scholarly journals Pedofeatures Associated to Soil Processes

Author(s):  
Eric P. Verrecchia ◽  
Luca Trombino

AbstractAs stipulated by G. Stoops, “the aim of micropedology is to contribute to solving problems related to the genesis, classification and management of soils, including soil characterization in palaeopedology and archaeology. The interpretation of features observed in thin sections is the most important part of this type of research, based on an objective detailed analysis and description” (Stoops et al. 2018). To answer such questions, two major books contributed to the comparative knowledge necessary to tackle this objective: the first one was published in 1985 and used micromorphology to distinguish between different classes of soils (Douglas and Thompson 1985); the second one is an extensive guide of more than 1000 pages to the interpretation of micromorphological features encountered in thin sections of soil (Stoops et al. 2018). The aim of this Atlas is neither to be a substitution for these books nor a way to enter directly into the interpretation of soil genesis and classification. Nonetheless, this chapter presents the imprints of major soil processes that can be easily deduced from specific features observed in thin sections. These processes involve the dynamics of (a) clay, both translocation and swelling, (b) water, such as waterlogging, evaporation, and its role as ice and frost, (c) carbonate, gypsum, and iron oxyhydroxides, and finally (d) biogeochemical reactions within the solum.

1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
J. Bouma ◽  
J. Van Schuylenborgh

The physical, chemical and micromorphological properties of a poorly drained soil profile developed on clayey parent material covered by a thin layer of loess are described. Clay skins on peds were absent in the B-horizon which is considered to be of Pleistocene age. In thin sections, however, oriented clay was observed inside peds occurring undisturbed as free grain and channel argillans, and disturbed by pedoturbation as quasicutans and papules. Clay was leached vertically through the B horizon along planar voids between prisms, leaving accumulations of skeleton grains. Some clay was also leached from the A2 horizon. Kaolinite was more mobile than illite or smectite. Reduction processes resulted in strongly bleached areas around prisms and in well developed mangans on ped faces and around channels. The profile was classified as an aerie glossaqualf. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)


1991 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 231-242
Author(s):  
J. A. Piotrowski ◽  
J. Vahldiek

Examination of bore-holes, test pitting and surficial mapping of one hill belonging to the group of smooth, elongated hills by Sch6nhorst, Schleswig-Holstein reveals three geological units: the lower, fine-grained, massive and compact till; the glaciofluvial sand; and the upper, coarse-grained, compact till with minute stringers and lenses of sand and silt. The sequence is strongly glaciotectonically disturbed. A detailed analysis of thin sections of the till micro-fabric, and of radiographs from undisturbed, oriented cores shows a relatively strong NE-SW and NW-SE particle orientation in the lower till and a weakly clustered to random orientation in the upper till. It is suggested that the field represents either drumlins (the more favourable hypothesis) or terminal push-moraines, formed during the first three ice advances of the Weichselian Glaciation.


Author(s):  
J. R. Ruby

Parotid glands were obtained from five adult (four male and one female) armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) which were perfusion-fixed. The glands were located in a position similar to that of most mammals. They extended interiorly to the anterior portion of the submandibular gland.In the light microscope, it was noted that the acini were relatively small and stained strongly positive with the periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and alcian blue techniques, confirming the earlier results of Shackleford (1). Based on these qualities and other structural criteria, these cells have been classified as seromucous (2). The duct system was well developed. There were numerous intercalated ducts and intralobular striated ducts. The striated duct cells contained large amounts of PAS-positive substance.Thin sections revealed that the acinar cells were pyramidal in shape and contained a basally placed, slightly flattened nucleus (Fig. 1). The rough endoplasmic reticulum was also at the base of the cell.


Author(s):  
Robert Glaeser ◽  
Thomas Bauer ◽  
David Grano

In transmission electron microscopy, the 3-dimensional structure of an object is usually obtained in one of two ways. For objects which can be included in one specimen, as for example with elements included in freeze- dried whole mounts and examined with a high voltage microscope, stereo pairs can be obtained which exhibit the 3-D structure of the element. For objects which can not be included in one specimen, the 3-D shape is obtained by reconstruction from serial sections. However, without stereo imagery, only detail which remains constant within the thickness of the section can be used in the reconstruction; consequently, the choice is between a low resolution reconstruction using a few thick sections and a better resolution reconstruction using many thin sections, generally a tedious chore. This paper describes an approach to 3-D reconstruction which uses stereo images of serial thick sections to reconstruct an object including detail which changes within the depth of an individual thick section.


Author(s):  
Nakazo Watari ◽  
Yasuaki Hotta ◽  
Yoshio Mabuchi

It is very useful if we can observe the identical cell elements within the same sections by light microscopy (LM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and/or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) sequentially, because, the cell fine structure can not be indicated by LM, while the color is; on the other hand, the cell fine structure can be very easily observed by EM, although its color properties may not. However, there is one problem in that LM requires thick sections of over 1 μm, while EM needs very thin sections of under 100 nm. Recently, we have developed a new method to observe the same cell elements within the same plastic sections using both light and transmission (conventional or high-voltage) electron microscopes.In this paper, we have developed two new observation methods for the identical cell elements within the same sections, both plastic-embedded and paraffin-embedded, using light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and/or scanning electron microscopy (Fig. 1).


Author(s):  
J.R. Walton

In electron microscopy, lead is the metal most widely used for enhancing specimen contrast. Lead citrate requires a pH of 12 to stain thin sections of epoxy-embedded material rapidly and intensively. However, this high alkalinity tends to leach out enzyme reaction products, making lead citrate unsuitable for many cytochemical studies. Substitution of the chelator aspartate for citrate allows staining to be carried out at pH 6 or 7 without apparent effect on cytochemical products. Moreover, due to the low, controlled level of free lead ions, contamination-free staining can be carried out en bloc, prior to dehydration and embedding. En bloc use of lead aspartate permits the grid-staining step to be bypassed, allowing samples to be examined immediately after thin-sectioning.Procedures. To prevent precipitation of lead salts, double- or glass-distilled H20 used in the stain and rinses should be boiled to drive off carbon dioxide and glassware should be carefully rinsed to remove any persisting traces of calcium ion.


Author(s):  
E.J. Jenkins ◽  
D.S. Tucker ◽  
J.J. Hren

The size range of mineral and ceramic particles of one to a few microns is awkward to prepare for examination by TEM. Electrons can be transmitted through smaller particles directly and larger particles can be thinned by crushing and dispersion onto a substrate or by embedding in a film followed by ion milling. Attempts at dispersion onto a thin film substrate often result in particle aggregation by van der Waals attraction. In the present work we studied 1-10 μm diameter Al2O3 spheres which were transformed from the amprphous state to the stable α phase.After the appropriate heat treatment, the spherical powders were embedded in as high a density as practicable in a hard EPON, and then microtomed into thin sections. There are several advantages to this method. Obviously, this is a rapid and convenient means to study the microstructure of serial slices. EDS, ELS, and diffraction studies are also considerably more informative. Furthermore, confidence in sampling reliability is considerably enhanced. The major negative feature is some distortion of the microstructure inherent to the microtoming operation; however, this appears to have been surprisingly small. The details of the method and some typical results follow.


Author(s):  
M.S. Shahrabadi ◽  
T. Yamamoto

The technique of labeling of macromolecules with ferritin conjugated antibody has been successfully used for extracellular antigen by means of staining the specimen with conjugate prior to fixation and embedding. However, the ideal method to determine the location of intracellular antigen would be to do the antigen-antibody reaction in thin sections. This technique contains inherent problems such as the destruction of antigenic determinants during fixation or embedding and the non-specific attachment of conjugate to the embedding media. Certain embedding media such as polyampholytes (2) or cross-linked bovine serum albumin (3) have been introduced to overcome some of these problems.


Author(s):  
William P. Jollie

A technique has been developed for visualizing antibody against horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in rat visceral yolk sac, the placental membrane across which passive immunity previously has been shown to be transferred from mother to young just prior to birth. Female rats were immunized by injecting both hind foot pads with 1 mg HRP emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant. They were given a booster of 0.5mg HRP in 0.1 ml normal saline i.v. after one week, then bred and autopsied at selected stages of pregnancy, viz., 12, 1 7 and 22 days post coitum, receiving a second booster, injected as above, five days before autopsy. Yolk sacs were removed surgically and fixed immediately in 2% paraformaldehye, 1% glutaraldehye in 0.1 M phosphate buffer with 0.01% CaCl2 at pH 7.4, room temperature, for 3 hr, rinsed 3X in 0.1 M phosphate buffer plus 5% sucrose, then exposed to 1 mg HRP in 1 ml 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 for 1 hr. They were refixed in aldehydes, as above, for 1 5 min (to assure binding of antigen-antibody complex). Following buffer washes, the tissues were incubated in 3 mg diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride and 0.01% H2O2 in 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer for 30 min. After brief buffer washes, they were postfixed in 2% OsO4. in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4, 4°C for 2 hr, dehydrated through a graded series of ethanols, and embedded in Durcupan. Thin sections were observed and photographed without contrast-enhancement with heavy metals. Cytochemical reaction product marked the site of HRP (i.e., antigen) which, in turn, was present only where it was bound with anti-HRP antibody.


Author(s):  
A. Singh ◽  
A. Dykeman ◽  
J. Jarrelf ◽  
D. C. Villeneuve

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a persistent and mobile organochlorine pesticide, occurs in environment. HCB has been shown to be present in human follicular fluid. An objective of the present report, which is part of a comprehensive study on reproductive toxicity of HCB, was to determine the cytologic effects of the compound on ovarian follicles in a primate model.Materials and Methods. Eight Cynomolgus monkeys were housed under controlled conditions at Animal facility of Health and Welfare, Ottawa. Animals were orally administered gelatin capsules containing HCB mixed with glucose in daily dosages of 0.0 or 10 mg/kg b.w. for 90 days; the former was the control group. On the menstrual period following completion of dosing, the monkeys underwent an induction cycle of superovulation. At necropsy, one-half of an ovary from each animal was diced into ca. 2- to 3-mm cubed specimens that were fixed by immersion in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer (pH 7.3). Subsequent procedures followed to obtain thin sections that were examined in a Hitachi H-7000 electron microscope have been described earlier.


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