Effect of granule size and the placement geometry on the efficiency of urea supergranules for wetland rice grown on a permeable soil

In a laboratory experiment 5 cm depth of water was allowed to percolate daily down through a 15 cm thick soil (Typic Ustipsamment) layer. It was observed that leaching losses of urea supergranules (USG)-N could be decreased by about 20% by the placement of four 0.25 g granules at four points instead of one 1 g granule at one point. In field microplots, the placement of approximately 30 granules of 0.30 g size instead of 9 granules of 1.00 g size resulted in reduced leaching of USG-N and, in turn, increased rice yield. In a follow-up field study, the advantage of more frequently placed USG was confirmed. As compared with 1 g USG placed in the usual manner in the center of four rice hills, increasing the density of placement in soil produced 15% more rice grain. Further increase in rice yield could be obtained by increasing the number of USG placed in the soil and decreasing the size of the granule from 1.00 g to 0.70 or 0.35 g. With USG of 0.35 and 0.70 g yields were equal or sometimes even slightly higher than with split application of prilled urea on a heavily percolating, low-CEC, light-textured soil.     

In vitro effects of urease inhibitors on rate of urea hydrolysis in soils

We studied the effect of urease inhibitors on the urea hydrolysis in some Sundanese soils belonging to the orders of Vertisol and Entisol. The hydrolysis showed a lag period of about 3 days and its rate (Y) per unit time (t) could be described by a two constants exponential equation of the general form Y = K₁t^K ₂. Statistical analysis showed that the intercept K₁ (rate of urea hydrolysis) was significantly affected by soil type rather than treatment. It seems that K₁ is associated with the soils' initial urease activity as it closely correlates with the Michaelis constant (km).The gradient, K₂, being significantly affected by soil type as well as treatment is probably associated with the induced urease activity with time and it, therefore, varied with variations in soils and treatments. Of the so-called urease inhibitors used in this study Ca(OH)₂, p-benzoquinone (PBQ) and orthophosphoric acid (OP) only PBQ reduced urea hydrolysis while the other chemicals have effects possibly related to modifying the soil pH. Inhibitor treated soils had substantial amounts of unacounted for N which was believed to be present, presumably, in the form of carbamate.Contribution from the Department of Biochemistry and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shambat, Sudan.     

Bauxite residue (red mud) increases phosphorus retention in sandy soil catchments in Western Australia

The Peel-Harvey estuary on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia has become eutrophic partly because of the leaching of fertiliser phosphorus from sandy soils. The acid, coarse textured sandy soils are predominantly quartz, have a low iron and aluminium content and do not retain phosphorus. Red mud, derived from bauxite, is a by-product of the alumina industry and has the ability to retain phosphorus. Retention of phosphorus is enhanced when the red mud is neutralised with gypsum. Red mud has been suggested as a soil amendment to reduce phosphorus leaching.To investigate the reduction in the leaching of phosphorus from soils amended with red mud, weirs were constructed at the outlets from a pair of catchments to quantify the amount of phosphorus in the streamflow. Both catchments were deep grey Bassendean sand. One of the catchments was treated with 80 t/ha of red mud which had been neutralised with waste gypsum from the phosphate industry. The red mud was applied to the soil surface using conventional fertiliser spreading equipment. The other catchment was untreated.The red mud reduced phosphorus loss by 70% from 13.8 kg/ha on the untreated catchment, to 4.2 kg/ha on the treated catchment. Both catchments were treated with 20.4 kg/ha of phosphorus as superphosphate. The catchment treated with red mud also received a further 41.5 kg/ha of phosphorus from the phosphogypsum that was used to neutralise the red mud.Our results show that red mud reduces phosphorus leaching and is potentially a nutrient management option in sandy soils. Red mud has the potential to reduce the impact of agriculture on the estuarine environment and has implications for the continued expansion and intensification of agriculture in the Peel-Harvey catchment.     

The effect of nitrogenous fertilizers on the nitrification of forest soils

The effect of fertilization with urea and ammonium nitrate on nitrogen mineralization was studied in a series of laboratory incubation experiments. The samples (humus layer) were collected from field experiments with different applications of fertilizers during a period of 11–14 years. The nitrogen fertilization influenced some chemical properties of the humus layer such as pH, N-Kjeldahl content and the content of inorganic nitrogen, especially in the samples from North Sweden. Nitrate nitrogen was formed in humus samples classified as non-nitrifying in several cases, usually after urea fertilization.     

考虑禁锢空气影响的层状土壤Green-Ampt入渗模型及试验验证

为考虑土壤孔隙中禁锢空气对入渗水流的阻滞作用,引入饱和度系数Sa（Sa小于1）来量化湿润区的饱和程度,建立了改进的层状土壤Green-Ampt入渗模型（MGAM）,并提出了由土壤物理特性参数估算Sa的计算公式。为检验MGAM的适用性,分别在室内长土柱和田间进行层状土壤的积水入渗试验,并采用MGAM、传统的Green-A...     

Effective dimensions and relative frequencies

Consider the problem of calculating the fractal dimension of a set X consisting of all infinite sequences S over a finite alphabet Σ that satisfy some given condition P on the asymptotic frequencies with which various symbols from Σ appear in S. Solutions to this problem are known in cases where

(i)

the fractal dimension is classical Hausdorff or packing dimension (by work of Volkmann and Olsen), or

(ii)

the fractal dimension is effective (even finite-state) and the condition Pcompletely specifies an empirical distribution π over Σ, i.e., a limiting frequency of occurrence for every symbol in Σ.

In this paper, we show how to calculate the finite-state dimension (equivalently, the finite-state compressibility) of such a set X when the condition P only imposes partial constraints on the limiting frequencies of symbols. Our results automatically extend to less restrictive effective fractal dimensions (e.g., polynomial-time, computable, and constructive dimensions), and they have the classical results (i) as immediate corollaries. Our methods are nevertheless elementary and, in most cases, simpler than those by which the classical results were obtained.     

Residual phosphate fertilizer compounds in soils

A variety of P compounds can accumulate in soils as residues of fertilizer and may influence soil test versus plant yield relationships. This work evaluates specific chemical extractants for their capacity to identify such Al, Fe and Ca phosphates in soils as a basis for increasing the precision of yield prediction. Aluminium phosphate, iron phosphate, calcium phosphate (apatite) and P sorbed onto gibbsite, goethite and calcite were added to four Western Australian lateritic soils. These soils were then subjected to sequential selective extraction using a modified Chang and Jackson procedure in order to evaluate the selectivity of these extractants for the different forms of P with the sequence of extraction: 1 M NH₄Cl, 0.5 M NH₄F, 0.1 M NaOH + 1 M NaCl, citrate-dithionite-bicarbonate (CDB), 1 M NaOH and 1 M HCl. The results show that the procedure is not sufficiently specific and thus might be of little value for estimating the forms and amounts of residues of phosphate rock fertilizers in soils.     

层状土壤条件下地下滴灌水氮运移模型及应用

基于土壤水分运动的动力学方程和溶质运移的对流-弥散方程,考虑地下滴灌灌水器流量随时间的变化,建立了层状土壤地下滴灌施用硝酸铵(NH4NO3)条件下水氮运移的数学模型。利用均质砂土(S)、均质壤土(L)、上砂下壤(SL)和砂土夹层(LSL)四种土壤的试验数据对模型进行了验证。结果指出,考虑土壤中灌水器流量随时间变化可稍改善土壤含水率和硝态氮的模拟精度。利用验证后的数学模型研究了灌水器流量(1.1、1.75和2.6L/h)、灌水器与犁底层相对位置对地下滴灌水氮分布的影响,模拟结果表明灌水器流量对含水率分布的影响不明显,但灌水器流量的增大可明显增加20~40cm土层硝态氮含量;灌水器与犁底层相对位置对水氮分布影响显著,灌水器位于犁底层中(埋深25cm)土壤表层干土层较薄、水氮向下运移深度较小,有利于减小土壤蒸发和避免水氮淋失。     

Energy flux characteristics of seismic waves at the interface between soil layers with different saturations

Based on the multiphase poroelasticity theory describing the propagation of waves in the unsaturated fluid-saturated porous medium, the reflection and transmission coefficients of the seismic waves at the interface between soil layers with different saturations are obtained. Our unsaturated model consists of a deformable skeleton in which two compressible and viscous fluids (i.e., water and gas) flow in the interstices. Three compressional waves (i.e., P1, P2, and P3 waves) and one shear (i.e., S wave) wave exist in the unsaturated soils. The expressions for the energy ratios of the various reflected and transmitted waves at the interface during the transmission and reflection processes are presented in explicit forms accordingly. At last, numerical computations are performed and the results obtained are respectively depicted graphically. The variation of the energy ratios with the incident angle, wave frequency and saturation degrees of the upper and lower soil layers is illustrated in detail. The calculation results show that the allocation of incident seismic waves at the interface is influenced not only by the angle and frequency of the incident seismic waves, but also by the saturations of the upper and lower soil layers. It is also verified that, at the interface, the sum of energy ratios of the reflected and transmitted waves is approximately equal to unity as was expected. This study is of importance to several fields such as geotechnical engineering, seismology, and geophysics.     

Zinc equilibria in submerged sodic soils as influenced by application of amendments

In a pot culture experiment, the effect of gypsum (50% of soil requirement), pyrites (equivalent to gypsum), farmyard manure (0.5 g per 100g soil) and Zn (10mg Zn kg^–1 soil) on Zn equilibria in Ghabdan and Langrian series of sodic soils was studied. The equilibrium soil solutions collected anaerobically after 1, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70 and 84 days of submergence were analysed for pH, EC, HCO₃ and Zn. Submergence markedly decreased soil solution pH and Zn up to 14 days and thereafter, the former slightly increased and the latter continued to decrease. Addition of amendments decreased soil solution pH in the order gypsum, pyrites and farmyard manure (FYM) and increased Zn concentration in the order FYM, gypsum and pyrites. The values of Zn potential (pZn + 2pOH) were within the range of pKsp for Zn(OH)₂-Zn²⁺ (aq) from 16 to 84 days of submergence in Ghabdan soil and from 9 to 42 days of submergence in Langrian soil, where later it shifted to ZnCO₃-Zn²⁺ (aq) system. Addition of FYM, pyrites and gypsum shortened the period of predominant existence of Zn(OH)₂-Zn²⁺ (aq) system to 40, 30 and 12 days in Ghabdan soil and 30, 20 and 6 days in Langrian soil respectively. After these periods the system was saturated with respect to ZnCO₃-Zn²⁺ (aq) except gypsum treatment where Zn-soil (unknown solid phases) -Zn²⁺ (aq) system controlled the solubility of Zn after 38 and 28 days of submergence of Ghabdan and Langrian soil respectively.