Calcium carbonate promotes the formation and stability of soil macroaggregates in mining areas of China

We studied changes in the concentrations of aggregate-cementing agents after different reclamation times and with different fertilization regimes,as well as the formation mechanism of aggregates in reclaimed soil,to provide a theoretical basis for rapid reclamation of soil fertility in the subsidence area of coal mines in Shanxi Province,China.In this study,soil samples of 0–20 cm depth were collected from four fertilization treatments of a longterm experiment started in 2008:no fertilizer (CK),inorganic fertilizer (NPK),chicken manure compost (M),and50%inorganic fertilizer plus 50%chicken manure compost (MNPK).The concentrations of cementing agents and changes in soil aggregate size distribution and stability were analysed.The results showed that the formation of>2 mm aggregates,the aggregate mean weight diameter (MWD),and the proportion of>0.25 mm water-stable aggregates (WR_(0.25)) increased significantly after 6 and 11 years of reclamation.The concentration of organic cementing agents tended to increase with reclamation time,whereas free iron oxide (Fed) and free aluminium oxide(Ald) concentrations initially increased but then decreased.In general,the MNPK treatment signi?cantly increased the concentrations of organic cementing agents and CaCO_(3),and CaCO_(3) increased by 60.4%at 11 years after reclamation.Additionally,CaCO_(3) had the greatest effect on the stability of aggregates,promoting the formation of>0.25 mm aggregates and accounting for 54.4%of the variance in the proportion and stability of the aggregates.It was concluded that long-term reclamation is bene?cial for improving soil structure.The MNPK treatment was the most effective measure for increasing maize grain yield and concentration of organic cementing agents and CaCO_(3).

Study the Physical, Chemical, Mineralogical, and Geo-technical Properties of Soils Used in Pottery Industries, Kurdistan-lraq

The study area is located in Duhok and Sulaimania province in Kurdistan region, lraq. Study soils developed from parent material that has derived from limestone. Randomize, composed and disturbed surface soil samples were collected. The bulk soils were air dried, crushed and passed through 2 mm sieve. Standard methods were used for chemical, physical, geotechnical and mineralogical analyses of soil samples. The results indicated that the study soils texture were clay to loam clay, this texture was considered as suitable for ceramic and pottery industries as a result of increasing clay contents that ranged between 301 g/kg and 676 g/kg. Soil consistence depending on geotechnical properties increased the ability of study soils for resistance rapture and deformation. Existence the high amount of cementing agents in study soils such as organic matter, iron oxides and particularly total carbonate （247.2-308.8 g/kg） act to reduce the bad effect of the smectite minerals group （high shrinkage） in soils of study locations through increasing the resistance of these soils for rupture and deformation. The existing of Kaolinite, palygorskite and chlorite allows clay to be dried in ceramic and pottery industries without cracking from shrinkage. Study soils were different in their colors as a result of existence, different pigmentation materials that led to coloring soils with different colors in turn caused coloring of pottery and ceramic materials. Since, there are no available academic studies or researches about this subject in Kurdistan region in addition the clay pottery and ceramic sector still has a good market at the same time using this type of soils for arts, therefore, this study was conducted.

Preparation and Performance Research of Cement-based Grouting Materials with High Early Strength and Expansion

Main performance of the cement grouting materials made up by Portland cement（PC） and sulphoaluminate cement（SAC） was investigated in this program, a kind of expanding agent（EA） which was mainly constituted by metakaolin and alunite was utilized for the compensation of the shrinkage, the hydration products and micro structure of the grouting materials were researched by X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. The results showed that a high expansion rate of the grouting materials could be reached as the expanding agent mixed in 6% of PC mass; the addition of SAC in the S2（PC：SAC：EA=34：6：2.25） brought a further improvement of the expansion rate of the grouting materials, the analysis of XRD and SEM showed that due to the reaction of expanding agent and SAC in the grouting materials, more ettringite crystal was generated, which resulted in a higher early strength, the addition of SAC played an expansion and strength reinforcement role in the grouting materials.