Microwave brightness temperature measurements were made over three different bare soils at frequencies of 5 GHz (X = 6 cm) and 1.67 GHz (X = 18 cm) to compare differences in penetration depth according to texture, soil moisture, and wavelength. The soil plots were wetted, and circularly polarized microwave measurements were made during the dry-down cycle. Soil profile temperature and profile mo...

Agricultural soils of selected regions of Southwestern Karnataka, Peninsular India, were subjected to systematic mineralogical characterization along with the study of soil physical properties. Physical properties such as soil texture and micro porosity were studied using particle size analyses and positron annihilation lifetime analysis (PALS) technique, respectively. The latter was used to an...

The pentacyclic triterpene 17 beta(H),21 beta(H)-hop-22(29)-ene (diploptene) occurs in sediments throughout the Columbia River drainage basin and off the southern coast of Washington state in concentrations comparable to long-chain plantwax n-alkanes. The same relationship is evident for diploptene and long-chain n-alkanes in soils from the Willamette Valley. Microorganisms indigenous to soil...

The spatial variability and distributions of soil physical and biological properties, and the relationships between them, are not well-characterized in agroecosystems that have been land-leveled. The objectives of this study were to characterize the short-term impacts of land leveling on the magnitudes, spatial variability, and spatial distributions of soil physical and biological properties in...

Research in extremely delicate environments must be sensitive to the need to minimize impacts caused simply through the presence of research personnel. This study investigates the effectiveness of current advice relating to travel on foot over Antarctic vegetation-free soils. These are based on the concentration of impacts through the creation of properly signed and identified paths. In order t...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi improve soil quality by increasing soil structure stability through the glomalin (glomalin related soil protein, GRSP) production, but diverse tillage systems can differentially affect AM activity and the consequential GRSP content in soil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) on AM fungal propagules ...

Low-order detonations and blow-in-place procedures on military training ranges can result in residual solid explosive formulations to serve as distributed point sources for ground water contamination. This study was conducted to determine if distribution coefficients from batch studies and transport parameters of pure compounds in solution adequately describe explosive transport where compounds...

Distinct surface patterns are ubiquitous and diverse in soils of polar and alpine regions, where the ground temperature oscillates about 0 degrees C. They constitute some of the most striking examples of clearly visible, abiotic self-organization in nature. This paper outlines the interplay of frost-related physical processes that produce these patterns spontaneously and presents unique data do...

A unified scientific philosophy based on evolutionary principles which can provide a framework within which physical, cosmological, biological and cultural evolution are described in the same terms could help meet the planetary crisis we face. The combinatorial hierarchy approach to basic discrete and sequential physical processes, which incorporates the essential evolutionary features of conse...