Soil Parent Material (soil + parent_material)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Soil parent material is a key determinant of the bacterial community structure in arable soils

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Andreas Ulrich
Abstract The bacterial community composition in soil and rhizosphere taken from arable field sites, differing in soil parent material and soil texture, was analyzed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of 16S rRNA genes. Nine sandy to silty soils from North-East Germany could clearly be distinguished from each other, with a relatively low heterogeneity in the community structure within the field replicates. There was a relationship between the soil parent material, i.e. different glacial and aeolian sediments, and the clustering of the profiles from different sites. A site-specific grouping of T-RFLP profiles was also found for the rhizosphere samples of the same field sites that were planted with potatoes. The branching of the rhizosphere profiles corresponded partly with the soil parent material, whereas the effect of the plant genotype was negligible. Selected terminal restriction fragments differing in their relative abundance within the nine soils were analyzed based on the cloning of the 16S rRNA genes of one soil sample. A high phylogenetic diversity observed to include Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Gemmatimonadetes. The assignment of three out of the seven selected terminal restriction fragments to members of Acidobacteria suggested that this group seems to participate frequently in the shifting of community structures that result from soil property changes. [source]


Soil parent materials and the pottery of Roman Galilee: A comparative study

GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002
Moshe Wieder
The paper presents a comparative micromorphological analysis of the range of soil materials used to make the pottery of the hilly Galilee during the Roman period, and the ceramic products made from these materials. The four soil units that served as raw material for most of the pottery made in this period and region are examined along with pottery derived from each of them. For each soil unit, the soil characteristics and processes are described, followed by a presentation of the micromorphological characteristics of the soil material and those of the pottery made from that material. The contribution of the aeolian dust component to the soil materials is discussed as well as the identification of the tempering materials (nonplastics or other soil materials) added to the pottery paste. The study demonstrates the close correlation in microfabric between the pottery and original soil materials, sheds light on the raw material selection and modification practices of the potters of Roman Galilee, and has significant implications for provenance studies, using chemical analysis, on the pottery of this period and region. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Soil organic carbon in density fractions of tropical soils under forest , pasture , secondary forest land use changes

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2008
S. Paul
Summary Our knowledge of effects of land use changes and soil types on the storage and stability of different soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions in the tropics is limited. We analysed the effect of land use (natural forest, pasture, secondary forest) on SOC storage (depth 0,0.1 m) in density fractions of soils developed on marine Tertiary sediments and on volcanic ashes in the humid tropics of northwest Ecuador. The origin of organic carbon stored in free light (< 1.6 g cm,3) fractions, and in two light fractions (LF) occluded within aggregates of different stability, was determined by means of ,13C natural abundance. Light occluded organic matter was isolated in a first step after aggregate disruption by shaking aggregates with glass pearls (occluded I LF) and in a subsequent step by manual destruction of the most stable microaggregates that survived the first step (occluded II LF). SOC storage in LFs was greater in volcanic ash soils (7.6 ± 0.6 Mg C ha,1) than in sedimentary soils (4.3 ± 0.3 Mg C ha,1). The contribution of the LFs to SOC storage was greater in natural forest (19.2 ± 1.2%) and secondary forest (16.6 ± 1.0%) than in pasture soils (12.8 ± 1.0%), independent of soil parent material. The amount of SOC stored in the occluded I LF material increased with increasing silt + clay content (sedimentary soils, r = 0.73; volcanic ash soils, r = 0.58) and aggregation (sedimentary soils, r = 0.52; volcanic ash soils, r = 0.45). SOC associated with occluded I LF, had the smallest proportion of new, pasture-derived carbon, indicating the stabilizing effect of aggregation. Fast turnover of the occluded II LF material, which was separated from highly stable microaggregates, strongly suggested that this fraction is important in the initial process of aggregate formation. No pasture-derived carbon could be detected in any density fractions of volcanic ash soils under secondary forest, indicating fast turnover of these fractions in tropical volcanic ash soils. [source]


Soil parent material is a key determinant of the bacterial community structure in arable soils

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Andreas Ulrich
Abstract The bacterial community composition in soil and rhizosphere taken from arable field sites, differing in soil parent material and soil texture, was analyzed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of 16S rRNA genes. Nine sandy to silty soils from North-East Germany could clearly be distinguished from each other, with a relatively low heterogeneity in the community structure within the field replicates. There was a relationship between the soil parent material, i.e. different glacial and aeolian sediments, and the clustering of the profiles from different sites. A site-specific grouping of T-RFLP profiles was also found for the rhizosphere samples of the same field sites that were planted with potatoes. The branching of the rhizosphere profiles corresponded partly with the soil parent material, whereas the effect of the plant genotype was negligible. Selected terminal restriction fragments differing in their relative abundance within the nine soils were analyzed based on the cloning of the 16S rRNA genes of one soil sample. A high phylogenetic diversity observed to include Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Gemmatimonadetes. The assignment of three out of the seven selected terminal restriction fragments to members of Acidobacteria suggested that this group seems to participate frequently in the shifting of community structures that result from soil property changes. [source]


Effects of hydrogeomorphic region, catchment storage and mature forest on baseflow and snowmelt stream water quality in second-order Lake Superior Basin tributaries

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2003
Naomi E. Detenbeck
SUMMARY 1. In this study we predict stream sensitivity to non-point source pollution based on the non-linear responses of hydrological regimes and associated loadings of non-point source pollutants to catchment properties. We assessed two hydrologically based thresholds of impairment, one for catchment storage (5,10%) and one for mature forest (<50% versus >60% of catchment in mature forest cover) across two different hydrogeomorphic regions within the Northern Lakes and Forest (NLF) ecoregion: the North Shore [predominantly within the North Shore Highlands Ecological Unit] and the South Shore (predominantly within the Lake Superior Clay Plain Ecological Unit). Water quality samples were collected and analysed during peak snowmelt and baseflow conditions from 24 second-order streams grouped as follows: three in each region × catchment storage × mature forest class. 2. Water quality was affected by a combination of regional influences, catchment storage and mature forest. Regional differences were significant for suspended solids, phosphorus, nitrogen: phosphorus ratios, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and alkalinity. Catchment storage was significantly correlated with dissolved silica during the early to mid-growing season, and with DOC, specific conductance and alkalinity during all seasons. Total nitrogen and dissolved nitrogen were consistently less in low mature forest than in high mature forest catchments. Catchment storage interacted with the influence of mature forest for only two metrics: colour and the soluble inorganic nitrogen : phosphorus ratio. 3. Significant interaction terms (region by mature forest or region by storage) suggest differences in regional sensitivity for conductance, alkalinity, total organic carbon, and colour, as well as possible shifts in thresholds of impact across region or mature forest class. 4. Use of the NLF Ecoregion alone as a basis for setting regional water quality criteria would lead to the misinterpretation of reference condition and assessment of condition. There were pronounced differences in background water quality between the North and South Shore streams, particularly for parameters related to differences in soil parent material and glacial history. A stratified random sampling design for baseflow and snowmelt stream water quality based on both hydrogeomorphic region and catchment attributes improves assessments of both reference condition and differences in regional sensitivity. [source]


Potential and Pitfalls in Establishing the Provenance of Earth-Related Samples in Forensic Investigations

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 4 2006
Barry G. Rawlins Ph.D.
ABSTRACT: Earth scientists are often asked to establish or constrain the likely provenance of very small quantities of earth-related material as part of a forensic investigation. We tested the independent and collective interpretations of four experts with differing analytical skills in the prediction of sample provenance for three samples from different environmental settings. The methods used were X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, the assessment of pollen assemblages, and structural characterization of organic matter at the molecular level. Independent interpretations were less accurate than those where multiple techniques were combined. Collective interpretation was very effective in the assessment of provenance for two of the three sites where the mineralogy and plant communities were distinctive. At the other site, although the mineralogical analysis correctly identified the Triassic mudstone soil parent material, Carboniferous spores from domestic coal were initially interpreted as deriving directly from bedrock. Such an interpretation could be a common pitfall owing to anthropogenic redistribution of material such as coal. [source]