway to ecological receptors exists for this medium was incorporated into the WAGS 6 and 10 ERA. Groundwater is cons...

Furnas volcano, in São Miguel island (Azores), being the surface expression of rising hydrothermal steam, is the site of intense carbon dioxide (CO2) release by diffuse degassing and fumaroles. While the diffusive CO2 output has long (since the early 1990s) been characterized by soil CO2 surveys, no information is presently available on the fumarolic CO2 output. Here, we performed (in August 20...

Investigations of natural radioactivity in water, air, and soil are conducted frequently and routinely. Exposure to high concentrations of natural radioactive radon gas can cause irradiation of respiratory organs, which can lead to lung cancer. This paper presents measurements of radon activity concentrations in dug wells and natural springs of the Tuzla area (Bosnia and Herzegovina), which ran...

Ochroconis gallopava is an anamorphic mould characterized by slow growth rate and production of a maroon pigment, which has been isolated worldwide from soil, thermal springs, decaying vegetation, and chicken litter. It has been reported to cause localized, mostly pulmonary, and systemic infection in severely immunocompromised patients. We describe the case of a 76-year-old woman known for ulce...