Biogeochemistry of Dominant Plants and Soils in Shewushan Gold Lateritic Deposit, China

This paper describes the effect of mineral elements on dominant plants in the Shewushan lateritic gold deposit, China. For this purpose, 30 soil profile samples at different depths and 3 kinds of dominant plants including Populus canadensis (Populus X canadensis Moench), Cinnamomun camphora (Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Presl.) and Rhus chinensis (Rhus chinensis Mill.) were collected. The concentration of ore-forming elements including Au, Ag, Pb, Zn, Cu, As, Fe, and S were analyzed. Based on the investigation of two mine profiles, it can be found that Au, Pb, As, and Fe were mainly enriched in laterite layer and the brown clay layer at a depth of 5–11 m. Moreover, the biological accumulate coefficient (BAC) and the contrast coefficient (CM) were calculated to assess the sensitivity and concentrating ability of Populus canadensis and Cinnamomun camphora. To investigate the response of the two species to metal stress, the contents of chlorophyll, malondialdehyde (MDA), and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) were determined. The result showed that Populus canadensis and Cinnamomun camphora have a high tolerance to metal stress and that both of the two species can indicate the content of Au, As, Pb, and Co in topsoil.

The comparison study of the monopole tower foundation using CPT and laboratory data in Gresik district, East Java-Indonesia

In the millennial era, the development of information and communication technology is very fast, one of the telecommunications infrastructure is a monopole type telecommunications tower. This type of tower is one of 3 types of telecommunication towers whose main construction is made of steel. The monopole structure is supported by a tread foundation, which is one type of shallow foundation. The main factor in the design of the tread foundation is the bearing capacity factor. Calculation of foundation bearing capacity can be done directly in the field using Sondir data (CPT) and indirectly using laboratory data. In this study a study was conducted to compare the carrying capacity of monopole foundations between field data methods in the form of Sondir data or CPT with result data. Soil tests in the laboratory calculated with the Terzaghi formula. The research location was carried out in Gresik Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia at 3 sites, namely: Mojosarirejo, Kembangan Kebomas and Setromenganti. The results of the comparison of the calculation of the bearing capacity of the foundation (Q) at the Mojosarirejo site with the type of sandy soil. value of QSondir < 9.58 % of Qterzaghi. At the Krembangan Kebomas site with brown clay and gravely clay, the Q value was < 69.93 % of the Qterzaghi and at the Setromenganti site with brown clay soil type with the influence of water level depth – 1 m, the Q value was < 27, 62% of Qterzaghi. From the comparison of the average calculation in the 3 study locations, the bearing capacity of QSondir treads foundation is 26.50 % smaller than Qterzaghi, so the use of Sondir data is more accurate for use in tread foundation planning and provides greater security assurance for the tower foundation structure. monopole type

Biochemical Response of Hybrid Maize (Zea mays L.) to NPK Fertilization Based on Spent Bleaching Earth in Field Scale

Indonesia is one of the largest crude palm oil (CPO) producing countries in the world. To improve oil quality, CPO purification is carried out including bleaching earth. The process produced spent bleaching earth (SBE) and deoiled spent bleaching earth (DSBE) classified as hazardous and toxic materials waste. SBE and DSBE have the potential as an adhesive material in the manufacture of NPK fertilizers. This study aimed to compare the effects of SBE and DSBE on replacing clay minerals in terms of biochemical response. The study was arranged in randomized completly block design with three treatments and blocks. The treatment consisted of NPK fertilizer containing 10% brown clay (control), NPK fertilizer containing 5% pure clay minerals + 5% SBE, and NPK fertilizer containing 5% pure clay minerals + 5% DSBE. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and tested using LSD test at a 95% confidence level. The results showed that NPK containing DSBE was able to increase nitrate reductase activity (NRA) (41.9%), chlorophyll b content (4.7%), glycine betaine (GB) (2.5%), decreasing electrolite leakage (19%), malondialdehyde (MDA) (23%) compared NPK containing brown clay. Thus the use of NPK containing DSBE and NPK containing SBE to be able to replace NPK containing brown clay.

‘Brown-Clay’ Amphorae from Gonio (Apsaros)

This paper presents the first study of the so-called ‘brown-clay’ amphorae discovered by the Gonio-Apsaros Polish-Georgian Expedition in the Roman fort of Apsaros (modern Gonio, Georgia) between 2014 and 2018. In the course of five excavation seasons, 157 diagnostic fragments of these containers were attested, all belonging to variants Ch 1B2 and Ch 1C dated to between c. 50 BC and the 3rd century AD. Thus, they confirm the existence of the Apsaros fortress during the first three centuries of the present era. Both Colchian and south-eastern Pontic containers were found in Apsaros, the latter produced probably in Trapezus. This suggests the south-eastern Pontic provenance of some of the imports in Apsaros, especially until the end of the 1st century AD. On the other hand, local production of containers indicates that the area of the fortress might have produced food surpluses (probably wine), which during the late 1st and throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD were exported to other areas neighbouring the Black Sea.

The temporal dynamics of readily available soil moisture for plants in the technosols of the Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin

The restoration of a stable and productive ecosystem after drastic disturbances to the natural environment due to mining and open-cast mining may be achieved by means of reclamation. Investigation of the hydrological budget of technosols is important task in developing adequate approaches to reclamation. Sod lithogenic soils on red-brown clay, on grey-green clay were chosen as the objects of the investigation. The simulation of moisture content in Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin technosols was performed using the Penman-Monteith approach and evaluated the role of the dependence of soils’ surface albedo on the humidity in the intensity of evapotranspiration. The research was conducted during 2013–2015 at the station for research on reclaimed land within the Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin (city Pokrov, Ukraine). The experimental area for the study of optimal modes of agricultural reclamation was created in 1968–1970. Precipitation in the investigated area was found to fall very unevenly in time. In 2013, the duration of the rainless period was 259 days, in 2014 – 264 days, in 2015 – 261 days. The maximum daily rainfall varies within 18–49 mm. There are significant interannual differences in the intensity of rainfall. The minimum total annual precipitation in 2014 was due to a decrease in atypical rainfall in late winter and early winter. The maximum annual rainfall in 2015 was caused by intense rainfall both in the spring and in mid-summer and late autumn. The average annual temperature was 11.1 ºC and the annual totals did not statistically significantly vary within the study period. The average wind speed and average atmospheric humidity are statistically significantly different from year to year. The technosols’ colour properties and surface albedo varied depending on the moisture content. There is a linear relationship between the moisture content in the soil and albedo of the soil surface. The evaluation of readily available water content was carried out based on the Penman-Monteith model taking into account meteorological data, the water-physical properties of the technosols and the dependence of soil surface albedo on soil humidity. The distribution of this index for different teсhnosols is characterized by a high level of similarity of shape due to the fact that the overall climate factors are crucial in shaping the dynamics of moisture. A complex mixture of normal distributions is the best model for representing the experimental data. The readily available water content distribution can best be represented as a mixture of two normal distributions. The relatively high moisture level is characterized for winter and spring periods. Water content in sod-lithogenic soils on red-brown clay over the period of research never reached the value of the permanent wilting point. In 2013, the period when the moisture content was less than the value of the permanent wilting point lasted 23 days, and in 2014 this period lasted 39 days. Thus, you can always expect the phenomenon of drought under typical climatic conditions for the technosols on grey-green clay. It was found that monitoring water supplies before the start of the growing season can provide valuable information necessary for the selection of crops for cultivation in the current year. The results indicate the urgency of measures to save the winter rainfall on the fields.

Фітоіндикаційна оцінка режиму освітлення як маркер регуляторних екосистемних сервісів у техноземах Нікопольського марганцево- рудного басейну

Показана можливість індикації регуляторних екосистемних сервісів протягом техногенного ґрунтогенезу за допомогою фітоіндикаційних оцінок режиму освітлення. У якості маркерів регуляторних екосистемних сервісів у процесі техногенного ґрунтогенезу можуть бути застосовані фітоіндикаційні оцінки режиму освітлення. Причинами трансформації світлової структури рослинного угруповання техноземів є варіювання густини рослинного покриву та його архітектоніки. Зміни світлової структури є найважливішими маркерами пертинетного впливу рослинного покриву на мікрокліматичні умови. Динаміка змін режиму освітлення протягом ґрунтогенезу має тенденцію до формування більш затінених рослинних угруповань. The research shows the possibility of indication of the regulatory ecosystem services for man-made soilogenesis by means of phytoindication using lighting indicator scale. Field studies were conducted during the 2008–2017 in bioecological research station in Dnipro agro-economic University (Pokrov, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine). Polygons incorporated within tehnosoils four types: pedozems, sod-lithogenic soils on forest-like loam, gray-green clay and red-brown clay. Vegetative mass distribution of individual components of complex multi agrophytocenoses, mutual influence aboveground components of each other and environmental conditions under the canopy of vegetation have a significant effect on yield formation of plant communities. A more uniform distribution of leaf blades in phytocenoses weakening lighting at the middle and lower tiers won’t be very large. It causes the highest intensity operation vegetation photosynthesis per unit area. In order embriozemy → sod soils lithogenic → pedozemy level assessment phytoindication lighting statistically significantly reduced. Herbaceous vegetation that covers most forms of tehnosoils is formed in the global lighting. Vegetation of the embriozems lighting mode indicates 8.78±0.01, sod soils lithogenic – 8.74±0.02, pedozems – 8.71±0.01.

Thermomagnetic concentration and dephosphorizing of brown clay iron ore and concentrates

Oolitic brown clay iron ores are of prime economic importance because of their enormous stocks in the world. However, their use in metallurgical production is very severely limited at the present time because of the high content of phosphorus in them. The process of phosphorus extracting from these ores almost cannot be realized by the known enrichment methods, since phosphorus presents in oolites in the emulsionated and impregnated state, without forming the independent minerals in this case. Therefore, using of ores of the given type is very limited. Growth of the world steel production at this time has considerably increased demand for iron ore, for that reason in the last decades in the world there were made considerable efforts on creation of new manufacturing schemes of brown clay iron ores obtaining standard iron ore concentrates. Considerable reduction of rich and easily beneficiated iron ores in Kazakhstan results in necessity to attract in metallurgical production the huge resources of the easily extracted ooli tic brown clay iron ores of Lissakovsk, Ayat, Priaral, and other fields with the iron content from 35 to 40 % and phosphorus up to 1 %. The technology of thermomagnetic beneficiation is represented as the most self-sustainable and acceptable dephosphorizing technology of brown limonites. The essence of the technology consists in the reproduction by liquid hydrocarbon reducer (LHR), mesmerizing roasting of the concentrate, magnetic concentration of the roasted raw material receiving the magnetic concentrate with the subsequent dephosphorizing of the obtained concentrate by the acid leaching method. The technology was tested in pilot conditions by representative samplings of the Lissakovsk concentrate and the ores of Ayat and Kokbulak fields.

Eсomorphic structure of the soil macrofauna communities of technosols of the Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin

This study established features of the animal population of artificial soil-like bodies – technosols in terms of ecomorphic analysis. The survey was conducted at the research station of the Dnipro State Agricultural University in the city Pokrov in 2012–2014. The experimental polygons were laid within four technosol types: pedozems, sod loess-like lithogenic soils on loam, grey-green clay and red-brown clay. The polygon consisted of 15 transects and each transect was composed of seven test sites. The distance between rows in the polygon was 3 m. Each test site was a square with size 3 × 3 m. The manual sorting of the soil-zoological samples was conducted within each site for areas 0.25 × 0.25 m to the depth where animals were found. Samples were taken in late April or early May. In general, for each period of counting for each polygon 105 soil-zoological samples were taken 123 species of invertebrates were found in the soil macrofauna community of the technosols. These communities are a steppe monoceonosis with a tendency to transformations into pseudoomonoceonosis on account of increased share of pratants. The soil macrofauna of sod lithogenic soils on grey-green clay and loam on loes-like clays is most adapted to xerophilous condition. Animal communities in pedozems and sod-lithogenic soils or on red-brown clay have a more mesophilic character. The trophoceonomorphic structure of the soil macrofauna community indicates a significant potential of the fertility of artificial soil. The aeromorphs’ structure reveals a significant ability of technosols to create cracks and pores, which can lead to hyperaeration. The dominant part of the of soil macrofauna community was hypercarbonatophils. Against the background of the steppe character, the soil macrofauna community had a topomorphic structure that is unusual for natural steppe black soil biogeocenoses on loess-like loam. The trophomorph structure was greatly dominated by phytophages, which indicates the prevalence of processes of mineralization of plant residues under the humification process. The phoromorphic spectrum of soil animal communities was dominated by ecological groups which move without the active construction of tunnels.

Identification of a late Quaternary alluvial–aeolian sedimentary sequence in the Sichuan Basin, China

The late Quaternary sedimentary sequence in the northwestern part of the Sichuan Basin consists of five lithological units and with increasing depth include the: Chengdu Clay; Brown Clay; Red Clay; Sandy Silt; and basal Muddy Gravel. The genesis, provenance and age of the sediments, as well as the possible presence of hiatuses within this sequence are debated. Measurements of grain-size, magnetic susceptibility, quartz content, quartz δ18O values, element composition, and Sr–Nd isotopic concentrations of samples from a typical sedimentary sequence in the area provides new insights into the genesis and history of the sequence. The new data confirm that the sediments in study site are alluvial–aeolian in origin, with basal alluvial deposits overlain by aeolian deposits. Like the uppermost Chengdu Clay, the underlying Brown Clay and Red Clay are aeolian in origin. In contrast, the Silty Sand, like the basal Muddy Gravel, is an alluvial deposit and not an aeolian deposit as previously thought. Moreover, the succession of the aeolian deposits very likely contains two significant sedimentary hiatuses. Sedimentological analysis demonstrates that the source materials for the aeolian deposits in the northwestern part of the Sichuan Basin and those on the eastern Tibetan Plateau are different. Furthermore, the loess deposits on the eastern Tibetan Plateau are derived from heterogeneous local sources.