Soil aggregation and aggregate associated organic carbon and total nitrogen under long-term contrasting soil management regimes in loess soil

This study investigated the effects of three contrasting soil management regimes and different nutrient treatments on the distribution of water-stable aggregates（〉2, 1–2, 0.5–1, 0.25–0.5, and 〈0.25 mm） and associated soil organic carbon（SOC） and total nitrogen（TN） content in loess soil. A 21-yr long-term experiment was performed, in which soil management regimes include cropland abandonment（Abandonment）, bare fallow（Fallow） and wheat-fallow cropping（Cropping）. Under Cropping, the following nutrient treatments were employed： control（CK, no nutrient input）, nitrogen only（N）, nitrogen and potassium（NK）, phosphorus and potassium（PK）, NP, NPK, and manure（M） plus NPK（MNPK）. Results demonstrated that Abandonment significantly increased the content of soil macro-aggregates（〉0.25 mm） and mean weight diameter（MWD） at 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil horizons compared with Cropping, whereas Fallow yielded lower values of above two parameters. Abandonment increased SOC and TN contents in all aggregate sizes by 17–62% and 6–60%, respectively, at 0–10 cm soil layer compared with Cropping. Conversely, Fallow decreased SOC and TN contents in all aggregates by 7–27% and 7–25%, respectively. Nevertheless, the three soil management regimes presented similar SOC contents in all aggregates at 10–20 cm soil horizon. Only Cropping showed higher TN content in 〉0.5 mm aggregates than the two other regimes. Consequently, Abandonment enhanced the partitioning proportions of SOC and TN in 〉1 mm macro-aggregates, and Fallow promoted these proportions in micro-aggregates compared with Cropping. Under Cropping, long-term fertilization did not affect the distribution of aggregates and MWD values compared with those under CK, except for NPK treatment. Fertilizer treatments enhanced SOC and TN contents in aggregates at all tested soil depths. However, fertilization did not affect the partitioning proportions of SOC and TN contents in all aggregates compared with CK. Comprehensive results showed that different soil management regimes generated varied patterns of SOC and TN sequestration in loess soil. Abandonment enhanced soil aggregation and sequestered high amounts of SOC and TN in macro-aggregates. Long-term amendment of organic manure integrated with NPK maintained soil aggregate stability and improved SOC and TN sequestration in all aggregates in loess soil subjected to dryland farming.

IS THE“DEGREE OF AGGREGATION”A FUNCTION OF THE AVERAGE AGGREGATE NUMBER,OR OF THE NUMBER OF AGGREGATES,OR BOTH?

Measurement of the average aggregate number of coaggregates(N_co)and evaluation Of the number of coaggregates([CoAg])in the region of increasing degree of aggregation shows that only N_co increases linearly with the concentration of the target molecules CE-In and BL-ol.

Contents of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in water-stable aggregates in abandoned agricultural lands in an arid ecosystem of Northwest China

Soil organic matter content in water-stable aggregates（WSA） in the arid ecosystems（abandoned agricultural lands especially） of China is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the WSA sizes and stability, and soil organic carbon（OC） and nitrogen（N） contents in agricultural lands with abandonment ages of 0, 3, 12, 20, 30 and 40 years, respectively, in the Minqin Oasis of Northwest China. The total soil OC and N contents at depths of 0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm in abandoned agricultural lands were compared to those in cultivated land（the control）. Agricultural land abandonment significantly（P0.25 mm） as the age of agricultural land abandonment increased. The effect of abandonment ages of agricultural lands on MWD was determined by the changes of OC and N accumulation in WSA sizes ＆gt;2 mm. The total OC and N contents presented a stratification phenomenon across soil depths in this arid ecosystem. That is, both of them decreased significantly at depths of 0–20 and 40–60 cm while increased at the depth of 20–40 cm. The WSA sizes ＆lt;0.053 mm had the highest soil OC and N contents（accounting for 51.41%–55.59% and 42.61%–48.94% of their total, respectively）. Soil OC and N contents in microaggregates（sizes 0.053–0.25 mm） were the dominant factors that influenced the variations of total OC and N contents in abandoned agricultural lands. The results of this study suggested that agricultural land abandonment may result in the recovery of WSA stability and the shifting of soil organic matter from the silt＋clay（＆lt;0.053 mm） and microaggregate fractions to the macroaggregate fractions. However, agricultural land abandonment did not increase total soil OC and N contents in the short-term.

Changes in soil organic carbon and aggregate stability after conversion to conservation tillage for seven years in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China

Soil aggregate stability and organic carbon（OC） are regarded as effective indicators of soil structure and quality. A longterm field experiment was established in 2006 to examine the influence of tillage systems on soil aggregation and OC in a sandy loam soil in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China. The study involved eight treatments： plowing every year with（TS） and without residue（T）, plowing every 2 years with（2TS） and without residue（2T）, plowing every 4 years with（4TS） and without residue（4T）, and no plowing with（NTS） and without residue（NT）. In 2013, soil samples were collected at depths of 0–5, 5–10 and 10–20 cm, and separated into three aggregate-size classes： macroaggregates（〉250 μm）, microaggregates（53–250 μm） and the silt＋clay fraction（〈53 μm） using wet sieving method. Soil parameters measured were water-stable aggregates, geometric mean diameter（GMD）, mean weight diameter（MWD） and OC concentrations in different aggregate-size fractions and in bulk soil. The tillage treatments significantly（P〈0.05） influenced soil aggregate stability and OC distribution. Higher MWD and GMD were observed in 2TS, 4TS and NTS as compared to T. With increasing soil depth, the amount of macroaggregates and MWD and GMD values were increased, while the proportions of microaggregates and the silt＋clay fraction were declined. The OC concentrations in different aggregate fractions at all soil depths followed the order of macroaggregates〉microaggregates〉silt＋clay fraction. In the 0–5 cm soil layer, concentrations of macroaggregateassociated OC in 2TS, 4TS and NTS were 14, 56 and 83% higher than for T, whereas T had the greatest concentration of OC associated with the silt＋clay fraction in the 10–20 cm layer. Soil OC concentrations under 4TS and NTS were significantly higher（P〈0.05） than that of T in the 0–10 cm layer. Residue retention promoted formation of macroaggregates, increased macroaggregate-associated OC concentrations and thus increased total soil OC stock. The macroaggregate-associated OC was positively correlated（R^2=0.96） with soil OC concentration, while the silt＋clay fraction-associated OC was negatively correlated（R^2=0.82） with soil OC concentration. The concentration of soil OC was positively correlated with MWD（R^2=0.94） and GMD（R^2=0.92）. We concluded that increasing tillage intensity led to a loss of carbon（C）-rich macroaggregates and an increase of C-depleted silt＋clay fraction. The conservation tillage system, especially NTS and 4TS, increased soil aggregate stability and promoted OC accumulation in macroaggregates, provided the potential to improve soil C sequestration and soil structure in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China.

THE AVERAGE AGGREGATE NUMBER OF ELECTROSTATICALLY STABILIZED AGGREGATE(ESAg)

The average aggregate number(N)of electrostatically stabilized aggregate(ESAg)composed of oppositely-charged long-chain molecules,i.e., sodium ω-[α-(nathphyl)ethoxyl]undecanoate(FP^-)and cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride(CTAC),in aqueous solution at 25℃ has been measured to be 11 to 16 in the CTAC-concentration range of 11×10^(-5) M to 30×10^(-5) M at a fixed FP- concentration of 1.0×10^(-5)M by the photon counting method.

Nondilute 1,2-Dichloroethane Solution of Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl)：A Study on the Aggregation Process

Molecular aggregates in conjugated polymer（CP） solution can propagate into mesoscale morphology of the relevant film and further dominate the optoelectronic property. Herein, we probed the aggregation behavior of poly（9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl）（PFO） and studied its influence on the photophysical property in 1,2-dichloroethane（DCE） solution, where the contents of β-phase or-aggregates increased with prolonged aging time. Thereinto, high quality β-film was fabricated from DCE solution with critical aggregate time of 6 min. The film exhibited excellent surface morphology and characteristic emission of β-phase. Meanwhile, films prepared from aged DCE solutions exhibited high crystallinity, which was promising to obtain higher photoluminance efficiency and charge transport ability simultaneously. Therefore, it is significant to get deep insight into the aggregation behavior of CP, which is involved not only with the solution-processing technology of plastic device, but also with the optoelectronic property of CP.

Linear dependence of the degree of aggregation on the solvent aggregating power (SAgP)

With k_8/k_(16), the ratio of the hydrolytic rate-constants of p-nitrophenyl octanoate (C8) to hexadecanoate (C16), as the indicator of the degree of aggregation, the linear dependence of the deg- ree of aggregation on solvent aggregating power (SAgP) has been established in five aquiorgano sol- vents, each within a certain range of volume fraction ( values) of the organic cosolvent. The mea- ning of this linearity has been discussed.

An empirical method for estimating surface area of aggregates in hot mix asphalt

Bitumen requirement in hot mix asphalt （HMA） is directly dependent on the surface area of the aggregates in the mix, which in turn has effect on the asphalt film thickness and the flow characteristics. The surface area of aggregate blend in HMA is calculated using the specific surface area factors assigned to percentage passing through some specific standard sieve sizes and the imaging techniques. The first process is less capital intensive, but purely manual and labour intensive and prone to human errors. Imaging techniques though eliminating the human errors, still have limited use due to capital intensiveness and requirement of well-established ]aboratories with qualified technicians. Most of the developing countries like India are shortage of well-equipped laboratories and qualified technicians. To overcome these difficulties, the present mathematical model has been developed to estimate the surface area of aggregate blend of HMA from physical properties of aggregates evaluated using simple laboratory equipment. This model has been validated compared with the existing established methods of calculations and can be used as one of the tools in different developing and under developed countries for proper design of HMA.