Introduction and Motivation: Mineral grains on the surfaces of airless planetary bodies like the Moon are subjected to continuous radiation processing from solar energetic ions and also experience micrometeorite impact events. Together these processes alter the morphology, chemistry, and microstructure of surface particles and are collectively known as space weathering [1]. The optical properti...

In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) is one of the effective technologies used for source zone remediation of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) such as chlorinated solvents in the subsurface environments. In karst systems, DNAPL source zones reside in epikarst where the contaminant is generally trapped in the soil or at the carbonate bedrock contact. The efficiency of oxidation of residual t...

Windblown transport and deposition of dust is widely recognized as an important physical and chemical concern to climate, human health and ecosystems. Sistan is a region located in southeast Iran with extensive wind erosion, severe desertification and intense dust storms, which cause adverse effects in regional air quality and human health. To mitigate the impact of these phenomena, it is vital...

Introduction: Laser Raman spectroscopy offers the exciting opportunity to interrogate rocks in their natural geological context, preserving the mineral constituents along with their textural and morphological information (Figure 1). Microscopic Raman spectroscopy is a nondestructive means of generating two dimensional maps of mineralogy on the order of grain sizes. Because of its versatility, R...

Organic matter in soil has been suggested to be composed of a complex mixture of identifiable biopolymers rather than a chemically complex humic material. Despite the importance of the spatial arrangement of organic matter forms in soil, its characterization has been hampered by the lack of a method for analysis at fine scales. X-ray spectromicroscopy has enabled the identification of spatial v...

COMPLEX EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. K. T. Howard, G. K. Benedix, P. A. Bland and G. Cressey. Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre (IARC), The Natural History Museum, Mineralogy Department, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. IARC, Dept. of Earth Sci. & Eng., Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom. 3 The Natural History Museum, Mineralogy Department, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. E-ma...

The transport characteristics of iron nanoparticles prepared with a green tea, polyphenol-rich solution, were investigated for two granular media, pure silica sand and sand coated with aluminium hydroxide. The GT-nZVI injection caused a sharp decrease in the effluent pH and increase in the redox potential, which is attributed to the presence of free Fe and polyphenols in the suspension, respect...

physical behavior of wetted soils is of paramount importance. The rheology of aqueous suspensions of six palygorskites with When the electrolyte concentration in the percolating different particle morphologies has been investigated as a function solution in soil is below the flocculation value of the of clay concentration, adsorbed ion, pH, and electrolyte concentration, clay, clay dispersion o...

This paper reviews the current knowledge of microbial processes affecting C sequestration in agroecosystems. The microbial contribution to soil C storage is directly related to microbial community dynamics and the balance between formation and degradation of microbial byproducts. Soil microbes also indirectly influence C cycling by improving soil aggregation, which physically protects soil orga...

Aragonite, which is the polymorph of CaCO3 precipitated by modern corals during skeletal formation, has a higher solubility than the more stable polymorph calcite. This higher solubility may leave animals that produce aragonitic skeletons more vulnerable to anthropogenic ocean acidification. It is therefore important to determine whether scleractinian corals have the plasticity to adapt and pro...