Pub Date : 2011-12-24DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3830
Catoni Marcella, H. Monger, Bonifacio Eleonora
Carbon isotopic analysis is a useful tool for investigating paleoenvironments, as the pedogenic carbonate δ 13 C is related to δ 13 C SOM and to the proportions of C 3 /C 4 plants. In this work we interpreted the paleoenvironmental conditions at the time of carbonate precipitation in soils formed under different climates and during different geological ages. Samples were taken from a Bk (PR1, Holocene) and from two Bkm horizons (PR2 and PR3, Pleistocene). When the mean δ 13 C plant values and the most plausible paleotemperatures were used in the evaluation, PR1 showed a lower percentage of C 4 plants (48%) than Pleistocene soils (~53%), in agreement with paleoclimate changes. When instead the δ 13 C values of current plants were used for PR1, C 4 plants ranged from 59 (12°C) to 66% (18°C), suggesting two possible interpretations: either plant species changed during the Holocene, or the plant mean values normally used in the literature are not suitable for Pleistocene reconstructions
{"title":"PEDOGENIC CARBONATE δ13C AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRECIPITATION CONDITIONS","authors":"Catoni Marcella, H. Monger, Bonifacio Eleonora","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3830","url":null,"abstract":"Carbon isotopic analysis is a useful tool for investigating paleoenvironments, as the pedogenic carbonate δ 13 C is related to δ 13 C SOM and to the proportions of C 3 /C 4 plants. In this work we interpreted the paleoenvironmental conditions at the time of carbonate precipitation in soils formed under different climates and during different geological ages. Samples were taken from a Bk (PR1, Holocene) and from two Bkm horizons (PR2 and PR3, Pleistocene). When the mean δ 13 C plant values and the most plausible paleotemperatures were used in the evaluation, PR1 showed a lower percentage of C 4 plants (48%) than Pleistocene soils (~53%), in agreement with paleoclimate changes. When instead the δ 13 C values of current plants were used for PR1, C 4 plants ranged from 59 (12°C) to 66% (18°C), suggesting two possible interpretations: either plant species changed during the Holocene, or the plant mean values normally used in the literature are not suitable for Pleistocene reconstructions","PeriodicalId":42340,"journal":{"name":"EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality","volume":"7 1","pages":"127-134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2011-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71264715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2011-06-20DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3827
S. Madrau, C. Zucca, Anna Soro, S. Kapur
Permanent tree crops can deeply modify the soil features produced by the pedogenesis processes. Clear microstructural differences were observed in two soil profiles sampled in an olive grove near Sassari (Sardinia, Italy), one under the canopy and one between the tree rows, related either to the farming practices or to the biological activity in the rhizosphere soil
{"title":"Micromorphological analysis of a Terra Rossa soil under olive crop; pedogenesis and pedoturbation","authors":"S. Madrau, C. Zucca, Anna Soro, S. Kapur","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3827","url":null,"abstract":"Permanent tree crops can deeply modify the soil features produced by the pedogenesis processes. Clear microstructural differences were observed in two soil profiles sampled in an olive grove near Sassari (Sardinia, Italy), one under the canopy and one between the tree rows, related either to the farming practices or to the biological activity in the rhizosphere soil","PeriodicalId":42340,"journal":{"name":"EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality","volume":"6 1","pages":"9-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2011-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71264674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2010-12-19DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3806
L. V. Antisari, F. Pontalti, A. Simoni, G. Vianello
A public property site, situated on an alluvial terrace of the Idice Stream (Emilia Romagna Region-Italy) was contaminated by a layer of waste, constituted by vitrified fly ashes and ceramic materials produced by an incinerator of municipal solid waste. The waste had high contents of heavy metals which exceeded the Italian legal concentration limits for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn (D. Lgs. 152/06, all. 5, tab.1). The in-situ remediation of the area was possible. In this study, alternative materials than the Portland cement were tested for the environmental restoration and the further naturalization of the area. Leaching tests were carried out treating the ashes with different concentrations of hydrated lime (CaOH 2 ) and also with lime at 20% concentration and smectic marlstone. At the end of the leaching test, most of the heavy metals in the waste were immobilized in the waste by the lime/marlstone treatment.
{"title":"LEACHING TEST OF VITRIFIED FLY ASH AND CERAMIC SLAG FROM AN INCINERATOR OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) TREATED WITH Ca(OH)2 AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS AND WITH MARLSTONE","authors":"L. V. Antisari, F. Pontalti, A. Simoni, G. Vianello","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3806","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3806","url":null,"abstract":"A public property site, situated on an alluvial terrace of the Idice Stream (Emilia Romagna Region-Italy) was contaminated by a layer of waste, constituted by vitrified fly ashes and ceramic materials produced by an incinerator of municipal solid waste. The waste had high contents of heavy metals which exceeded the Italian legal concentration limits for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn (D. Lgs. 152/06, all. 5, tab.1). The in-situ remediation of the area was possible. In this study, alternative materials than the Portland cement were tested for the environmental restoration and the further naturalization of the area. Leaching tests were carried out treating the ashes with different concentrations of hydrated lime (CaOH 2 ) and also with lime at 20% concentration and smectic marlstone. At the end of the leaching test, most of the heavy metals in the waste were immobilized in the waste by the lime/marlstone treatment.","PeriodicalId":42340,"journal":{"name":"EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality","volume":"5 1","pages":"23-42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2010-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71264573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2010-08-19DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3800
G. Rampazzo, A. Mentler, N. Rampazzo, W. Blum, A. Eder, P. Strauss
Different physical, chemical and biological processes influence the behaviour of organic contaminants in soils. A better understanding of the organic pollutant behaviour in soils would improve the environmental protection. One possible way for better attenuation of the risk of pollution in agriculture can be achieved through ta better-specified pesticide management based on the adaptation of the pesticide type and application rates to the specific environmental characteristics of the area of application. Nowadays, one of the actually most applied herbicide world wide is glyphosate. Glyphosate is highly water soluble and traces have been found in surface and groundwater systems. For a better understanding of the natural influence of erosion processes on glyphosate behaviour and dispersion under heavy rain conditions after application in the field, two erosion simulation experiments were conducted on two different locations in Austria with completely different soil types in September 2008. The results of the experiments showed that under normal practical conditions (e.g. no rainfall is expected immediatly after application), the potential adsorption capacity of the Kirchberg soil (Stagnic Cambisol, with about 16.000 ppm Fe-oxides) is confirmed compared to the low adsorption Chernosem soil (about 8.000 ppm pedogenic Fe-oxides). Considering the enormous difference in the run-off amounts between the two sites Pixendorf and Kirchberg soils it can be concluded how important the soil structural conditions and vegetation type and cover are for the risks of erosion and, as a consequence, pollution of neighbouring waters. In the rainfall experiments under comparable simulation conditions, the amount of run-off was about 10 times higher at Kirchberg, owing to its better infiltration rate, than at the Pixendorf site. Moreover, the total loss of glyphosate (NT+CT) through run-off at the Kirchberg site was more than double that at Pixendorf, which confirms the importance of the chemical and mineralogical nature of soils in the abatement and absorbency of glyphosate, and the poor results in case of erosive precipitations whwn soil structure and permeability are not favourable.
{"title":"DISPERSION OF GLYPHOSATE IN SOILS UNDERGOING EROSION","authors":"G. Rampazzo, A. Mentler, N. Rampazzo, W. Blum, A. Eder, P. Strauss","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3800","url":null,"abstract":"Different physical, chemical and biological processes influence the behaviour of organic contaminants in soils. A better understanding of the organic pollutant behaviour in soils would improve the environmental protection. One possible way for better attenuation of the risk of pollution in agriculture can be achieved through ta better-specified pesticide management based on the adaptation of the pesticide type and application rates to the specific environmental characteristics of the area of application. Nowadays, one of the actually most applied herbicide world wide is glyphosate. Glyphosate is highly water soluble and traces have been found in surface and groundwater systems. For a better understanding of the natural influence of erosion processes on glyphosate behaviour and dispersion under heavy rain conditions after application in the field, two erosion simulation experiments were conducted on two different locations in Austria with completely different soil types in September 2008. The results of the experiments showed that under normal practical conditions (e.g. no rainfall is expected immediatly after application), the potential adsorption capacity of the Kirchberg soil (Stagnic Cambisol, with about 16.000 ppm Fe-oxides) is confirmed compared to the low adsorption Chernosem soil (about 8.000 ppm pedogenic Fe-oxides). Considering the enormous difference in the run-off amounts between the two sites Pixendorf and Kirchberg soils it can be concluded how important the soil structural conditions and vegetation type and cover are for the risks of erosion and, as a consequence, pollution of neighbouring waters. In the rainfall experiments under comparable simulation conditions, the amount of run-off was about 10 times higher at Kirchberg, owing to its better infiltration rate, than at the Pixendorf site. Moreover, the total loss of glyphosate (NT+CT) through run-off at the Kirchberg site was more than double that at Pixendorf, which confirms the importance of the chemical and mineralogical nature of soils in the abatement and absorbency of glyphosate, and the poor results in case of erosive precipitations whwn soil structure and permeability are not favourable.","PeriodicalId":42340,"journal":{"name":"EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality","volume":"4 1","pages":"15-28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2010-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71264895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2009-06-20DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3812
S. Piastra
In the last decades the Aral Sea, located in Central Asia on the boundary between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, experienced a dramatic shrinking, divulged even in newspapers and magazines. Such an ecological catastrophe, renamed the “Aral Sea Crisis”, was triggered by the artificial diversion of the rivers of the basin during the Soviet period, in order to irrigate new cotton fields. Nowadays, notwithstanding the fulfilment of several environmental restoration projects and a wide scientific literature about the process, the general balance about the water body, in particular its Uzbek side, is still critical. This paper, after a synthesis concerning the causes and the consequences of the ecological disaster, analyses the geopolitical implications connected to the deterioration of the environmental quality in the region and to water management in Post-Soviet Central Asia, underlining, in the case of the Aral Sea Basin, the criticities linked to its fast transition from an internal basin to an international one. Finally, Central Asian water-related old programs and future scenarios are discussed.
{"title":"THE GEOPOLITICAL DIMENSION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. WATERS AND CONFLICT IN THE ARAL SEA BASIN","authors":"S. Piastra","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3812","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3812","url":null,"abstract":"In the last decades the Aral Sea, located in Central Asia on the boundary between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, experienced a dramatic shrinking, divulged even in newspapers and magazines. Such an ecological catastrophe, renamed the “Aral Sea Crisis”, was triggered by the artificial diversion of the rivers of the basin during the Soviet period, in order to irrigate new cotton fields. Nowadays, notwithstanding the fulfilment of several environmental restoration projects and a wide scientific literature about the process, the general balance about the water body, in particular its Uzbek side, is still critical. This paper, after a synthesis concerning the causes and the consequences of the ecological disaster, analyses the geopolitical implications connected to the deterioration of the environmental quality in the region and to water management in Post-Soviet Central Asia, underlining, in the case of the Aral Sea Basin, the criticities linked to its fast transition from an internal basin to an international one. Finally, Central Asian water-related old programs and future scenarios are discussed.","PeriodicalId":42340,"journal":{"name":"EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality","volume":"1 1","pages":"25-36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2009-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71264626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2009-06-20DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3809
M. Cioffi
The Lichen Biodiversity Index (LBI) is a method for monitoring air pollution. This method employs lichens living on lime trees because they are sensitive to NOx and SOx, and it considers the variations in their communities. This study was performed in 16 stations located in the suburbs of Faenza city town and the result shows a more than acceptable air quality although in some stations the air was affected by the polluting effects of the vehicle traffic.
{"title":"AIR QUALITY MONITORING WITH THE LICHEN BIODIVERSITY INDEX (LBI) IN THE DISTRICT OF FAENZA (ITALY)","authors":"M. Cioffi","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3809","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2281-4485/3809","url":null,"abstract":"The Lichen Biodiversity Index (LBI) is a method for monitoring air pollution. This method employs lichens living on lime trees because they are sensitive to NOx and SOx, and it considers the variations in their communities. This study was performed in 16 stations located in the suburbs of Faenza city town and the result shows a more than acceptable air quality although in some stations the air was affected by the polluting effects of the vehicle traffic.","PeriodicalId":42340,"journal":{"name":"EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2009-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71264588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}