Chloride and Organic Chlorine in Soil

Chloride is ubiquitous in soil, but the past years of research have revealed that organic matter also contains chlorine, in amounts similar to that of phosphorus. Hence, one of the major constituents of soil organic matter has previously been overlooked, and still very little is known about the turnover of organic chlorine in soil. In spite of the obvious connection between chloride and organic chlorine, organic chlorine rarely is considered when the biogeochemical cycling of chloride is in focus, and chloride rarely is taken into account when the occurrence and formation of natural organic chlorine compounds are in focus. The aim of the paper is to review ten years of research concerning the biogeochemical cycling of organic chlorine in soil, and to tie the biogeochemical cycling of organic chlorine to that of chloride.     

Historische Entwicklung einer Sedimentbelastung: Gedächtnis einer Industrieregion Historical Trends of Sediment Loads: Memory of an Industrial Region

The chronologies are shown of sediment load on the banks of a river of the Ruhr district (Lippe) with radionuclides of radium, lead and cesium and preliminary chemical measurements for lead, zinc, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, barium, PAHs, PCDDs, PCDFs, PCBs, TOC, AOX and EOX. A new method of dating is developed and proved, which is especially suitable for rivers with radioactivity from coal mines. The method improves the well-known excess-²¹⁰Pb-dating for the use with rivers in industrial regions and allows the preparation of load histories (chronologies). Conclusions are made on the historical trend of emissions in the region from the trend of the sediment load of known age and regular sedimentation without perturbation.