Have you ever thought of considering to volunteer at the European Geosciences Union? Even though the organisation is huge (+12,000 members) it is mostly run voluntarily, employing only a handful of people primarily focused on the administrative part of the organisation. EGU is a truly bottom-up organisation that relies on, and values, the input of its members on a variety of projects and activitie ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Soils at Imaggeo: field in late summer after rain
Konstantinos Kourtidis Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece About Imaggeo Imaggeo is the EGU’s online open access geosciences image repository. All geoscientists (and others) can submit their photographs and videos to this repository and, since it is open access, these images can be used for free by scientists for their presentations or publications, by educators and the general public, ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Monday paper: Mesocosm approach to quantify dissolved inorganic carbon percolation fluxes
Thaysen, E. M., Jessen, S., Ambus, P., Beier, C., Postma, D., and Jakobsen, I.. 2014. Technical Note: Mesocosm approach to quantify dissolved inorganic carbon percolation fluxes. Biogeosciences, 11, 1077-1084. DOI:10.5194/bg-11-1077-2014. Abstract Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes across the vadose zone are influenced by a complex interplay of biological, chemical and physical factors. A nov ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
A dark future sprouting from sealed soil
Every year in Europe, soils covering an area larger than the city of Berlin are lost to urban sprawl and transport infrastructure. This unsustainable trend threatens the availability of fertile soils and groundwater reservoirs for future generations. A new report made public today by the European Commission recommends a three-tiered approach focused on limiting the progression of soil sealing, mit ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Soils at Imaggeo: fall into litter
Antonio Jordán University of Seville, Spain Description Wet forest soil surface after a rainfall simulation experiment in Los Alcornocales Natural Park, southern Spain. When pores are saturated with water, rainfall does not infiltrate, but a dense litter layer may inhibit runoff for some time. About Imaggeo Imaggeo is the EGU’s online open access geosciences image repository. All geoscientists (an ...[Read More]
Soil System Sciences
Soils at Imaggeo: Soil erosion-desertfication, Iceland
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]