Innovative techniques for sport turf managing: Agronomic and phyisiological implications

The growing substrate of the putting greens is considered a key factor for a healthy turf ecosystem. Actually detailed study on the effects of growth promoting bacteria and biostimulants on a professional sport turf are very limited. This thesis aimed to study the effectiveness of different microorganisms and biostimulants in order to improve the knowledge relative to the relationship between the beneficial microflora and root apparatus of sport turfs. The research project was divided in three principal steps: Initially, commercial products based on biostimulants and microorganisms were tested on a Lolium perenne L. essence grown in a controlled-environment. The principal evaluations were the study of the habitus of plants, biomass production and length of leaves and roots. Were studied the capacity of colonization of microorganisms within root tissues and rhizosphere. In the second step were developed two different biostimulant solutions based on effective microorganisms, mycorrhizae and humic acids. This test was conducted both on an Agrostis stolonifera putting green (Modena Golf & Country Club) in a semi-field condition and within a growth chamber on a Lolium perenne L. essence. Fungicide and chemicals applications were suspended in order to assess the effectiveness of the inoculants for nutrition and control of pests. In the last step, different microorganism mixes and biostimulants were tested on an experimental putting green in the Turf Research Center (TRC) (Virginia Tech, United States) in a real managing situation. The effects of different treatments were studied maintaining all chemicals and mechanicals managements scheduled during a sport season. Both growth-chamber and field results confirmed the capacity of microorganisms based biostimulants to promote the physiologic conditions of the plants, improve the growth of the roots and enhance the aesthetic performance of the turf. Molecular analysis confirmed the capacity of microorganisms to colonize the root tissues.

(Table 1) Cation exchange capacity and other characteristics of soils common in Lower Saxony, Germany

The chemical and biochemical processes associated with the filtration of rainwater through soils, a step in groundwater recharge, were investigated. Under simulated climatic conditions in the laboratory, undisturbed soil columns of partly loamy sands, sandy soils and loess were run as lysimeters. A series of extraction procedures was carried out to determine solid matter in unaltered rock materials and in soil horizons. Drainage water and moisture movement in the columns were analysed and traced respectively. The behaviour of soluble humic substance was investigated by percolation and suspension experiments. The development of seepage-water in the unsaturated zone is closely associated with the soil genetic processes. Determining autonomous chemical and physical parameters are mineral composition and grain size distribution in the original unconsolidated host rock and prevailing climatic conditions. They influence biological activity and transport of solids, dissolved matter and gases in the unsaturated zone. Humic substances, either as amorphous solid matter or as soluble humic acids play a part in diverse sorption, solution and precipitation processes.

Diagenetic alteration of organic matter in DSDP Leg 57 Holes

I analyzed Leg 57 sediments organogeochemically and spectroscopically. Organic carbon and extractable organic matter prevail from the Pliocene to the Miocene. Humic acids occur widely from the Pleistocene to the lower Miocene and one portion of the Oligocene. The absence of humic acids in Oligocene and Cretaceous samples suggests that humic acids had changed to kerogen. Visible spectroscopic data reveal that humic acids in this study have a low degree of condensed aromatic-ring system, which is a feature of anaerobic conditions during deposition, and that chlorophyll derivatives that had at first combined with humic acids moved to the solvent- soluble fraction during diagenesis. The elemental compositions of humic acids show high H/C and O/C ratios, which seem appropriate to a stage before transformation to kerogen. The relation between the linewidths and g-values on the electron spin resonance data indicates that the free radicals in humic acids are quite different from those in kerogen. The low spin concentrations of kerogen and the yields of humic acids up to the lower Miocene demonstrate that organic matter in these sediments is immature. The foregoing indicate the necessity to isolate humic acids even in ancient rocks in the study of kerogen.

Organic geochemistry of DSDP Leg 41 holes

The black shale encountered in Cretaceous cores of the Cape Verde area during the DSDP Leg 41 are of marine origin and correspond to excellent potential oil source rocks. They have a low content of humic compounds. Pyrolysis assays, chloroformic extracts, and kerogen data attest to a relatively low stage of evolution for samples at Site 367 (Cape Verde Basin). The samples from Site 368 (Cape Verde Rise) are more evolved, and the deeper ones would be located at the beginning of the principal zone of oil formation.

Geochemistry of surface and groundwaters from lower Tom Basin wetland, western Siberia

New data are reported on the major- and trace-component compositions of acidic and weakly acidic low-concentration wetland waters and other water types. Special attention was given to dissolved organic compounds: fulvic and humic acids, bitumens, and hydrocarbons. The first comprehensive data are presented for organic trace components in the wetland waters of western Siberia: alkanes, pentacyclic terpenoids, steranes, alkylbenzenes, naphthalenes, phenanthrenes, tetraarenes, etc.

Composition of swamp waters from the lower Tom' River Basin

New data on chemical and trace component compositions of acidic and low acidic swamp waters and other types of low mineralized waters are reported in the paper. Special attention is paid to dissolved organic compounds: fulvic and humic acids, bitumen, and hydrocarbons. For the first time detailed data on organic trace components (alkanes, pentacyclic terpenoids, steranes, alkylbenzenes, naphthalenes, phenanthrenes, tetraarenes, etc.) in the swamp waters of the Western Siberia: are reported.

Organic carbon, age, lithology, and CPI-alkenes at DSDP Sites 57-440 and 56-436

"Bound" and "free" solvent-extractable lipids have been examined from Sections 440A-7-6, 440B-3-5, 440B-8-4, 440B-68-2, and 436-11-4. The compound classes studied include aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. Carotenoids and humic acids have also been examined. The quantitative results are considered in terms of input indicators, diagenesis parameters, and structural classes. A difference in input is deduced across the Japan Trench, with a higher proportion of autochthonous components on the western inner trench slope compared with the more easterly, outer trench, wall and greater input in the early Pleistocene than in the Miocene. A variety of diagenetic transformations is observed at Site 440 as sample depth increases. Results are compared with those of samples from Atlantic Cretaceous sediments and from the Walvis Bay high productivity area.

Organic matter from black shales collected in DSDP Holes 41-367 and 41-368

It is shown that microscopic algae dominate in source material of organic matter of black shales, and admixture of residues of organisms and terrestrial humic material is contained. The main direction of source material transformation during syngenesis and sedimentogenesis is associated with jellofication resulting to formation of organic matter of significantly sapropelic type. Low reflectance of vitrinite and alginite from organic matter refer to the primary and secondary lignite stages of its carbonification. Significantly sapropel type of organic matter and low stage of carbonification are reliable criteria for assigning black shales to the category of potential oil source strata.

Bitumen and n-alkanes in organic matter from sedimentary rocks sampled in DSDP Holes 47-397A and 47-398

A study of samples from DSDP Leg 47 shows that transformation of organic matter in deep sea sediments is completly analogous to evolution of organic matter in sedimentary sequences on continents and depends on the same factors. Crucial among these factors are: genesis of organic matter, nature of its diagenetic changes, and current stage of catagenesis.

Organic compounds and bitumen in surface sediments from the Pechora Bay

Detailed geochemical investigations of bottom sediments in the Pechora Bay were carried out under a monitoring regime. The regional geochemical background is characterized. Organic matter of sediments is found to be clastic, formed under the influence of Pechora River run-off, and determined by genetic and lithofacial factors. An application of geochemical methodology is suggested for estimating hydrocarbon contamination of bottom sediments. As an example consequences of the accidental Usinsky oil spill are studied. They are based on analysis of composition of molecular markers. It is shown that increasing technogenic impact on Pechora Bay sediments is fixed only at molecular level and is not disastrous.

Geochemical analysis of sediments and interstitial water in sediment cores from the North-West African continental margin and from the Central Pacific

A. Continental slope sediments off Spanish-Sahara and Senegal contain up to 4% organic carbon and up to 0.4% total nitrogen. The highest concentrations were found in sediments from water depths between 1000 and 2000 m. The regional and vertical distribution of organic matter differs significantly. Off Spanish-Sahara the organic matter content of sediment deposited during glacial times (Wuerm, Late Riss) is high whereas sediments deposited during interglacial times (Recent, Eem) are low in organic matter. Opposite distribution was found in sediments off Senegal. The sediments contain 30 to 130 ppm of fixed nitrogen. In most sediments this corresponds to 2-8 % of the total nitrogen. Only in sediments deposited during interglacial times off Spanish-Sahara up to 20 % of the total nitrogen is contained as inorganically bound nitrogen. Positive correlations of the fixed nitrogen concentrations to the amounts of clay, alumina, and potassium suggest that it is primarily fixed to illites. The amino acid nitrogen and hexosamine nitrogen account for 17 to 26 % and 1.3 to 2.4 %, respectively of the total nitrogen content of the sediments. The concentrations vary between 200 and 850 ppm amino acid nitrogen and 20 to 70 ppm hexosamine nitrogen, both parallel the fluctiations of organic matter in the sediment. Fulvic acids, humic acids, and the total organic matter of the sediments may be clearly differentiated from one another and their amino acid and hexosamine contents and their amino acid composition: a) Fulvic acids contain only half as much amino acids as humic acids b) The molar amino acid/hexosamine ratios of the fulvic acids are half those of the humic acids and the total organic matter of the sediment c) The amino acid spectra of fulvic acids are characterized by an enrichment of aspartic acid, alanine, and methionine sulfoxide and a depletion of glycine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, lysine, and arginine compared to the spectra of the humic acids and those of the total organic matter fraction of the sediment. d) The amino acid spectra of the humic acids and those of the total organic matter fraction of the sediments are about the same with the exception that arginine is clearly enriched in the total organic matter. In general, as indicated by the amino compounds humic acids resemble closer the total organic matter composition than the low molecular fulvic acids do. This supports the general idea that during the course of diagenesis in reducing sediments organic matter stabilizes from a fulvic-like structure to humic-like structure and finally to kerogen. The decomposition rates of single aminio acids differ significantly from one another. Generally amino acids which are preferentially contained in humic acids and the total organic matter fraction show a smaller loss with time than those preferably well documented in case of the basic amino acids lysine and arginine which- although thermally unstable- are the most stable amino acids in the sediments. A favoured incorporation of these compounds into high molecular substances as well as into clay minerals may explain their relatively high "stability" in the sediment. The nitrogen loss from the sediments due to the activity of sulphate-reducing bacteria amounts to 20-40 % of the total organic nitrogen now present. At least 40 % of the organic nitrogen which is liberated by sulphate-reducing bacteria can be explained ny decomposition of amino acids alone. B. Deep-sea sediments from the Central Pacific The deep-seas sediments contain 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less organic matter than the continental slope sediments off NW Africa, i.e. 0.04 to 0.3 % organic carbon. The fixed nitrogen content of the deep-sea sediments ranges from 60 to 270 ppm or from 20 to 45 % of the total nitrogen content. While ammonia is the prevailing inorganic nitrogen compound in anoxic pore waters, nitrate predominates in the oxic environment of the deep-sea sediments. Near the sediment/water interface interstital nitrate concentrations of around 30 µg-at. N/l were recorded. These generally increase with sediment depth by 10 to 15 µg-at. NO3- N/l. This suggests the presence of free oxygen and the activity of nitrifying bacteria in the interstitial waters. The ammonia content of the interstitial water of the oxic deep-sea sediments ranges from 2 to 60 µg-at. N/l and thus is several orders of magnitude less than in anoxic sediments. In contrast to recorded nitrate gradients towards the sediments/water interface, there are no ammonia concentration gradients. However, ammonia concentrations appear to be characteristic for certain regional areas. It is suggested that this regional differentiation is caused by ion exchange reactions involving potassium and ammonium ions rather than by different decomposition rates of organic matter. C. C/N ratios All estimated C/N ratios of surface sediments vary between 3 and 9 in the deep-sea and the continental margin, respectively. Whereas the C/N ratios generally increase with depth in the sediment cores off NW Africa they decrease in the deep-sea cores. The lowest values of around 1.3 were found in the deeper sections of the deep-sea cores, the highest of around 10 in the sediments off NW Africa. The wide range of the C/N ratios as well as their opposite behaviour with increasing sediment depth in both the deep-sea and continental margin sediment cores, can be attributed mainly to the combination of the following three factors: 1. Inorganic and organic substances bound within the latticed of clay minerals tend to decrease the C/N ratios. 2. Organic matter not protected by absorption on the clay minerals tends to increase C/N ratios 3. Diagenetic alteration of organic matter by micro-organisms tends to increase C/N ratios through preferential loss of nitrogen The diagenetic changes of the microbially decomposable organic matter results in both oxic and anoxic environments in a preferential loss of nitrogen and hence in higher C/N ratios of the organic fraction. This holds true for most of the continental margin sediments off NW Africa which contain relatively high amounts of organic matter so that factors 2 and 3 predominate there. The relative low C/N ratios of the sediments deposited during interglacial times off Spanish-Sahara, which are low in organic carbon, show the increasing influence of factor 1 - the nitrogen-rich organic substances bound to clay minerals. In the deep-sea sediments from the Central Pacific this factor completely predominates so that the C/N rations of the sediments approach that of the substance absorbed to clay minerals with decreasing organic matter content. In the deeper core sections the unprotected organic matter has been completely destroyed so that the C/N ratios of the total sediments eventually fall into the same range as those of the pure clay mineral fraction.

Organic matter in bottom sediments of the Northeast Pacific

The book is devoted to study of diagenetic changes of organic matter and mineral part of sediments and interstitial waters of the Pacific Ocean due to physical-chemical and microbiological processes. Microbiological studies deal with different groups of bacteria. Regularities of quantitative distribution and the role of microorganisms in geochemical processes are under consideration. Geochemical studies highlight redox processes of the early stages of sediment diagenesis, alterations of interstitial waters, regularities of variations in chemical composition of iron-manganese nodules.