Soils of the tropics

The conditions for soil development in the lowland tropics are described, in particular the soil-forming factors, climate, parent material, topography and organisms, and their interactions through time. Of particular importance is the climate of the lowland tropics, which has a major influence on the nature of soil development because of high temperatures and the duration of the periods when the soil is moist. The nature of the parent material is also a major determinant of the nature of the soil. Because soil development has taken place in much of the tropics over long time periods, the soils have distinctive characteristics. Soil-forming processes are described briefly, in particular the nature of the weathering of the inorganic fraction of the soil, and the removal of soluble materials in leaching and the translocation of materials in suspension. Typical soils developed in the humid and seasonally moist tropics are briefly described, and comparisons made between the two most widely used international soil classifications, Soil Taxonomy and World Reference Base for Soil Resources. Some of the other soils found within the tropics are briefly described.

A three-dimensional tunnel model for calculation of train-induced ground vibration

The frequency range of interest for ground vibration from underground urban railways is approximately 20 to 100 Hz. For typical soils, the wavelengths of ground vibration in this frequency range are of the order of the spacing of train axles, the tunnel diameter and the distance from the tunnel to nearby building foundations. For accurate modelling, the interactions between these entities therefore have to be taken into account. This paper describes an analytical three-dimensional model for the dynamics of a deep underground railway tunnel of circular cross-section. The tunnel is conceptualised as an infinitely long, thin cylindrical shell surrounded by soil of infinite radial extent. The soil is modelled by means of the wave equations for an elastic continuum. The coupled problem is solved in the frequency domain by Fourier decomposition into ring modes circumferentially and a Fourier transform into the wavenumber domain longitudinally. Numerical results for the tunnel and soil responses due to a normal point load applied to the tunnel invert are presented. The tunnel model is suitable for use in combination with track models to calculate the ground vibration due to excitation by running trains and to evaluate different track configurations. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

黄土高原典型土壤有机氮矿化过程

以黄土高原从北向南不同地区典型土壤类为对象,采用Bremner淹水培养法,研究黄土高原典型土壤有机氮的矿化过程。结果表明,淹水培养期间矿化出的部分NH4+-N会被粘土矿物固定,固定量因土壤不同而异,因此在测定有机氮矿化量时,只有考虑这一部分氮素,才可获得可靠结果。不同土壤有机氮量矿化明显不同,表现为土垫旱耕人为土>黄土正常新成土>简育干润均腐土>干润砂质新成土,从南到北氮素矿化量呈减小趋势。添加C/N低(C/N比为21.7)的紫花苜蓿(Medicago stativa)茎叶有利于促进土壤有机氮矿化,而添加C/N高(C/N比为43.3)的长芒草(Stipa bungeana)会促进矿质氮的生物固定;不同类型植被土壤间在培养20、40d和60d时的矿化量差异显著(p值分别为0.0177、0.0109和0.0073),均表现为均为林地土壤>裸地土壤>草地土壤>农田土壤;从平均看,加(NH4)2SO4后有机氮矿化量有一定减少。在不同培养阶段,不同土类间氮素矿化率不同,在20d和40d时存在显著差异(p分别为0.0092和0.0381),60d时差异不显著,不同土类氮素矿化率的大小顺序为干润砂质新成土>黄土正常新成土>...

中国几种典型农田土壤磷素固液相分配规律

土壤养分、污染物的生物有效性与其固液相分配规律密切相关。本研究通过室内模拟试验,设置不同的水、热、肥条件和培养时间序列,采用高速离心法对红壤、黑土、潮土、黑垆土、塿土5种典型土壤的磷素固液相分配规律及其影响因素进行了探讨。结果表明,质地不同土壤磷素固液相分配系数(Kd)值差别很大,整体变化趋势是红壤>黑垆土>塿土>黑土>潮土。不同培养条件下土壤磷素固液相分配系数(Kd)值变化特征表现出随着培养时间延长,土壤磷素Kd值增大,土壤磷素生物有效性逐渐降低。水吸力、浓度与之相反,随着水吸力的增加土壤磷素Kd值变小,随着施入磷素浓度的增加而Kd值降低。在整个温度梯度中,当温度处于20￣25℃左右时,土壤磷素Kd值达到最小值,液相磷素含量相对增多,养分有效性增强。

铵态氮肥对黄土高原典型土壤氮素激发效应的影响

以黄土高原从北向南不同地区典型土壤类型为对象,采用Bremner淹水培养法,研究铵态氮肥对黄土高原典型土壤氮素的激发效应。结果表明,在测定NH4+-N的激发效应时,只有考虑粘土矿物对有机氮矿化产物或者添加NH4+-N的固定,才可获得可靠结果。在培养20 d和60 d时,NH4+-N对不同土类氮素激发效应存在极显著和显著的影响(P≤0.01和<0.05);培养40 d时,尽管不同土类氮素激发效应也存在很大差异,但统计检验不显著。从整体评价,NH4+-N对土垫旱耕人为土和黄土正常新成土表现出正的激发效应,而对干润砂质新成土表现出负的激发效应,对简育干润均腐土在培养20 d和40 d时无激发效应,而在培养60 d时,表现出显著的负激发效应。结果还看出,在培养40 d和60 d时,NH4+-N对农田土壤表现出负激发效应,对林地和裸地土壤表现出正激发效应,而草地土壤在培养40 d时为正激发效应;培养20 d和60 d时无激发效应。添加有机物料在培养20 d和40 d时对激发效应的影响不显著(P=0.0872和0.1641),培养时间延长至60 d时影响显著(P=0.049)。添加紫花苜蓿(Medicago sati-v...

土壤类型和添加有机物料对铵态氮回收的影响

探讨NH4+-N回收率在不同因素下的变化规律。【方法】以黄土高原从北向南不同地区的典型土壤类型为对象,采用Bremner浸取法,研究了土壤类型、植被类型、施肥模式及添加有机物料对铵态氮回收率的影响。【结果】不同类型土壤及不同类型植被间NH4+-N回收率存在极显著差异(P<0.01)。黄土正常新成土的NH4+-N回收率最高(88.8%),极显著大于其他土壤,土垫旱耕人为土的NH4+-N回收率最低(81.0%),简育干润均腐土和干润砂质新成土介于二者之间;不同类型植被间,林地土壤的NH4+-N回收率(91.0%)极显著高于其他类型植被土壤,其他类型植被土壤的NH4+-N回收率表现为农田(85.5%)>裸地(83.8%)>草地(83.6%),但三者之间差异不显著。添加有机物料后,土壤NH4+-N回收率极显著增加(P<0.01),不添加有机物料对照土壤的NH4+-N回收率为84.3%,添加长毛草和苜蓿后的NH4+-N回收率分别为86.6%和85.9%。长期施肥对土壤NH4+-N的回收率无显著影响(P=0.436 5>0.05)。【结论】NH4+-N回收率与粘粒含量呈弱负相关,与有机质含量呈正相关,粘土矿物对N...

Potential use of the veris apparent EC sensor to predict soil texture under the semi-arid conditions of central Arizona

The operational details of the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) sensor manufactured by Veris Technologies have been extensively documented in literature reports, but the geographical distribution of these research studies indicate a strong regional concentration in the US Mid-west and Southern states. The agricultural lands of these states diverge significantly to the soil conditions and water regime of irrigated land in the US South-western states such as Arizona where there is no previous research reports of the use of this particular sensor. The objectives of the present study were to analyze the performance of this sensor under the conditions of typical soils in irrigated farms of Central Arizona. We tested under static conditions the performance of the sensor on three soils of contrasting texture. Observations were collected as time series data as soil moisture changed from saturation to permanent wilting point. Observations were repeated at the hours of lowest and highest temperatures. In addition, this study included soil penetration resistance and salinity determinations. Preliminary results indicate that soil temperature of the upper layer caused the most dynamic change in the sensor output. The ECa curves of the three soil textures tested had well defined distinctive characteristics. Final multivariate analysis is pending.

Morfofisiologia da cunhã cultivada sob estresse salino

The experiment was developed based on the importance of the nutritional factor cunhã for large and small, animals and on the growth of this forage in typical soils of the semiarid region, generally with salinity from natural or anthropogenic action. The experiment was performed in vessels with a capacity of 5kg prepared in a protected environment with full sunshine in the Department of Technology and Social Sciences (DTCS) of UNEB Campus III in Juazeiro - BA. It evaluated the effect of seven different salt concentrations on increasing levels of irrigation water electrical conductivity - ECw (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 dS/m), at room temperature. The analysis of culture were taken every seven days observing the number of leaves, stem diameter, plant, plant length and total chlorophyll content at 13; 20; 27; 34 and 40 days after the start of irrigation with saline. The contents of proline, the ratio aero part/Root (AP/Rt), the root length and water content were evaluated in the 40 th day after the onset of treatment. The results showed that the elevation of ECw affected all variables.

Morfofisiologia da cunhã cultivada sob estresse salino

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Modelling trickle irrigation: Comparison of analytical and numerical models for estimation of wetting front position with time

Irrigation practices that are profligate in their use of water have come under closer scrutiny by water managers and the public. Trickle irrigation has the propensity to increase water use efficiency but only if the system is designed to meet the soil and plant conditions. Recently we have provided a software tool, WetUp (http://www.clw.csiro.au/products/wetup/), to calculate the wetting patterns from trickle irrigation emitters. WetUp uses an analytical solution to calculate the wetted perimeter for both buried and surface emitters. This analytical solution has a number of assumptions, two of which are that the wetting front is defined by water content at which the hydraulic conductivity (K) is I mm day(-1) and that the flow occurs from a point source. Here we compare the wetting patterns calculated with a 2-dimensional numerical model, HYDRUS2D, for solving the water flow into typical soils with the analytical solution. The results show that the wetting patterns are similar, except when the soil properties result in the assumption of a point source no longer being a good description of the flow regime. Difficulties were also experienced with getting stable solutions with HYDRUS2D for soils with low hydraulic conductivities. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.