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Full-Text Articles in Soil Science

Impacts Of Preferential Flow On Tc-99and Np-237 Vadose Transport In Soils At The Savannah River Site, Josh Parris May 2023

Impacts Of Preferential Flow On Tc-99and Np-237 Vadose Transport In Soils At The Savannah River Site, Josh Parris

All Theses

Since the 1950s, the United States has produced approximately 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) (Office of Nuclear Energy, 2022); however, no long-term storage solutions are available. Technecium-99 and neptunium-237, two fission products found in SNF, readily form highly mobile species in oxidizing conditions (Hu, 2008; Bondietti, 1979) and have respective half-lives of 2.13 x 105 and 2.14 x106 years (Hu, 2010). Considering these characteristics, 99Tc and 237Np are two risk-driving isotopes found in SNF storage. The process of macropore-facilitated preferential flow, transport through cracks within a soil matrix, has been recognized to increase …


Concept Validation: Collecting Composite Samples To Understand The Presence Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In Michigan Forested Areas, Nicole Renee Sanabria Apr 2023

Concept Validation: Collecting Composite Samples To Understand The Presence Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In Michigan Forested Areas, Nicole Renee Sanabria

Masters Theses

This research discusses the results of a state-wide study conducted by The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to assess the presence of PFAS in shallow soils of state-owned forested areas in Michigan utilizing a composite sampling method. One sample collected from each of Michigan’s 83 counties reveals the presence of PFAS in all but one sample, with total PFAS concentrations ranging from non-detect to 2.016 μg/kg (dry weight). PFOS is generally detected at the highest concentrations, ranging from non-detect to 0.88 μg/kg, followed by PFBA, with concentrations ranging from non-detect to 0.69 μg/kg, and PFOA, with concentrations …


Organic-Input Impacts On Soil Carbon Flux, Storage, And Budget In Conservation Agricultural Soils, Central Washington, Usa, Jessica Hartman Jan 2021

Organic-Input Impacts On Soil Carbon Flux, Storage, And Budget In Conservation Agricultural Soils, Central Washington, Usa, Jessica Hartman

All Master's Theses

The increase in global atmospheric CO2 over the last 200 years has generated an urgent need for strategies for sequestering carbon (C). Soil C, which has been depleted by land use change and agricultural practices, is a prime target for C storage. Land management practices, including no-till, cover cropping and crop rotation, and the application of C amendments such as compost and biochar, are suggested to increase C in the soil. Spoon Full Farm, near Thorp, WA, was a conventional hay farm until 2016, when management practices changed to implement some of these C sequestration strategies. A prior CWU …


Environmental Assessment Of Arsenic And Mercury Levels At The Garfield Mill Site, Calico, California, Steven Gregory Thorp Sep 2019

Environmental Assessment Of Arsenic And Mercury Levels At The Garfield Mill Site, Calico, California, Steven Gregory Thorp

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Environmental impacts of mining at Calico, California, are poorly understood in comparison to the details of its history of silver production. Human health risks associated with arsenic from the lode rock, as well as mercury from the silver milling process, include central nervous system damage, organ failure, and death. To quantify the potential human health risk and manage remediation of this site, tailings from the Garfield Mill site were digitally mapped and chemically analyzed by portable x-ray fluorescence, which permitted volumetric estimates of total mill tailings and the arsenic and mercury budget, as well as identification of anomalies in the …


Lead Contamination Of Soils In An Abandoned Rifle Range, Augusta County, Virginia, Logan Mahoney May 2019

Lead Contamination Of Soils In An Abandoned Rifle Range, Augusta County, Virginia, Logan Mahoney

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Presence of high concentrations of Lead within the soil and water could lead to various health related impacts on humans and wildlife. Exposure to Lead short termly or long termly could lead to many detrimental impacts due to Lead poisoning. The overall concentration of Lead in a soil can be measured using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) under laboratory conditions. The present study investigates the Lead concentration of contaminated abandoned riffle range located in Augusta County, Virginia. Soil samples were obtained using soil augurs from three locations randomly based on the severity of contamination. Location three, which was …


Seasonal Soil Carbon Fluxes In Transitioning Agricultural Soils In Central Washington State: Relations To Land-Use, Environmental Factors And Soil Carbon-Nitrogen Characteristics, Brandon Kautzman Jan 2019

Seasonal Soil Carbon Fluxes In Transitioning Agricultural Soils In Central Washington State: Relations To Land-Use, Environmental Factors And Soil Carbon-Nitrogen Characteristics, Brandon Kautzman

All Master's Theses

Changing agricultural land-use practices to increase soil carbon sequestration contributes to climate change mitigation and improved food security by moving CO2 from the atmosphere into soil as soil organic carbon (SOC). In 2016, a farm in Thorp, Washington, Spoon Full Farm, began converting land historically farmed using conventional methods of tillage and synthetic fertilizers to conservation farming methods with direct seeding and organic soil amendments with a goal of sequestering carbon in the soil. This project evaluates relationships of soil CO2 respiration and net ecological exchange (NEE) with land-use types, seasonal environmental factors (air temperature, relative humidity, soil …


Stable Carbon Isotope Variations Of Organic Matter And N-Alkanes In The Plant-Bulk Soil-Clay Fraction Continuum, Alana Crump Nov 2018

Stable Carbon Isotope Variations Of Organic Matter And N-Alkanes In The Plant-Bulk Soil-Clay Fraction Continuum, Alana Crump

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Organic matter (OM) adsorbed to clay minerals in soils can have C/N similar to lacustrine algal matter. Accurate source identification of OM in sediments is crucial for predicting future climate change impacts in the Great Lakes region. We analyzed C/N, carbon-isotope compositions, n-alkane abundances and compound-specific carbon-isotope compositions of vegetation, soil, and OM associated with clay minerals in soils and glacial till in order to determine if (i) OM associated with clay minerals has unique signatures distinct from lacustrine algal matter and is traceable to modern vegetation, and (ii) if these signatures have been transferred to and preserved in …


Soil-Grapevine Interactions: Insight From Verdicchio In The Marche Wine Region, Italy, Megan Luna Barlow Dec 2017

Soil-Grapevine Interactions: Insight From Verdicchio In The Marche Wine Region, Italy, Megan Luna Barlow

Theses and Dissertations

Verdicchio is a white grape varietal notably grown in the Marche wine region of east-central Italy within two Denominazione Origine Controllata (DOCs); Castelli di Jesi and Matelica, located less than 50 km apart. Jesi lies in the Apennine foothills near the coast of the Adriatic Sea and produces a smooth wine noted with apple-pear undertones and crisp, clean acidity. Conversely, Matelica is located in a synclinal valley of a fold-and-thrust belt and produces stronger wine with penetrating floral aromas and bold acidity. While macro-climatic variations do exist between DOCs, this research focuses on geological variations, specifically variations in soil composition, …


A Study Of Enhanced De-Chlorination And Bio-Remediation: Molasses Injections Into Groundwater, Brent Anderson Jun 2012

A Study Of Enhanced De-Chlorination And Bio-Remediation: Molasses Injections Into Groundwater, Brent Anderson

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.