Picture by Ragnar Sigurdsson / Artic Images.com. Soil banks show the former appearance of areas with dwindling vegetation and soil cover. Higher resolution images available from rth@arctic-images.com (there is a licensing fee depending on the use). Imaggeo is the online open access geosciences image repository of the European Geosciences Union.
Soil System Sciences
Monday paper: Modelling microbial exchanges between forms of soil nitrogen in contrasting ecosystems
Pansu, M., Machado, D., Bottner, P., and Sarmiento, L.: Modelling microbial exchanges between forms of soil nitrogen in contrasting ecosystems, Biogeosciences, 11, 915-927, doi:10.5194/bg-11-915-2014, 2014. The questions It is well known that N and C combine to form organic molecules due to biological processes, although they come together from different pathways. C is extracted from carbon dioxid ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Lightening the clay (II)
According to the previous post, tetrahedral and octahedral sheets combine to form layers, and we can find two main types of clay structures: structure 1:1 (one tetrahedron sheet and one octahedral sheet) and 2:1 (two tetrahedral sheets and one octahedral sheet). The basic structure of clays is this: Substitutions between cations may occur in the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets, resulting ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Connecting European connectivity research (COST Action ES1306)
Saskia Keesstra E-mail: saskia.keesstra@wur.nl Deputy President of the Soil System Sciences Division of the European Geosciences Union Why connecting connectivity research? Successful prediction of pathways of storm runoff generation and associated soil erosion is of considerable societal importance, including off-site impacts such as water quality and the provision of related ecosystem services. ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Lightening the clay (I)
“The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is”. Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC). What is clay? Clays are particles. Very, very small mineral particles. You cannot see them, you cannot handle them… but unity makes strength. Clays are one of the major mineral components of the soil, whose chemical and physical properties depend on them. The study of soil clay minerals allows a gen ...[Read More]
Seismology
Turning science into fun games for citizens
Sounds like fun. Have a look at this interesting read and see how scientist are turning to citizens to help them with analysing large volumes of data. “A few days ago, I was an astrophysicist and contributed to a research project by organising sunspot images in order of complexity. After I’d had enough of that, I became a biochemist and worked late into the night on a project creating synthe ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Monday paper: Use of phytoremediation and biochar to remediate heavy metal polluted soils: a review
Paz-Ferreiro, J., Lu, H., Fu, S., Méndez, A., and Gascó, G.: Use of phytoremediation and biochar to remediate heavy metal polluted soils: a review, Solid Earth, 5, 65-75, doi:10.5194/se-5-65-2014, 2014. Soil heavy metal pollution Due to increased extraction and use by various industries, heavy metals come easily to the environment in various ways. Unlike organic substances, heavy metals can not be ...[Read More]
Seismology
Scientists and the social network
Nature just blew the bubble! Last month an article entitled Online collaboration: Scientists and the social network, by Richard Van Noorden, put focus on the role social media has on scholars. The article gives a detailed insight on the attitude of scientist towards social media by discussing the various existing platforms such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and othe ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Mediterranean Environmental Research Group (GRAM)
By Marc Oliva The Mediterranean Environmental Research Group, (GRAM) from the University of Barcelona has over 20 years of working experience in the field of the effects of forest fires on soil properties. In 1998 the doctoral thesis entitled “Fire effects on soil properties, the role of fire intensity” carried out by Xavier Úbeda emphasized the importance of fire intensity impa ...[Read More]
Seismology
Upcoming EGU elections: Autumn 2014
The EGU Election Autumn 2014 for the Treasurer and Division Presidents will take place between 01 November – 01 December 2014. You are kindly asked to propose a candidate to any vacancy by 15 September 2014. You are welcome and encouraged to nominate yourself. If you are nominating someone else, please get the candidate’s consent. Please have the information listed in the application f ...[Read More]