Biogeochemical studies of a Native American runoff agroecosystem

Research on soil fertility is presented in the context of runoff agriculture, a venerable farming system that has been used for millennia in arid to semiarid regions, where water is a major limiting resource for crop production. The agroecology of runoff farming was studied with the Zuni to evaluate nutrient and hydrologic processes, management, maize productivity, and soil quality in some of the oldest recognized fields in the United States. This ancient Southwest agriculture has functioned without conventional irrigation or fertilization by tapping into biogeochemical processes in natural watersheds connected to fields. Carefully placed fields are managed on alluvial fans and other valley margin landforms to intercept runoff and associated sediment and organic debris transported from adjoining forested uplands. We report on research to evaluate and link nitrogen and phosphorus, two key nutrients for crop production, in watershed, soil, and crop components of this agroecosystem. Nutrient data have been collected by observational and experimental methods for each component and the transport of nutrients from watershed to field to maize. The condition of Zuni agricultural soils suggests that their knowledge and management of soils contributed to effective conservation. This study and others indicate the need for further long‐term monitoring and experimental research on watersheds, runoff processes, field soils, and crops across a range of arid to semiarid ecosystems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Chemical weathering in soils from the glacial Lake Agassiz region of Manitoba, Canada

 Recently, there has been considerable interest in categorizing the availability of plant essential nutrients and selected transition metals in the soil environment so as to predict their effects on ecosystem health and the efficacy of potential management practices. Researchers desire to isolate important soil properties, determinant biotic activities and fundamental pedogenic processes that control biogeochemical cycling and are potentially modifiable for the goal of ecosystem sustainability. In a relative sense, a significant portion of this scientific effort has been directed towards temperate and tropical forest ecosystems, with relatively less attention given towards understanding the boreal forest ecosystem. Consequently, an investigation was undertaken near Thompson, Manitoba, to: (1) determine the extent of weathering of the principal soils, (2) employ a selective-sequential chemical extraction method to categorize the soil-chemical fractions responsible for nutrient availability, and (3) infer the importance of selected soil forming processes responsible for soil genesis and nutrient availability. Preliminary findings suggest that nutrient availability is related to the nutrient concentration in the cation exchange fraction and/or to nutrients sequestered by the organic fraction. The metals in the manganese, noncrystalline and crystalline iron oxide fractions may be bound so tightly to these oxides that they are largely unavailable to plants; however, they are largely responsible for buffering the more labile pools against gradually changing vegetational and climatic conditions. Received: 31 October 1996 · Accepted: 21 May 1997     

Wind erosion and intensive prehistoric agriculture: A case study from the Kalaupapa field system,Moloka'i Island,Hawai'i

Wind erosion is a major problem for modern farmers, a key variable affecting nutrient levels in ecosystems, and a potentially major force impacting archaeological site formation; however, it has received scant consideration in geoarchaeological studies of agricultural development compared with more easily quantifiable environmental costs, such as vegetation change or fluvial erosion. In this study, soil nutrient analysis is used in the Kalaupapa field system, Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i, to detect an increase in wind erosion attributable to intensive agriculture following the burning of endemic forest. This practice began on a small scale in the 13th century A.D., expanded around cal A.D. 1450–1550, and continued until the near total abandonment of the fields after European contact in the 18th century. Nutrients that naturally occur in high amounts in coastal windward areas due to the long‐term, cumulative effect of sea spray were especially impacted. However, thanks to the unique landform of the Kalaupapa Peninsula, nutrient depletion in windward areas was offset by downwind enrichment and likely contributed to the long‐term sustainability of the system as a whole. Future research on tropical and arid agriculture should consider the cumulative environmental cost of increased eolian erosion attributable to anthropogenic landscape modification. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Elemental and mineralogical changes in soils due to bioturbation along an earthworm invasion chronosequence in Northern Minnesota

Minnesota forested soils have evolved without the presence of earthworms since the last glacial retreat. When exotic earthworms arrive, enhanced soil bioturbation often results in dramatic morphological and chemical changes in soils with negative implications for the forests’ sustainability. However, the impacts of earthworm invasion on geochemical processes in soils are not well understood. This study attempts to quantify the role of earthworm invasion in mineral chemical weathering and nutrient dynamics along an earthworm invasion chronosequence in a sugar maple forest in Northern Minnesota. Depth and rates of soil mixing can be tracked with atmospherically derived short lived radioisotopes ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs. Their radioactivities increase in the lower A horizon at the expense of the peak activities near the soil surface, which indicate that soil mixing rate and its depth reach have been enhanced by earthworms. Enhanced soil mixing by earthworms is consistent with the ways that the vertical profiles of elemental and mineralogical compositions were affected by earthworm invasion. Biologically cycled Ca and P have peak concentrations near the soil surface prior to earthworm invasion. However, these peak abundances significantly declined in the earthworm invaded soils presumably due to enhanced soil mixing. It is clear that enhanced soil mixing due to earthworms also profoundly altered the vertical distribution of most mineral species within A horizons. Though the mechanisms are not clear yet, earthworm invasion appears to have contributed to net losses of clay mineral species and opal from the A horizons. As much as earthworms vertically relocated minerals and elements, they also intensify the contacts between organic matter and cations as shown in the increased amount of Ca and Fe in organically complexed and in exchangeable pools. With future studies on soil mixing rates and elemental leaching, this study will quantitatively and mechanically address the role of earthworms in geochemical evolution of soils and forests’ nutrient dynamics.     

Geochemistry of soils of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica: Implications for pedogenesis in cold polar regions

Fine fractions of soils on the Barton Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica have been forming during the last 6000 yr since the last deglaciation. Texturally, they are mostly composed of mineral and rock fragments with some volcanic ashes, which are also indicated by geochemical compositions representing for the nonclay silicate minerals and low values of chemical index of alteration. No significant changes are observed in major- and trace element abundances. Such geochemical characteristics suggest that chemical weathering of bedrocks on the Barton Peninsula seems insignificant and that the soils are composed of physically weathered mineral and rock fragments which are mixed with eolian additions of volcanic ashes and Patagonian dusts. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) distribution patterns of the Barton Peninsula soils are slightly different from those of bedrocks, indicating that the REE abundances and characteristics were influenced by eolian additions. Mixing calculations, which mass-balance the REEs, suggest that volcanic ashes blown from Deception Island were the major eolian contributor, followed by atmospheric dusts sourced from Patagonia, South America. Even in the warmer and humid climatic conditions in the maritime Antarctic region, the chemical weathering of bedrocks appears to be insignificant, probably due to the relatively short duration of weathering since the last deglaciation.     

李希霍芬与黄土的风成学说

第四纪古气候重建在最近半个世纪的时间里取得了前所未有的进展,这在很大程度上与对陆相黄土地层,特别是中国黄土-古土壤序列的研究,以及对深海沉积氧同位素的研究密不可分。现在我们已经可以在黄土-古土壤序列的基础上,建立起260万年来地球轨道尺度的古气候变化。一个不容否认的事实是,这些进展都是在黄土风成成因的基础上,结合土壤地层学、年代学、磁性地层学、古生物学等方面的进展逐渐发展起来的。只有解决了黄土的风成成因,才可能将堆积于各地的黄土,通过搬运粉尘的风力系统与区域、甚至全球的古气候变化联系起来。文章回忆了黄土的早期研究历史,回顾了黄土风成成因的奠基人李希霍芬教授在黄土成因方面的杰出贡献以及其后黄土成因的完善与发展。     

Eolian deposition of trace elements onto Taylor Valley Antarctic glaciers

The major ion and trace element chemistry in four 60-110 cm deep snow pits was examined from three Antarctic Taylor Valley glaciers (Commonwealth, Canada and Howard), all located within 20 km of the Ross Sea. Taylor Valley (TV) (77°30′S, 163°15′E) is part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), the largest ice-free area in Antarctica. Snow chemistry of these glaciers is strongly influenced by cross-valley (SW-NE and NE-SW) winds that deposit eolian materials, including mineral dust and soluble salts. Arsenic, Cd, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb and Sn in recent TV glacier snow are almost exclusively derived from eolian dust. The relative magnitude of element variations with depth relate to the exposure of snow sites to prevalent winds. Eolian deposition is a primary source of these elements to Canada Glacier snow and supra and proglacial streams. Eolian processes are likely very important to the delivery and availability of nutrients and, potentially toxic elements to dry valley Antarctic ecosystems.     

Ca isotope cycling in a forested ecosystem

Reports of large Ca isotope fractionations between trees and soils prompted this study of a Boreal forest ecosystem near La Ronge, Saskatchewan, to improve understanding of this phenomenon. The results on five tree species (black spruce, trembling aspen, white spruce, jack pine, balsam poplar) confirm that nutrient Ca uptake by plants favors the light isotopes, thus driving residual Ca in plant available soil pools towards enrichment in the heavy isotopes. Substantial within-tree fraction occurs in tissues formed along the transpiration stream, with low δ⁴⁴Ca values in fine roots (2 mm), intermediate values in stemwood, and high values in foliage. Separation factors between different plant tissues are similar between species, but the initial fractionation step in the tips of the fine roots is species specific, and/or sensitive to the local soil environment. Soil water δ⁴⁴Ca values appear to increase with depth to at least 35 cm below the top of the forest floor, which is close to the deepest level of fine roots. The heavy plant fractionated signature of Ca in the finely rooted upper soils filters downward where it is retained on ion exchange sites, leached into groundwater, and discharged into surface waters.The relationship between Ca uptake by tree fine roots and the pattern of δ⁴⁴Ca enrichment with soil depth was modeled for two Ca pools: the forest floor (litter) and the underlying (upper B) mineral soil. Six study plots were investigated along two hillside toposequences trending upwards from a first order stream. We used allometric equations describing the Ca distribution in boreal tree species to calculate weighted average δ⁴⁴Ca values for the stands in each plot and estimate Ca uptake rates. The δ⁴⁴Ca value of precipitation was measured, and soil weathering signatures deduced, by acid leaching of lower B mineral soils. Steady state equations were used to derive a set of model Ca fluxes and fractionation factors for each plot. The model reproduces the increase in δ⁴⁴Ca with depth found in forest floor and upper B soil waters. Transient model runs show that the forest Ca cycle is sensitive to changes in plant Ca uptake rate, such as would occur during ontogeny or disturbance. Accordingly, secular records of δ⁴⁴Ca in tree ring cellulose have the potential to monitor changes in the forest Ca cycle through time, thus providing a new tool for evaluating natural and anthropogenic impacts on forest health. Another model run shows that by changing the size of the isotope fractionation factor and adjusting for differences in forest productivity, that the range in Ca isotope fractionation in forested ecosystems reported in the literature, thus far, is reproduced. As a quantitative tool, the Ca cycling model produces a reasonable set of relative Ca fluxes for the La Ronge site, consistent with Environment Canada’s measurements for wet deposition in the region and simulated Ca release from soil mineral weathering using the PROFILE model. But the sensitivity of the model is limited by the small range of fractionation observed in this boreal shield setting of ∼1‰, which limits accuracy. If the model were applied to a site with a greater range in δ⁴⁴Ca values among the principal Ca fluxes, it is capable of producing robust and reliable estimations of Ca fluxes that are otherwise difficult to measure in forested ecosystems.     

Geochemical studies of northern taiga (gypsum) karst ecosystems and their high vulnerability to natural and anthropogenic hazards

In the taiga gypsum karst ecosystems, gypsum soils formed on the hard gypsum substrates predominate in the soil cover. In these soils, the mineral horizons consist of 95–99% gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O) and the litter is the main horizon for nutrient accumulation. For this reason, the ecosystems are vulnerable to fire and erosion by walkers, from which they only recover slowly. Gypsum mining for industrial uses is also leading to the destruction of this unique ecosystem.     

西南喀斯特山地水土流失特点及有关石漠化的几个科学问题

由于特殊的岩土组构,喀斯特坡地的水土流失具有如下特点:地表和地下流失相互叠加;地表产流、产沙少;纯碳酸盐岩区地下流失比例大。论文区别了石漠化和石质化的科学内涵,指出了喀斯特山地石漠化的核心是土地的石质化,提出了按照地面物质组成与裸岩率叠加的石漠化分类系统。根据土壤中硅酸盐矿物的物质平衡,提出了不同碎屑岩含量碳酸盐岩区的土壤允许流失量介于5～500 t/(km2?a)之间。喀斯特坡地土壤虽然肥沃,但总量太少,矿质养分不足可能是石质坡地植物生产力低的重要原因。此外,根据农耕驱动土地石质化的机制,提出了相应的石漠化治理的对策建议,具体是:（1）不但要治标,提高植被覆盖率,更要治本,防止或减缓土地石质化,同时还要增加群众收入;（2）按照坡地岩土组成的垂直分带特点,因地（土）制宜,开展治理;（3）重视矿质肥料的施用;（4）在纯碳酸盐岩土石质和石质坡地农田的小型蓄水工程修建中,要加强集流面建设。      

Sediment and Nutrient Deposition Associated with Hurricane Wilma in Mangroves of the Florida Coastal Everglades

The distribution of mangrove biomass and forest structure along Shark River estuary in the Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) has been correlated with elevated total phosphorus concentration in soils thought to be associated with storm events. The passage of Hurricane Wilma across Shark River estuary in 2005 allowed us to quantify sediment deposition and nutrient inputs in FCE mangrove forests associated with this storm event and to evaluate whether these pulsing events are sufficient to regulate nutrient biogeochemistry in mangrove forests of south Florida. We sampled the spatial pattern of sediment deposits and their chemical properties in mangrove forests along FCE sites in December 2005 and October 2006. The thickness (0.5 to 4.5 cm) of hurricane sediment deposits decreased with distance inland at each site. Bulk density, organic matter content, total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations, and inorganic and organic P pools of hurricane sediment deposits differed from surface (0–10 cm) mangrove soils at each site. Vertical accretion resulting from this hurricane event was eight to 17 times greater than the annual accretion rate (0.30 ± 0.03 cm year⁻¹) averaged over the last 50 years. Total P inputs from storm-derived sediments were equivalent to twice the average surface soil nutrient P density (0.19 mg cm⁻³). In contrast, total N inputs contributed 0.8 times the average soil nutrient N density (2.8 mg cm⁻³). Allochthonous mineral inputs from Hurricane Wilma represent a significant source of sediment to soil vertical accretion rates and nutrient resources in mangroves of southwestern Everglades. The gradient in total P deposition to mangrove soils from west to east direction across the FCE associated with this storm event is particularly significant to forest development due to the P-limited condition of this carbonate ecosystem. This source of P may be an important adaptation of mangrove forests in the Caribbean region to projected impacts of sea-level rise.     

Iron speciation and isotope fractionation during silicate weathering and soil formation in an alpine glacier forefield chronosequence

The chemical weathering of primary Fe-bearing minerals, such as biotite and chlorite, is a key step of soil formation and an important nutrient source for the establishment of plant and microbial life. The understanding of the relevant processes and the associated Fe isotope fractionation is therefore of major importance for the further development of stable Fe isotopes as a tracer of the biogeochemical Fe cycle in terrestrial environments. We investigated the Fe mineral transformations and associated Fe isotope fractionation in a soil chronosequence of the Swiss Alps covering 150 years of soil formation on granite. For this purpose, we combined for the first time stable Fe isotope analyses with synchrotron-based Fe-EXAFS spectroscopy, which allowed us to interpret changes in Fe isotopic composition of bulk soils, size fractions, and chemically separated Fe pools over time in terms of weathering processes. Bulk soils and rocks exhibited constant isotopic compositions along the chronosequence, whereas soil Fe pools in grain size fractions spanned a range of 0.4‰ in δ⁵⁶Fe. The clay fractions (<2 μm), in which newly formed Fe(III)-(hydr)oxides contributed up to 50% of the total Fe, were significantly enriched in light Fe isotopes, whereas the isotopic composition of silt and sand fractions, containing most of the soil Fe, remained in the range described by biotite/chlorite samples and bulk soils. Iron pools separated by a sequential extraction procedure covered a range of 0.8‰ in δ⁵⁶Fe. For all soils the lightest isotopic composition was observed in a 1 M NH₂OH-HCl-25% acetic acid extract, targeting poorly-crystalline Fe(III)-(hydr)oxides, compared with easily leachable Fe in primary phyllosilicates (0.5 M HCl extract) and Fe in residual silicates. The combination of the Fe isotope measurements with the speciation data obtained by Fe-EXAFS spectroscopy permitted to quantitatively relate the different isotope pools forming in the soils to the mineral weathering reactions which have taken place at the field site. A kinetic isotope effect during the Fe detachment from the phyllosilicates was identified as the dominant fractionation mechanism in young weathering environments, controlling not only the light isotope signature of secondary Fe(III)-(hydr)oxides but also significantly contributing to the isotope signature of plants. The present study further revealed that this kinetic fractionation effect can persist over considerable reaction advance during chemical weathering in field systems and is not only an initial transient phenomenon.     

Evaluating artifact burial by eolian versus bioturbation processes,South Carolina Sandhills,USA

Artifacts are commonly buried by approximately 50 cm of sediment at prehistoric archeological sites (early Archaic through Mississippian) on uplands of the Sandhills of the upper Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. Bioturbation, eolian sedimentation, and colluviation are the primary processes that can explain artifact burial because of the upland position of the sites in an erosional landscape setting. Colluvial sedimentation is discounted at most of the sites because they occur on interstream divides and upper hillslope positions. Thus, the focus is on eolian sedimentation versus bioturbation as burial agents. Six sites in the midst of the Sandhills region along the corridor of South Carolina Highway 151 in Chesterfield County provide the data. The Sandhills consist primarily of Cretaceous and Tertiary marine, fluvial, and eolian sediments that are highly dissected and overlie crystalline rocks in the deep subsurface. Two of the sites are on high fluvial terrace remnants that predate 12 ka and serve as controls where bioturbation is the only reasonable burial process. Hillslope positions of the sites are on erosional elements of the landscape (crests, shoulder slopes, and upper backslopes) where sediment transfer operates (colluvial and overland flow), but where deposition is minimal. The sites occur on very sandy soils having a texture of loamy sand to sand. In some instances, a fine textured cover sand, which is about 1.5 m thick, overlies a clayey subsoil or Bt horizon. This cover sand has been interpreted by some as an eolian sand sheet that buries a second parent material and paleosol, but standard particle size and heavy mineral data indicate that it is simply a thick E horizon over a Bt horizon. Standard particle size fractionation at whole phi intervals, and particle size analysis of the heavy mineral fraction, indicate that eolian sedimentation is unlikely at five of the six sites. Heavy minerals were analyzed with respect to the sedimentological principle of hydraulic equivalence, which provides clear separation of eolian versus water-laid sediment. Results of particle size analysis suggest that the cover sands are water-laid (probably fluvial) at five of the six sites, which favors the bioturbation process of artifact burial. Heavy mineral analysis corroborates the standard particle size data, indicating that only one site, 38CT16, possibly is composed of eolian sediment. Soil profile development suggests that the age of the sediment at site 38CT16 probably is older than 12 ka and was in place prior to human occupation. Therefore, possible eolian sedimentation at that site is not relevant to artifact burial, which also suggests bioturbation is the primary process of artifact burial. Additional evidence favoring bioturbation as a vigorous artifact burial process in the Sandhills comes from the two sites on high elevation sandy fluvial terraces (38CT34, 38CT17) where artifacts are also buried. At these terraced sites bioturbation is the only possible burial process. Overall results suggest that bioturbation best explains the occurrence of buried artifacts and that eolian sedimentation processes are not readily apparent, and are not required, in explaining artifact burial. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Æolian dust deposition rates, particle-sizes and contributions to soils along a transect in semi-arid New South Wales, Australia

The entrainment, transport and deposition of æolian dust are important processes affecting soil development at the margins of deserts. To assess accurately the impact of deposited æolian dust on soil development, it is important not only to measure total dust deposition rates, but to distinguish additions of remotely and regionally sourced dust from locally derived material as well (which should not be viewed as new soil material as it is derived from æolian re‐mobilization of an existing soil). Because of the well‐established relationship between dust particle‐size and distance travelled from source, the particle‐size distribution of deposited dusts can be used to identify the distance to probable source regions, in addition to identifying matching topsoil particle populations. Three dust traps were located along a transect of semi‐arid south‐eastern Australia, to measure æolian dust deposition rates between late 2000 and late 2001. The particle‐size distributions of selected dust deposits were measured and, with the aid of meteorological data, probable dust source regions determined. Particle‐size distributions of the topsoils at each dust trap location were also measured to determine if any dust and soil particle populations matched. Although the sampling period was relatively short, and there was relatively little dust storm activity in this part of Australia during this time, a clear pattern of diminishing total dust deposition was measured downwind along the south‐east dust path. Dust deposition rates were also moderate to low by global standards. Source regions of deposited dust were interpreted as being: (i) a combination of south‐western and local sources; (ii) a combination of north‐western and local sources; and (iii) a mixed source where dust was rained‐out. The relative importance of these sources was correlated strongly with seasonal weather conditions, although the proportion of local dust in each deposit was greater at the arid (western) end of the transect. The effects of deposited dust on soil profile development are greatest at the western and central transect locations. At the western location, a fine‐grained particle population distinctive of the south‐western and north‐western regional dusts and a coarse silt‐sized particle population characteristic of local dusts, are also present in the topsoil, altering the texture of this Arenosol derived from dune sand. At the central location, where a Calcisol has formed in lacustrine lunette sediment, local dust of the same size as the dominant silt population of the topsoil continues to be deposited, while minor topsoil populations of very fine‐grained silt match regional and long‐distance dusts deposited at the site. Deposited dust appears to have been a less important soil development factor at the more humid eastern site because of the much smaller rates of dust deposition there. Nevertheless, a minor population of very fine silt particles in the Vertisol topsoil matches long‐distance dusts deposited at the site, suggesting a small input of dust to this alluvial soil. The particle‐size methodology used here has applications in other studies of dust contributions to peri‐desert soils. In particular, particle‐size distribution ‘smoothness’ may provide an indication of whether soils have simple or complex origins.     

Rapid runoff via shallow throughflow and deeper preferential flow in a boreal catchment underlain by frozen silt (Alaska, USA)

In high-latitude catchments where permafrost is present, runoff dynamics are complicated by seasonal active-layer thaw, which may cause a change in the dominant flowpaths as water increasingly contacts mineral soils of low hydraulic conductivity. A 2-year study, conducted in an upland catchment in Alaska (USA) underlain by frozen, well-sorted eolian silt, examined changes in infiltration and runoff with thaw. It was hypothesized that rapid runoff would be maintained by flow through shallow soils during the early summer and deeper preferential flow later in the summer. Seasonal changes in soil moisture, infiltration, and runoff magnitude, location, and chemistry suggest that transport is rapid, even when soils are thawed to their maximum extent. Between June and September, a shift occurred in the location of runoff, consistent with subsurface preferential flow in steep and wet areas. Uranium isotopes suggest that late summer runoff erodes permafrost, indicating that substantial rapid flow may occur along the frozen boundary. Together, throughflow and deep preferential flow may limit upland boreal catchment water and solute storage, and subsequently biogeochemical cycling on seasonal to annual timescales. Deep preferential flow may be important for stream incision, network drainage development, and the release of ancient carbon to ecosystems.     

贵州典型喀斯特区土壤地球化学特征研究

以贵州花溪党武、遵义虾子和安龙木咱3个地区的土壤为主要研究对象,从地球化学的角度研究其土壤中相关矿物元素的含量、元素在岩-土剖面中的迁移富集特征及其风化成土系数,综合表征出研究区土壤的农业地质环境特征,并对其矿物营养元素环境质量做出初步评价。研究结果表明,石灰土中矿物营养元素的淋溶较为强烈,有10种左右元素的含量低于中国或世界土壤化学组成中值,具体表现为纯的碳酸盐岩所发育的土壤中矿物营养元素的含量较少,而安龙木咱地区由于其成土母质为白云质灰岩,且所处地质环境易于汇集周边淋溶出来的营养元素,使得其土壤矿物营养元素环境质量好于其余两地,三地土壤中营养元素达标率分别为73.7%（安龙木咱）、63.1%（遵义虾子）和68.4%（花溪党武）。总体而言,碳酸盐岩风化成土作用缓慢,土层较薄,土壤营养元素含量不足,需要施用相应的矿物肥料。      

Involuntary soil ingestion and geophagia: A source and sink of mineral nutrients and potentially harmful elements to consumers of earth materials

Members of the animal kingdom, including humans, can ingest soil either involuntarily or deliberately, the latter practice being known as geophagy or geophagia. This paper briefly documents the often significant quantities of soil that can be consumed, but discusses in detail the importance of this ingestion in supplying mineral nutrients and potentially harmful elements (PHEs) to consumers of earth materials. Whilst geophagia is recognised as a multi-causal behaviour, a prevalent explanation is the ‘nutritional hypothesis’ where the deliberate consumption of soil is attributed to an attempt to regulate a mineral nutrient imbalance such as sodium deficiency. When soils encounter digestive fluids, chemical elements can be solubilised and are potentially available for absorption, sometimes to an extent where toxicity symptoms are evident. In grassland agricultural systems, two main pathways of chemical elements are recognised, the soil–plant–animal flow being complemented by the more direct soil–animal transfer of mineral nutrients and PHEs. In locations where the pasture herbage absorbs very low concentrations of chemical elements relative to the soil content, ingested soil particles can often be observed to be the major source of mineral nutrients/PHEs consumed by livestock. However, further research is required in quantifying the bioaccessibility – defined as the fraction that is soluble in the gastrointestinal tract and is potentially available for absorption – of soil-elements to animals. In this respect, regarding human nutrition, for more than a decade considerable work has been undertaken on the development of in vitro bioaccessibility tests (IVBA) that can rapidly and inexpensively estimate this portion of chemical elements from ingested soils. Work to date has demonstrated that significant amounts of some mineral nutrients, especially iron, can be bioaccessible to humans, as can quantities of PHEs such as lead. Paradoxically, some ingested soils can also result in mineral nutrient deficiency problems in humans and other members of the animal kingdom attributable, for example, to the adsorptive properties of earth materials that can effectively bind chemical elements.     

Heavy mineral weathering under acidic soil conditions

The weathering of heavy minerals in acid soil profiles (pH 4–5) has been studied in terms of their relative mineral proportions and by using the surface etching features of apatite and hornblende grains. An increasing stability order of: apatite, titanite, hornblende, garnet, epidote, zircon is found in the 45–63 μm coarse-silt fraction of soils developed on tills in southwestern Sweden. In glaciofluvial deposits, sorting processes during deposition have largely determined the variations in heavy mineral content of soils, and only the dissolution of apatite is significant. Hornblende etching is more extensive in soils with low hornblende content, indicating that the release of cations relative to the amount of hornblende is greater in such soils.     

Prehistoric gold markers and environmental change: A two‐age system for standing stones in western Ireland

The Murrisk Peninsula in southwest County Mayo is a major target for gold exploration in Ireland. The most productive areas include the Cregganbaun Shear Zone and Cregganbaun Quartzite Belt on Croagh Patrick, both geologically related to Iapetus closure, and gold is concentrated in alluvial deposits of river systems draining these areas. A comparison of gold occurrences with the location of prehistoric stone monuments reveals that simple standing‐stone monuments, though isolated from other monument types, correlate with alluvial gold. South of the Murrisk Peninsula in Connemara, isolated standing stones are associated with a wide range of mineral resources and with other monuments. Dating of the stones relative to blanket‐bog expansion and coastal landform changes indicates that standing stones were raised as markers of gold placer deposits before a climatic deterioration at 1200 B.C. Late Bronze Age monuments with a ceremonial purpose are more complex and include stone alignments. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

干旱区根土界面水分再分配及其生态水文效应研究进展与展望

水分限制环境下,植物对生境的适应直接或间接地与植物对水分资源的利用有关。目前已知,根系—土壤系统（又称根土界面）水分再分配是陆地表层系统地下生态过程的一个重要环节,它在植物对土壤水分的利用和生态系统水分循环过程中起着关键调节作用,而且对生态系统的碳氮磷循环与养分平衡等关键过程亦具有重要影响。因此,深入开展水分限制环境下根土界面水分再分配过程及其生态水文效应的研究有重要的科学意义。围绕“水分限制环境下根土界面水分再分配过程及其效应”这一核心问题,重点从根系生态学、根土界面水分再分配发生机理及其生态水文效应及影响根土界面水分再分配发生的主要因子等3个方面对国内外的研究动态及最新研究进展作比较系统的评述;在此基础上,提出了根土界面水分再分配过程及其生态水文效应研究中应重点关注和研究的几个前沿科学问题。