Variation in soil organic matter accumulation and metabolic activity along an elevation gradient in the Santa Rosa Mountains of Southern California, USA

Variations in soil organic matter accumulation across an elevation can be used to explain the control of substrate supply and variability on soil metabolic activity. We investigated geographic changes in soil organic matter and metabolic rates along an elevation gradient（289–2,489 m） in the Santa Rosa Mountains, California, USA from subalpine and montane pine forests through chaparral to desert. From base（289 m） to summit（2,489 m）, 24 sites were established for collecting soil samples under canopies and inter-canopy spaces, at 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depths increments. Soil organic matter（SOM） content was determined using weight loss on ignition at 550°C and soil CO2 efflux（R） was measured at day 5（R5） and day 20（R20） of incubation. Changes in SOM content along the elevation gradient showed a significant relationship（P〈0.05） but R5 and R20 were not related to either elevation or SOM content. However, the ratio of R and SOM（R5/SOM） showed a strong relationship across the mountains at both soil depths. R5/SOM, as an indicator of carbon use efficiency, may be applicable to other semi-arid transects at larger scale modeling of soil metabolic processes.

Removal of 2-ClBP from soil–water system using activated carbon supported nanoscale zerovalent iron

We explored the feasibility and removal mechanism of removing 2-chlorobiphenyl（2-Cl BP）from soil–water system using granular activated carbon（GAC） impregnated with nanoscale zerovalent iron（reactive activated carbon or RAC）.The RAC samples were successfully synthesized by the liquid precipitation method.The mesoporous GAC based RAC with low iron content（1.32%） exhibited higher 2-Cl BP removal efficiency（54.6%） in the water phase.The result of Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic model implied that the different molecular structures between 2-Cl BP and trichloroethylene（TCE） resulted in more difference in dechlorination reaction rates on RAC than adsorption capacities.Compared to removing2-Cl BP in the water phase,RAC removed the 2-Cl BP more slowly in the soil phase due to the significant external mass transfer resistance.However,in the soil phase,a better removal capacity of RAC was observed than its base GAC because the chemical dechlorination played a more important role in total removal process for 2-Cl BP.This important result verified the effectiveness of RAC for removing 2-Cl BP in the soil phase.Although reducing the total RAC removal rate of 2-Cl BP,soil organic matter（SOM）,especially the soft carbon,also served as an electron transfer medium to promote the dechlorination of 2-Cl BP in the long term.