Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80). Also available via the Internet.

The biology and ecology of the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus Hoffmeister, 1843, and its effects on the turn-over of organic matter and soil are not well known. To gather this information, the ingestion and egestion rates were measured using a litterbag technique and the transport of organic matter was quantified with a newly developed method, using soil columns to which ¹⁴C labelled plant material was added. The feeding habits of the worm were positively influenced by temperature in wet soils (> -15m of water) and were negatively influenced in dry soil (< -15 m of water). The total egestion rate changed from 0.3 g.g⁻¹.day⁻¹ at 5 °C to 1.0 g.g⁻¹. day⁻¹ at 20° C in moist soil (- 5 m of water). The egestion rate at medium range temperatures, 10 and 15° C, was less affected by drought stress than at 5 and 20 °C. The egestion rate of carbon was a more stable parameter than the total egestion rate, and ranged from approximately 20 mg.g⁻¹.day⁻¹ at 5 °C, to 50 mg.g⁻¹.day⁻¹ at 20 °C. The moisture and temperature effects were apparent in the Q₁₀ of the total egestion rate and of the egestion rate of carbon. The Q₁₀ ranged from 1.66 in wet soils to 3.27 in dry soils in the 5-15 °C interval and from 1.98 to 0.32 in the 10-20 °C range. For the egestion rate of carbon, the Q₁₀ ranged from 1.92 to 3.21 and from 1.28 to 0.47, respectively. The body water content of the worm varied considerably with the soil water potential, and reached a maximum level of 5.5 kg.kg⁻¹ (dwt) between -15 metres of water and -30 metres of water. When under drought stress, worms stopped ingesting large quantities of soil, switched to a diet high in organic matter and lowered their activity. In the ¹⁴C column experiment, the total cast production was significantly related to depth. L. rubellus produced 15 % of the cast on the surface of the soil, 46 % in the 0-5 cm layer, 22 % in the 5-10 cm layer and 16 % in the 10-15 cm layer. Independent calculations from a) the uptake of ¹⁴C labelled carbon in earthworms, b) removal of litter from the surface and c) ¹⁴C label recovered from cast, showed that the worms ingested 78-82 % of the offered organic matter as shoot litter and 18-22 % as root litter. ¹⁴C originating from shoot and root litter was recovered in casts throughout the profile, indicating that the worms mixed food from all layers. The total egestion rate found in the column experiment was 5.2 times higher than was found in the litterbag technique under comparable conditions (2.34 vs 0.45 g.g⁻¹.day⁻¹). The egestion rate of carbon was similar in both techniques (37.1 vs. 46.1 mg.g⁻¹.day⁻¹, 10 °C). In preliminary litterbag trials, it was found that L. rubellus egested 15.5 mg.g⁻¹.day⁻¹ of carbon (5 °C) for each of four food types offered. The 5 °C temperature trial of the litterbag technique, showed a similar amount of carbon egested. It was concluded that the worm needed a constant amount of carbon to provide nutrients and energy, of which a part or all may originate from ingested microorganisms. Based on the distribution of cast in the profile and the feeding strategies of L. rubellus, it was concluded that this earthworm cannot be classified as an epigeic worm. A new strategy class was proposed: eurygeic worms, earthworms living in the litter-soil interface, mixing organic matter into the profile and mineral soil into the litter layer. Based on the literature and results from the present study, a computer model was developed to simulate the longterm effects of earthworms on an agricultural soil system. Simulations of the mixing of soil and organic matter in a limited-till agricultural system, showed that earthworms negatively affected the accumulation rate of surface litter and positively affected the organic matter content of the mineral soil. The model can be used to predict the trends in organic matter in soils, important in soil conservation, mine reclamation and reforestation. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

Thesis (Habilitation)--Universität Leipzig, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-177).

No description available.

Seismic wave testing has become increasingly popular in site investigation. This is due to the fact that the principles involved are becoming more accepted and that the equipment are becoming more available and reliable. This dissertation presents the required theory behind one seismic test in particular, the Continuous Surface Wave (CSW) method of seismic testing. The attributes of seismic testing are presented along with a summary of various testing methods. The dissertation also demonstrates that the author developed his own system for completing this test and demonstrated that he successfully used it to measure the stiffness of two soil profiles. The author compared the stiffness as measured using the CSW method with the strength as measured using the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) for two soil profiles, and the in situ profile was compared to a compacted profile. The author demonstrated that the in situ profile had a higher stiffness than the same soil after it was thoroughly compacted and that the DCP results concur. This was caused by the in situ profile being structured and the compacted profile not. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Civil Engineering / MSc / Unrestricted

A mechanical, non-contact soil profile meter was developed to measure soil elevations before and after an artificial rainfall for erosion studies. The design goals were to measure the heights of the soil in a 1.5 x 1.5 m bin with an accuracy of ±1.0 mm and at a data collection rate of 2 points per second. The profiler consisted of a laser and a digital camera for height measurements, and a drive system for horizontal movement. The device was calibrated to determine the accuracy of horizontal positioning and the error associated with the height measurements. The positioning accuracy of the profiler was ±0.12 mm and the calibrated height error was ±0.68 mm. The rate of data collection was 32 points per minute. The calibrated height measurement unit was tested with actual soil samples. The analysis of the data collected from 9 different soil colors at 3 different heights and 5 different locations along the profiler indicated that color, rod deflection, and vertical distance between the lens and the surface affected the height measurements. The error for absolute heights was 1.2 mm and the error for the difference in heights was 0.2 mm. The outdoor performance of the profiler was also checked and the result was satisfactory. / M.S.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, .Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / An Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) has been developed for rangeland condition assessment in arid northwestern Namibia. The usefulness of termites as bio-indlcators has been tested and reliable sampling protocol for termite diversity in an arid ervlronrnent has been developed. The study was conducted mainly at a high- and low-intensity site on each of three farms. Two of the farms were communally owned; the other was commercially owned. (Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2019

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves 319-329. / Microfiche. / lMaster negative: Microfiche MS33170. / xxiii, 329 leaves, bound ill., maps 29 cm

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-10-06Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:43:29Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ferreira_sr_dr_rcla.pdf: 9229845 bytes, checksum: 94c7f5d9a6e17d171ba1642e654d089e (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Neste trabalho são analisados perfis de solo das formações Rio Claro e Piraçununga, na região dos municípios homônimos, com relação às características morfológicas, granulométricas e mineralógicas, com vistas ao entendimento de sua evolução. A partir destas informações e aplicando a técnica de pedoestratigrafia, foi possível estabelecer a ocorrência de uma Unidade Pedoestratigráfica, soterrada por arenitos fluviais das formações estudadas. Os principais minerais encontrados nos perfis de solo são quartzo e caulinita, secundariamente gibsita, clorita, óxidos e hidróxidos de ferro e traços de feldspatos. Ocorrem, ainda, argilominerais interestratificados: nos solos da Formação Rio Claro, encontrou-se caulinita/esmectita e montmorilonita/sepiolita; nos solos da Formação Piraçununga, montmorilonita/vermiculita e caulinita/haloisita. A presença de argilominerais estáveis e instáveis conjuntamente, bem como os índices ki e kr, evidenciam que estes solos ainda não atingiram o grau máximo de pedogênese, constituindo perfis relativamente jovens como os pertencentes às classes dos Cambissolos, Nitossolos e Neossolos; que recobrem antigos solos da Unidade Pedoestratigráfica identificada na base dos perfis. Sedimentos das formações Rio Claro e Piraçununga, amostrados nos perfis estudados, foram datados por termoluminescência, apresentando idades do Pleistoceno e do limite Pleistoceno/Holoceno. A mais antiga foi determinada em perfil da Formação Rio Claro, datando de 745000 AP, e a mais recente, em perfil da Formação Piraçununga, com 15000 AP, esta última em depósitos coluvionares sobrepostos. Os materiais que constituem os perfis modais foram datados entre 400000 AP e 145000 AP, em ambas unidades. / Soil profiles of Rio Claro and Piraçununga formations are analyzed, in the vicinity of the cities of the same names, with respect to their morphologic, textural and mineralogical characteristics, looking for their pedological evolution. By applying the concepts of Pedostratigraphy, it was stablished one Pedostratigraphic Unit, buried by fluvial sandstones of both units. The main minerals found in soil profiles are quartz and kaolinite; secondary gibbsite, chlorite, iron oxides and hydroxides; and trace feldspar. There were also found interstratified clay minerals: kaolinite/smectite and montmorillonite/sepiolite in soil profiles of Rio Claro Formation; montmorillonite/vermiculite and kaolinite/halloysite in soil profiles of Piraçununga Formation. The occurrence of stable and unstable clay minerals together and the values of ki and kr, indicate that the studied soils have not achieved the maximum grade of pedogenetic development and may be compared to young soils like Inceptsols, Alfisols and Entisols, that overly an old soil of the Pedostratigraphic Unit at the base of the soil profiles. The sandstones of Rio Claro and Piraçununga formations were dated by the method of thermoluminescence, revealing ages of the Pleistocene and of the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. The oldest age was determined for Rio Claro Formation (745000 AP) and the youngest for the Piraçununga Formation (15000 AP). The sediments of modal soil profiles of both formations range from 400000 AP to 145000 AP ages.