Surface-active properties of particle size fractions in two humic acids

The relationships between surface active properties and humic acid (HA) particle sizes were investigated. Two HAs from an Ando soil and a Brown forest soil were separated into 6 particle size fractions by gel permeation chromatography. Surface-active properties characterized by surface excess value (\gT mol cm^-2), cross-sectional surface area per molecule (A nm²), critical micelle concentration (CMC g L^-1), efficiency and effectiveness of water surface tension reduction were obtained by the measurement of the surface tension of HA solutions from different particle size fractions. For the HA from the Ando soil, except for the smallest particle size fraction, increasing particle size enhanced the efficiency of reduction of the water surface tension and decreased the CMC, while the effectiveness of reduction of the water surface tension was about the same. The surface activity of the HA from the Ando soil increased with increasing particle size. This phenomenon was similar to the surface activity of a homologous series of surfactants, which increased with increasing alkyl chain length. For the HA from the Brown forest soil, the smallest particle size fraction and three large fractions showed a high efficiency, namely a high surface activity. The smallest fraction from the Brown forest soil showed the highest efficiency and the lowest CMC value. In both HAs, the smallest particle size fraction showed exceptional surface-active properties compared with the other fractions and three fractions with large particle size showed a higher surface activity than other smaller fractions.     

Drop size dependence of soil-water contact angle in relation to the droplet geometry and line tension

The soil-water contact angle is used as a measure of the surface hydrophobicity of soils. The contact angle for particular solid–liquid combination is considered to vary with the drop size. In this paper, we focused on examining the drop size dependence of contact angle on soil surfaces compared with homogeneous solid surfaces, and determining its relation to the droplet geometry and line tension. The contact angle estimated using geometric parameters of the droplets (θ _G) showed decreasing trend with increasing drop size from 5 to 50?µL irrespective of the deformations in the droplet shape in larger drops. This was considered to be a result of the corresponding deviations of the geometric parameters of the droplets. The directly measured contact angle (θ _A) first decreased and then increased with increasing drop size from 5 to 50?µL. The drop size at lowest θ _A for hydrophobized silica sand with 1?g?kg^–1 stearic acid (SA) and the acryl surfaces was 20?µL, whereas that for hydrophobized silica sand with 5?g?kg^–1 SA and siliconed paper was 30?µL. The decrease in θ _A with increasing drop size was explained as a result of the line tension effect using the modified Young's equation. Despite the surface heterogeneity, all the surfaces tested in this study showed positive line tensions on the order of 10?µJ?m^–1. Irrespective of the heterogeneity of the surfaces, the θ _A in this experiment agreed with the modified Young's equation for drop sizes up to about 20–30?µL, where the θ _A and θ _G were also in good agreement. Drop size dependence of contact angle was independent of the level of surface hydrophobicity. The θ _A on all the examined surfaces started to increase with increasing drop size when the deformation index, I _d, exceeded 5%, where the wetting radius, R exceeded the capillary length. The increase in θ _A with increasing drop size was attributed to the deformations of water drops due to the effect of gravity.     

Fractionation of soil humic acids by preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of concentrated urea

To separate soil humic acids (HAs) into their constituents and characterize them, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was carried out in the presence of 7 M urea using a preparative electrophoresis system. Two types of soil HAs were fractionated into nine fractions by PAGE. The dark-colored constituents were recovered from the electrophoretic fractions by precipitation on acidification, and the brown-colored constituents dissolved in the acidic solution of fast-moving fractions were recovered by adsorption onto DAX-8 resin. High-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) confirmed that the constituents of the HAs were separated based on their molecular size by PAGE. The dark-colored constituents exhibited higher degrees of humification than did the corresponding unfractionated HAs, except for the constituents remaining in the electrophoretic gels at the end of electrophoresis. Diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy revealed that the chemical properties of the dark-colored constituents changed regularly: the content of carboxyl groups decreased and the proportions of proteinous, aliphatic and polysaccharide moieties increased with increasing molecular size. The humification degrees of the constituents adsorbed onto DAX-8 resin were considerably lower than those of the corresponding unfractionated HAs. The chemical properties of the DAX-8-adsorbed constituents were different from those of the dark-colored constituents. Observation of electrophoretic fractions under blue light (470 nm) and HPSEC with fluorescence detection at an excitation wavelength of 460 nm and an emission wavelength of 520 nm showed that green fluorescent substances were largely concentrated in the smallest molecular size fractions and were partitioned into both the dark-colored precipitates and DAX-8-adsorbed fractions. The proportion of organic carbon recovered by precipitation and adsorption onto DAX-8 resin was 45–63%, indicating that substantial parts of the HA constituents were missing. The unrecovered constituents were considered to be acid-soluble, nearly colorless substances. The dissociation of the acid-soluble constituents from the acid-insoluble dark-colored constituents during the preparative PAGE of soil HAs was ascribed to disruption of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions caused by concentrated urea.     

土壤及泥沙颗粒组成与养分流失的研究

利用自然降雨影响下的农田为试验样地,分析了降雨前后土壤颗粒组成与养分含量的变化,探讨了流失泥沙颗粒组成与养分的变化特征。结果表明,在降雨后,西瓜地与油菜地表土颗粒组成呈现粘粒与粉粒含量减少,砂粒含量相对增加的趋势;土壤养分含量都有不同程度的下降,其中水解氮与速效磷下降的幅度很大,西瓜地与油菜地水解氮降雨后降幅分别为9.67%和7.99%,速效磷的降幅分别为9.20%和8.76%;全氮养分降幅很小,西瓜地与油菜地分别为2.17%和1.54%;流失泥沙细小颗粒含量与养分含量随时间基本都呈降低的变化趋势,并且细小颗粒含量与携带流失的养分含量有显著甚至极显著的正相关性;流失泥沙具有富集粘粒和富集养分的特性,油菜地与西瓜地粘粒富集率分别为1.23和1.20,两样地全氮与速效磷的富集率都在1.3以上,而全磷和水解氮富集率基本处在1.1-1.3之间。     

土壤透气性及粘土颗粒比表面积与粘土颗粒粒度分布分形维数关系

采用数字显微系统测定了部分华南地区土壤中粘土颗粒粒径分布分形维数值,提出了土壤中粘土颗粒群粒度分布分形维数的几何法计算模型,并就这种分形维数与土壤比表面积和土壤透气性等性质的相互关系作了初步探讨。结果表明,采用数字显微系统测定的粘土颗粒粒径分布分形维数值介于2.2708到2.9483之间,与常规方法测定结果吻合;含砂较多的土壤样品,BET比表面积和Blaine透气时间随粒度分布分形维数值增大而减小;含粘粒较多的土壤样品,BET比表面积和Blaine透气时间同随粒度分布分形维数值增大而增大。     

Tillage and land use effects on soil microporosity in Ohio, USA and Kolombangara, Solomon Islands

Micropores are important to soil moisture retention and plant growth. Microporosity and pore size distribution were evaluated using mercury intrusion porosimetery on aggregates from 35-year-old experiments started in 1962 at Wooster (40.5 °N, 82 °W) and South Charleston (39.8 °N, 84 °W) in Ohio, USA and from three land use practices on Kolombangara (8 °S, 157 °E) in Solomon Islands. Tillage treatments in Ohio included: moldboard plowing (MP), chisel plowing (CP), and no-till (NT) with continuous corn. The land use treatments in Kolombangara included: natural forest (NF), traditional farming (TF) and topsoil removal (TR). Pore size measured in aggregates ranged from 0.2 to 100 μm in diameter. Median pore radius was significantly (P < 0.05) larger for NT than for MP and CP treatments at Wooster, but not at South Charleston. Tillage treatments had significant effect on the volume of both storage and residual pores for both sites in Ohio. Volume of storage and residual pores were higher for Wooster than South Charleston soil. At Kolombangara, the NF treatment had significantly larger median and peak pore radii, and microporosity than TF and TR treatments. There was, however, no significant difference among treatments in the volume of pore size distribution. These data support a recommendation for adoption of no-till or conservation tillage in soils of the temperate region, and of minimal disturbance and effective erosion control in soils of the tropics.     

Wind erosion and sand accumulation effects on soil properties in Horqin Sandy Farmland,Inner Mongolia

Rain-fed agriculture is widespread in Inner Mongolia, northern China, where wind erosion of farmland is very common because of sandy soil and dry, windy weather. However, very little is known about the effects of wind erosion on soil physical and chemical properties in this region. A field experiment was conducted in sandy farmland, where erosional and depositional gradients were established to evaluate the effects of wind erosion and leeward sand accumulation on soil texture, nutrient content, soil water, and soil temperature. The research showed that long term wind erosion could result in significant soil coarseness, infertility and dryness. Severe erosion reduced clay by 59.6%, organic C by 71.2%, total N by 67.4%, total P by 31.4%, available N by 64.5%, available P by 38.8%, and average soil water content by 51.8%, compared with non-eroded farmland in the study region. The sand fraction (particles > 0.05 mm), pH and ground-surface temperature increased by 6.2%, 3.7%, and 2.2 °C, respectively. Accumulated sand also caused a decrease in nutrients and soil water content. Under severe sand accumulation, clay was reduced by 2.0%, organic C by 19.3%, total N by 21.7%, total P by 13.7%, available N by 52.5%, and average soil water content by 26.6%. The sand fraction, pH, available P, and ground-surface temperature increased by 0.2%, 0.9%, 5.8% and 2.8 °C, respectively.     

Validating the use of Cs measurements to estimate rates of soil redistribution by wind

Wind erosion has degraded over one-half billion hectares of land worldwide. ¹³⁷Cesium (¹³⁷Cs) has been used as a tracer to study long-term rates of soil redistribution by water and, to a lesser extent, by wind. Early studies assumed that the decline in ¹³⁷Cs activity for a potentially eroded soil relative to that for an uneroded soil was linearly proportional to soil loss. More recently, models have emerged that consider the effects of soil cultivation and the particle surface area-dependent partitioning of ¹³⁷Cs on soils. We investigated the partitioning of ¹³⁷Cs in wind-eroded sediments and with soil surface samples sieved into contiguous ranges of particle sizes. We also compared the ¹³⁷Cs activities and stratification of several adjacent soils with known wind erosion and deposition histories. Finally, we tested ¹³⁷Cs-based soil loss models with measured data from sites with documented histories. ¹³⁷Cs activities and mean particle diameters of aeolian samples agreed well with the ¹³⁷Cs activities and respective mean diameters of the sieved surface soil samples. Good agreement between model estimations and measured data indicated that ¹³⁷Cs models developed to estimate soil redistribution by water were also applicable to soil redistribution by wind provided that the models contained an appropriate particle size correction parameter.     

Relationship between molecular characteristics of soil humic fractions and glycolytic pathway and krebs cycle in maize seedlings

A humic acid (HA) isolated from a volcanic soil was separated in three fractions of decreasing molecular size (I, II and III) by preparative high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). The molecular content of the bulk soil HA and its size fractions was characterized by pyrolysis-GC-MS (thermochemolysis with tetramethylammonium hydroxide) and NMR spectroscopy. All soil humic materials were used to evaluate their effects on the enzymatic activities involved in glycolytic and respiratory processes of Zea mays (L.) seedlings. The elementary analyses and NMR spectra of the humic fractions indicated that the content of polar carbons (mainly carbohydrates) increased with decreasing molecular size of separated fractions. The products evolved by on-line thermochemolysis showed that the smallest size fraction (Fraction III) with the least rigid molecular conformation among the humic samples had the lowest content of lignin moieties and the largest amount of other non-lignin aromatic compounds. The bulk HA and the three humic fractions affected the enzyme activities related to glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) in different ways depending on molecular size, molecular characteristics and concentrations. The overall effectiveness of the four fractions in promoting the metabolic pathways was in the order: III>HA>II>I. The largest effect of Fraction III, either alone or incorporated into the bulk HA, was attributed to a flexible conformational structure that promoted a more efficient diffusion of bioactive humic components to maize cells. A better knowledge of the relationship between molecular structure of soil humic matter and plant activity may be of practical interest in increasing carbon fixation in plants and redirect atmospheric CO₂ into bio-fuel resources.