Search results for: soil amendment.

Authors: Aleksandr Kavetskiy, Galina Yakubova, Nikolay Sargsyan, Stephen A. Prior, H. Allen Torbert

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The carbon sequestration question of modern times requires the development of an in-situ method of measuring soil carbon over large landmasses. Traditional chemical analytical methods used to evaluate large land areas require extensive soil sampling prior to processing for laboratory analysis; collectively, this is labor-intensive and time-consuming. An alternative method is to apply nuclear physics analysis, primarily in the form of pulsed fast-thermal neutron-gamma soil carbon analysis. This method is based on measuring the gamma-ray response that appears upon neutron irradiation of soil. Specific gamma lines with energies of 4.438 MeV appearing from neutron irradiation can be attributed to soil carbon nuclei. Based on measuring gamma line intensity, assessments of soil carbon concentration can be made. This method can be done directly in the field using a specially developed pulsed fast-thermal neutron-gamma system (PFTNA system). This system conducts in-situ analysis in a scanning mode coupled with GPS, which provides soil carbon concentration and distribution over large fields. The system has radiation shielding to minimize the dose rate (within radiation safety guidelines) for safe operator usage. Questions concerning the effect of neutron irradiation on soil health will be addressed. Information regarding absorbed neutron and gamma dose received by soil and its distribution with depth will be discussed in this study. This information was generated based on Monte-Carlo simulations (MCNP6.2 code) of neutron and gamma propagation in soil. Received data were used for the analysis of possible induced irradiation effects. The physical, chemical and biological effects of neutron soil irradiation were considered. From a physical aspect, we considered neutron (produced by the PFTNA system) induction of new isotopes and estimated the possibility of increasing the post-irradiation gamma background by comparisons to the natural background. An insignificant increase in gamma background appeared immediately after irradiation but returned to original values after several minutes due to the decay of short-lived new isotopes. From a chemical aspect, possible radiolysis of water (presented in soil) was considered. Based on stimulations of radiolysis of water, we concluded that the gamma dose rate used cannot produce gamma rays of notable rates. Possible effects of neutron irradiation (by the PFTNA system) on soil biota were also assessed experimentally. No notable changes were noted at the taxonomic level, nor was functional soil diversity affected. Our assessment suggested that the use of a PFTNA system with a neutron flux of 1e7 n/s for soil carbon analysis does not notably affect soil properties or soil health.

Keywords: carbon sequestration, neutron gamma analysis, radiation effect on soil, Monte-Carlo simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Futo Asano, Yusuke Yatsushiro, Hirokuni Miyamoto, Hiroaki Kodama

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A thermophile-fermented compost is produced using small fishes, crabs, and shrimps under a high temperature (approximately 75℃) by fermentation-associated self-heating. This compost has been used as a feed additive for pigs and hens in Japan, and the fecundity of this livestock is enhanced. Firmicutes is a dominant phylum in the microbial composition of the compost. We first reported that improvement of female larval fitness of Hercules beetle can be achieved by amendment of this compost to the humus. When the 90-d-old larvae were reared for subsequent 72 days in the humus with this compost, the growth of female larvae was significantly enhanced when compared with the growth of female larvae in the humus without the compost. In contrast, the growth of male larvae in the compost-free humus was the same as the larvae grow in the compost-amended humus. The bacterial composition of the feces of larvae was determined at 0 days and 46 days after transfer to the humus with or without the compost. The most dominant bacterium in the feces was Xylanimonas. Interestingly, the growth improvement of female larvae was associated with an increased abundance of Mollicutes in the fecal samples. These results indicate that the compost act as a probiotic material for enhancing the female larvae growth by supporting Mollicutes. Here, we tried to isolate Mollicutes from the contents of the midgut and hindgut of the 3rd instar female larvae of the Hercules beetle. These gut contents were spread onto a selective agar medium for Mollicutes (PPLO agar broth, BD Difco, NJ, USA). Although we isolated none of the Mollicutes until now, several bacteria that are closely related to Xylanimonas and Luteimicrobium were isolated. These isolates have xylanase and glucanase (CMCase) activities. We show the gut bacterial profiles of larvae and discuss how the fitness of female larvae of the Hercules beetle is improved by the compost.

Keywords: compost, beetle, mollicutes, woody biomass

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Anis Eloud, Ben Salah Nahla, Sayed Chehaibi

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In order to improve and develop the Tunisian agriculture, the government has encouraged the introduction of modern technologies and has also promoted the adoption of innovative practices cultures. Indeed, the extensive use of mechanization can increase crop productivity but its inadequate application also has a negative impact on the ground caused by the phenomenon of compaction. Which will cause the loss of soil fertility and increased production costs. This problem is accentuated with increase the stress on contact wheel / ground. For this reason, the objective of this study is to simulate the footprint of the ground contact / tire two types of tractor after their passage. The method of this work is based on a simulation including passages from two different tractors on soil with similar characteristics. Simulation parameters were based on the choice of two tractors masses of 6500 kg and 4400 kg of soil and sandy loam in nature. The analysis was performed using specific software. The main results showed that the heaviest tractor caused a constraint wheel / rear floor exceeding 100 kPa. For cons, the second tractor has caused stress wheel / rear floor of 50 kPa. The comparison of the two results showed that 6500 kg tractor made a serious and excessive compaction which generated a negative impact on soil quality and crop yields.

Keywords: compaction, soil, resistance to penetration, crop yields

Procedia PDF Downloads 433

Authors: G. Yakubova, A. Kavetskiy, S. A. Prior, H. A. Torbert

Abstract:

In-situ soil carbon determination over large soil surface areas (several hectares) is required in regard to carbon sequestration and carbon credit issues. This capability is important for optimizing modern agricultural practices and enhancing soil science knowledge. Collecting and processing representative field soil cores for traditional laboratory chemical analysis is labor-intensive and time-consuming. The neutron-stimulated gamma analysis method can be used for in-situ measurements of primary elements in agricultural soils (e.g., Si, Al, O, C, Fe, and H). This non-destructive method can assess several elements in large soil volumes with no need for sample preparation. Neutron-gamma soil elemental analysis utilizes gamma rays issued from different neutron-nuclei interactions. This process has become possible due to the availability of commercial portable pulse neutron generators, high-efficiency gamma detectors, reliable electronics, and measurement/data processing software complimented by advances in state-of-the-art nuclear physics methods. In Pulsed Fast Thermal Neutron Analysis (PFTNA), soil irradiation is accomplished using a pulsed neutron flux, and gamma spectra acquisition occurs both during and between pulses. This method allows the inelastic neutron scattering (INS) gamma spectrum to be separated from the thermal neutron capture (TNC) spectrum. Based on PFTNA, a mobile system for field-scale soil elemental determinations (primarily carbon) was developed and constructed. Our scanning methodology acquires data that can be directly used for creating soil elemental distribution maps (based on ArcGIS software) in a reasonable timeframe (~20-30 hectares per working day). Created maps are suitable for both agricultural purposes and carbon sequestration estimates. The measurement system design, spectra acquisition process, strategy for acquiring field-scale carbon content data, and mapping of agricultural fields will be discussed.

Keywords: neutron gamma analysis, soil elemental content, carbon sequestration, carbon credit, soil gamma spectroscopy, portable neutron generators, ArcMap mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Vesna Karapetkovska Hristova, M. Ayaz Ahmad, Julijana Tomovska, Biljana Bogdanova Popov, Blagojce Najdovski

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The average total concentrations of heavy metals; (cadmium [Cd], copper [Cu], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], and zinc [Zn]) were analyzed in soil and vegetables samples collected from the different region of Macedonia during the years 2010-2012. Basic soil properties such as pH, organic matter and clay content were also included in the study. The average concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn in the A horizon (0-30 cm) of agricultural soils were as follows, respectively: 0.25, 5.3, 6.9, 15.2, 26.3 mg kg-1 of soil. We have found that neural networking model can be considered as a tool for prediction and spatial analysis of the processes controlling the metal transfer within the soil-and vegetables. The predictive ability of such models is well over 80% as compared to 20% for typical regression models. A radial basic function network reflects good predicting accuracy and correlation coefficients between soil properties and metal content in vegetables much better than the back-propagation method. Neural Networking / soft computing can support the decision-making processes at different levels, including agro ecology, to improve crop management based on monitoring data and risk assessment of metal transfer from soils to vegetables.

Keywords: soft computing approach, total concentrations, heavy metals, agricultural soils

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Aleksandr Kavetskiy, Galina Yakubova, Nikolay Sargsyan, Stephen A. Prior, H. Allen Torbert

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Determining soil elemental content and distribution (mapping) within a field are key features of modern agricultural practice. While traditional chemical analysis is a time consuming and labor-intensive multi-step process (e.g., sample collections, transport to laboratory, physical preparations, and chemical analysis), neutron-gamma soil analysis can be performed in-situ. This analysis is based on the registration of gamma rays issued from nuclei upon interaction with neutrons. Soil elements such as Si, C, Fe, O, Al, K, and H (moisture) can be assessed with this method. Data received from analysis can be directly used for creating soil elemental distribution maps (based on ArcGIS software) suitable for agricultural purposes. The neutron-gamma analysis system developed for field application consisted of an MP320 Neutron Generator (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.), 3 sodium iodide gamma detectors (SCIONIX, Inc.) with a total volume of 7 liters, 'split electronics' (XIA, LLC), a power system, and an operational computer. Paired with GPS, this system can be used in the scanning mode to acquire gamma spectra while traversing a field. Using acquired spectra, soil elemental content can be calculated. These data can be combined with geographical coordinates in a geographical information system (i.e., ArcGIS) to produce elemental distribution maps suitable for agricultural purposes. Special software has been developed that will acquire gamma spectra, process and sort data, calculate soil elemental content, and combine these data with measured geographic coordinates to create soil elemental distribution maps. For example, 5.5 hours was needed to acquire necessary data for creating a carbon distribution map of an 8.5 ha field. This paper will briefly describe the physics behind the neutron gamma analysis method, physical construction the measurement system, and main characteristics and modes of work when conducting field surveys. Soil elemental distribution maps resulting from field surveys will be presented. and discussed. Comparison of these maps with maps created on the bases of chemical analysis and soil moisture measurements determined by soil electrical conductivity was similar. The maps created by neutron-gamma analysis were reproducible, as well. Based on these facts, it can be asserted that neutron stimulated soil gamma spectroscopy paired with GPS system is fully applicable for soil elemental agricultural field mapping.

Keywords: ArcGIS mapping, neutron gamma analysis, soil elemental content, soil gamma spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Onyekachi Ogbonnaya Iroanya, Taiye Abdullahi Gegele, Frank Tochukwu Egwuatu

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Introduction: Forensic taphonomy is a multifaceted area that incorporates decomposition, chemical and biological cadaver exposure in post-mortem event chronology and reconstruction to predict the Post Mortem Interval (PMI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the integrity of DNA extracted from the remains of embalmed decomposed Sus domesticus tissues buried in different soil types. Method: A total of 12 limbs of Sus domesticus weighing between 0.7-1.4 kg were used. Each of the samples across the groups was treated with 10% formaldehyde, absolute methanol and 50% Pine oil for 24 hours before burial except the control samples, which were buried immediately. All samples were buried in shallow simulated Clay, Sandy and Loamy soil graves for 12 months. The DNA for each sample was extracted and quantified with Nanodrop Spectrophotometer (6305 JENWAY spectrometers). The rate of decomposition was examined through the modified qualitative decomposition analysis. Extracted DNA was amplified through PCR and bands visualized via gel electrophoresis. A biochemical enzyme assay was done for each burial grave soil. Result: The limbs in all burial groups had lost weight over the burial period. There was a significant increase in the soil urease level in the samples preserved in formaldehyde across the 3 soil type groups (p≤0.01). Also, the control grave soils recorded significantly higher alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase and calcium carbonate values compared to experimental grave soils (p≤0.01). The experimental samples showed a significant decrease in DNA concentration and purity when compared to the control groups (p≤0.01). Obtained findings of the soil biochemical analysis showed the embalming treatment altered the relationship between organic matter decomposition and soil biochemical properties as observed in the fluctuations that were recorded in the soil biochemical parameters. The PCR amplified DNA showed no bands on the gel electrophoresis plates. Conclusion: In criminal investigations, factors such as burial grave soil, grave soil biochemical properties, antemortem exposure to embalming chemicals should be considered in post-mortem interval (PMI) determination.

Keywords: forensic taphonomy, post-mortem interval (PMI), embalmment, decomposition, grave soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: K. Karuppasamy

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In this paper analysis of an infinite beam resting on multilayer tensionless extensible geosynthetic reinforced granular fill - poor soil system overlying soft soil strata under moving the load with constant velocity is presented. The beam is subjected to a concentrated load moving with constant velocity. The upper reinforced granular bed is modeled by a rough membrane embedded in Pasternak shear layer overlying a series of compressible nonlinear Winkler springs representing the underlying the very poor soil. The multilayer tensionless extensible geosynthetic layer has been assumed to deform such that at the interface the geosynthetic and the soil have some deformation. Nonlinear behavior of granular fill and the very poor soil has been considered in the analysis by means of hyperbolic constitutive relationships. Governing differential equations of the soil foundation system have been obtained and solved with the help of appropriate boundary conditions. The solution has been obtained by employing finite difference method by means of Gauss-Siedel iterative scheme. Detailed parametric study has been conducted to study the influence of various parameters on the response of soil – foundation system under consideration by means of deflection and bending moment in the beam and tension mobilized in the geosynthetic layer. These parameters include the magnitude of applied load, the velocity of the load, damping, the ultimate resistance of the poor soil and granular fill layer. The range of values of parameters has been considered as per Indian Railways conditions. This study clearly observed that the comparisons of multilayer tensionless extensible geosynthetic reinforcement with poor foundation soil and magnitude of applied load, relative compressibility of granular fill and ultimate resistance of poor soil has significant influence on the response of soil – foundation system. However, for the considered range of velocity, the response has been found to be insensitive towards velocity. The ultimate resistance of granular fill layer has also been found to have no significant influence on the response of the system.

Keywords: infinite beams, multilayer tensionless extensible geosynthetic, granular layer, moving load and nonlinear behavior of poor soil

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Authors: Habila Nuhu

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Natural radionuclides in the environment can significantly contribute to human exposure to ionizing radiation. The knowledge of their levels in an environment can help the radiological protection agencies in policymaking. Measurement of natural radioactivity in major soils in the tin mining state of Perak Malaysia has been conducted using an HPGe detector. Seventy (70) soil samples were collected at widely distributed locations in the state. Six major soil types were sampled, and thirteen districts around the state were covered. The following were the results of the 226Ra (238U), 228Ra (232Th), and 40K activity in the soil samples: 226Ra (238U) has a mean activity concentration of 191.83 Bq kg⁻¹, more than five times the UNSCEAR reference limits of 35 Bq kg⁻¹. The mean activity concentration of 228Ra (232Th) with a value of 232.41 Bq kg⁻¹ is over seven times the UNSCEAR reference values of 30 Bq kg⁻¹. The average concentration of 40K activity was 275.24 Bq kg⁻¹, which was less than the UNSCEAR reference limit of 400 Bq Kg⁻¹. The range of external hazards index (Hₑₓ) values was from 1.03 to 2.05, while the internal hazards index (Hin) was from 1.48 to 3.08. The Hex and Hin should be less than one for minimal external and internal radiation threats as well as secure use of soil material for building construction. The Hₑₓ and Hin results generally indicate that while using the soil types and their derivatives as building materials in the study area, care must be taken.

Keywords: activity concentration, hazard index, soil samples, tin mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Linlong Mu, Maosong Huang

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Considering excavations in urban areas, the soil deformation induced by the excavations usually causes damage to the surrounding structures. Displacement control becomes a critical indicator of foundation design in order to protect the surrounding structures. Evaluation, the damage potential of the surrounding structures induced by the excavations, usually depends on the finite element method (FEM) because of the complexity of the excavation and the variety of the surrounding structures. Besides, evaluation the influence of the excavation on surrounding structures is a three-dimensional problem. And it is now well recognized that small strain behaviour of the soil influences the responses of the excavation significantly. Three-dimensional FEM considering small strain behaviour of the soil is a very complex method, which is hard for engineers to use. Thus, it is important to obtain a simplified method for engineers to predict the influence of the excavations on the surrounding structures. Based on large-scale finite element calculation with small-strain based soil model coupling with inverse analysis, an empirical method is proposed to calculate the three-dimensional soil movement induced by braced excavation. The empirical method is able to capture the small-strain behaviour of the soil. And it is suitable to be used in layered soil. Then the free-field soil movement is applied to the pile to calculate the responses of the pile in both vertical and horizontal directions. The asymmetric solutions for problems in layered elastic half-space are employed to solve the interactions between soil points. Both vertical and horizontal pile responses are solved through finite difference method based on elastic theory. Interactions among the nodes along a single pile, pile-pile interactions, pile-soil-pile interaction action and soil-soil interactions are counted to improve the calculation accuracy of the method. For passive piles, the shadow effects are also calculated in the method. Finally, the restrictions of the raft on the piles and the soils are summarized as: (1) the summations of the internal forces between the elements of the raft and the elements of the foundation, including piles and soil surface elements, is equal to 0; (2) the deformations of pile heads or of the soil surface elements are the same as the deformations of the corresponding elements of the raft. Validations are carried out by comparing the results from the proposed method with the results from the model tests, FEM and other existing literatures. From the comparisons, it can be seen that the results from the proposed method fit with the results from other methods very well. The method proposed herein is suitable to predict the responses of the pile-raft foundation induced by braced excavation in layered soil in both vertical and horizontal directions when the deformation is small. However, more data is needed to verify the method before it can be used in practice.

Keywords: excavation, pile-raft foundation, passive piles, deformation control, soil movement

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Bahriye Gülgün, Gökhan Balik, Şükrü Dursun, Kübra Yazici

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The main reasons such as economic growth of society increase of the world population and rapid changes of industrialization cause the amount and the types of pollutants to increase over time. Soil pollution is the typical side effect of industrial activities. As a result of industrial activities, there are large amounts of heavy metal emission every year. Heavy metals are one of the highest pollution sources according to the soil pollution aspect. The usage of hyperaccumulator plants to clean heavy metal polluted soils and the selection of plants for phytoremediation gain importance recently. There are limited numbers of researches on the ornamental plant types of phytoremediation thus; researches on this subject are important. This research is prepared based on the ornamental plant types with phytoremediation abilities.

Keywords: phytoremediation, ornamental plants, landscape reclamation, soil reclamation, environmental pollution

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Authors: M. Tehranizadeh, E. Shoushtari Rezvani

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Seismic performance of steel moment-resisting frame structures is investigated considering nonlinear soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects. 10-, 15-, and 20-story planar building frames with aspect ratio of 3 are designed in accordance with current building codes. Inelastic seismic demands of the superstructure are considered using concentrated plasticity model. The raft foundation system is designed for different soil types. Beam-on-nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) is used to represent dynamic impedance of the underlying soil. Two sets of pulse-like as well as no-pulse near-fault earthquakes are used as input ground motions. The results show that the reduction in drift demands due to nonlinear SSI is characterized by a more uniform distribution pattern along the height when compared to the fixed-base and linear SSI condition. It is also concluded that beneficial effects of nonlinear SSI on displacement demands is more significant in case of pulse-like ground motions and performance level of the steel moment-resisting frames can be enhanced.

Keywords: soil-structure interaction, uplifting, soil plasticity, near-fault earthquake, tall building

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Authors: S. Yunus, A. Suratman, N. Mohamad Nor, M. Othman

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This paper presents the measurement and simulation results by Finite Element Method (FEM) for earth resistance (R_DC) for interconnected vertical ground rod configurations. The soil resistivity was measured using the Wenner four-pin Method, and R_DC was measured using the Fall of Potential (FOP) method, as outlined in the standard. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is employed to interpret the soil resistivity to that of a 2-layer soil model. The same soil resistivity data that were obtained by Wenner four-pin method were used in FEM for simulation. This paper compares the results of R_DC obtained by FEM simulation with the real measurement at field site. A good agreement was seen for R_DC obtained by measurements and FEM. This shows that FEM is a reliable software to be used for design of earthing systems. It is also found that the parallel rod system has a better performance compared to a similar setup using a grid layout.

Keywords: earthing system, earth electrodes, finite element method, genetic algorithm, earth resistances

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Avneet Kaur

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India is a nation of villages. Traditionally, women had enjoyed a high social status in India. Our mythology, folklore and history are full of women who were epitomes of virtue, wisdom, power, and position. The important concern about their entry into the politics is of great importance all over the world. Women have performed excellently in social, economic and political sphere. However, the fact remains that despite constituting half of the population their representation among elected post continue to remain negligible in Panchayati Raj Institutions. Women in India suffered from many social economic handicaps such as illiteracy, economically dependent, social customs, traditions and rituals that are the main causes of their inactive participation in local governance. There is still widespread patriarchal outlook in the villages and the lack of experience on the part of women leadership are some of the major issues of debate. The implementation of the 73rd Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution in 1992 reserved 1/3 rd of the seats for women empowerment. It was a major step to encourage them to take part in the village politics. This kind of revolution was the beginning of women leadership in villages. The paper intends to study the role and importance of women leadership in Panchayati Raj Institutions in India. The paper is divided into four sections. First section deals with the introduction by taking into account the available research on this particular subject. Second section talks about the role played by women leadership in these institutions after the passing of 73rd Amendment Act. Third section deals with some of the critical insights of the study by discussing the problems faced by the active women’s leadership at the grassroots. Finally, the paper concludes with policy suggestions.

Keywords: women, leadership, grassroots, Panchayati Raj

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Authors: İbrahim Hakkı Erkan, Özcan Tan

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The performance of jet grout columns was affected by many controlled and uncontrolled parameters. The leading parameters for the controlled ones can be listed as injection pressure, rod pulling speed, rod rotation speed, number of nozzles, nozzle diameter and Water/Cement ratio. And the uncontrolled parameters are soil type, soil structure, soil layering condition, underground water level, the changes in strength parameters and the rheologic properties of cement in time. In this study, the performance of jet grout columns and the effects of pulling speed and rotation speed were investigated experimentally. For this purpose, a laboratory type jet grouting system was designed for the experiments. Through this system, jet grout columns were produced in three different conditions. The results of the study showed that the grout pressure and the lifting speed significantly affect the performance of the jet grouting columns.

Keywords: jet grout, sandy soils, soil improvement, soilcreate

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Authors: Tripti Nayak, R. K. Bajpai

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An ongoing field experiment was conducted at Long term fertilizer experiment, Raipur, to study the Effect of fertilization (both organic and inorganic) on soil Physical properties (infiltration rate) of Vertisol of ten treatments viz. The treatment combinations for were T1(Control),T2(50%NPK), T3(100%NPK), T4(150%NPK), T5(100%NPK+Zn), T6(100%NP), T7(100%N), T8(100%NPK+FYM), T9 (50%NPK+BGA) and T10(50%NPK+GM). Farmyard manure and green manure is applied at the treatment of T8 (100%NPK+FYM) and T10 (50%NPK+GM). Result showed that the highest infiltration rate recorded T8(100%NPK+FYM) and T10 (50%NPK+GM). These considerations have led to a renewed interest in the organic manures such as FYM, compost and green manures, which are formulations helps in sustainable agriculture production either by providing plants with fixed nitrogen, available P or by other plant growth promoting substances. Organic matter (OM) is the life of the soil because it contains all the essential elements required for plant growth. It also serves as food for soil bacteria. Decomposed OM, known as humus, improves the soil tilth, quality and helps the plant to grow. In general among all the other treatments and control gave poorest infiltration rate. Incorporation of organic sources considerably improved the soil physical properties such as decrease in bulk density and increase in infiltration rate and available NPK status of the soil. Study showed that wherever, nitrogen was substituted through GM, FYM or crop residue (rice straw) in rice, Corresponding decrease in bulk density favorably enhanced the infiltration rate and it was found to be highest in the green-manured plot, FYM and lowest in control. Concluded that Continuous monitoring of physical properties should be carried out for maintaining soil health and enhancing the crop production.

Keywords: long term effect, FYM, green manure, infiltration rate, soil health, crop productivity, vertisol

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Authors: Mucahit Unal, Ibrahim Arslan

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The New Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) No. 6102 was published in the Official Gazette on February 14, 2011. As stated in the New Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 and Law No. 6103 on Validity and Application of the Turkish Commercial Code, TCC came into effect on July 1, 2012. The basic purpose of the TCC is to form corporate governance coherent with the international standards; to provide transparency in company management; to adjust the Turkish Commercial Code rules with European Union legislations and to simplify establishing a company for foreigner investors to move investments to Turkish market. In this context according to TCC, joint stock companies and limited liability companies can establish with only one single shareholder; the one single shareholder can be foreigner; all board of director members can be foreigner, also all shareholders and board of director members can be non-resident foreigners. Additionally, TCC does not require physical participation to the general shareholders and board members meetings. TCC allows that the general shareholders and board members meetings can hold in an electronic form and resolution of these meetings may also be approved via electronic signatures. Through this amendment, foreign investors no longer have to deal with red tapes. This amendment also means the TCC prevents foreign companies from incurring unnecessary travel expenses. In accordance with all this amendments about TCC, to invest in Turkish market is easy, simple and transparent for foreigner investors and also investors can establish a company in Turkey, irrespective of nationality or place of residence. This article aims to analyze ‘Establish a Company in Turkey for Foreigners’ and inform investors about investing (especially establishing a company) in the Turkish market.

Keywords: establish a company, foreigner investors, invest in Turkish market, Turkish commercial code

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Yesim Tumsek, Erkan Celebi

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In order to simulate the infinite soil medium for soil-foundation interaction problem, the essential geotechnical parameter on which the foundation stiffness depends, is the value of soil shear modulus. This parameter directly affects the site and structural response of the considered model under earthquake ground motions. Strain-dependent shear modulus under cycling loads makes difficult to estimate the accurate value in computation of foundation stiffness for the successful dynamic soil-structure interaction analysis. The aim of this study is to discuss in detail how to use the appropriate value of soil shear modulus in the computational analyses and to evaluate the effect of the variation in shear modulus with strain on the impedance functions used in the sub-structure method for idealizing the soil-foundation interaction problem. Herein, the impedance functions compose of springs and dashpots to represent the frequency-dependent stiffness and damping characteristics at the soil-foundation interface. Earthquake-induced vibration energy is dissipated into soil by both radiation and hysteretic damping. Therefore, flexible-base system damping, as well as the variability in shear strengths, should be considered in the calculation of impedance functions for achievement a more realistic dynamic soil-foundation interaction model. In this study, it has been written a Matlab code for addressing these purposes. The case-study example chosen for the analysis is considered as a 4-story reinforced concrete building structure located in Istanbul consisting of shear walls and moment resisting frames with a total height of 12m from the basement level. The foundation system composes of two different sized strip footings on clayey soil with different plasticity (Herein, PI=13 and 16). In the first stage of this study, the shear modulus reduction factor was not considered in the MATLAB algorithm. The static stiffness, dynamic stiffness modifiers and embedment correction factors of two rigid rectangular foundations measuring 2m wide by 17m long below the moment frames and 7m wide by 17m long below the shear walls are obtained for translation and rocking vibrational modes. Afterwards, the dynamic impedance functions of those have been calculated for reduced shear modulus through the developed Matlab code. The embedment effect of the foundation is also considered in these analyses. It can easy to see from the analysis results that the strain induced in soil will depend on the extent of the earthquake demand. It is clearly observed that when the strain range increases, the dynamic stiffness of the foundation medium decreases dramatically. The overall response of the structure can be affected considerably because of the degradation in soil stiffness even for a moderate earthquake. Therefore, it is very important to arrive at the corrected dynamic shear modulus for earthquake analysis including soil-structure interaction.

Keywords: clay soil, impedance functions, soil-foundation interaction, sub-structure approach, reduced shear modulus

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Authors: Pengwei Qiao, Sucai Yang, Wenxia Wei

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Soil pollution has become an important issue in China. Accurate spatial distribution prediction of pollutants with interpolation methods is the basis for soil remediation in the site. However, a relatively strong variability of pollutants would decrease the prediction accuracy. Theoretically, partition interpolation can result in accurate prediction results. In order to verify the applicability of partition interpolation for a site, benzo (b) fluoranthene (BbF) in four soil layers was adopted as the research object in this paper. IDW (inverse distance weighting)-, RBF (radial basis function)-and OK (ordinary kriging)-based partition interpolation accuracies were evaluated, and their influential factors were analyzed; then, the uncertainty and applicability of partition interpolation were determined. Three conclusions were drawn. (1) The prediction error of partitioned interpolation decreased by 70% compared to unpartitioned interpolation. (2) Partition interpolation reduced the impact of high CV (coefficient of variation) and high concentration value on the prediction accuracy. (3) The prediction accuracy of IDW-based partition interpolation was higher than that of RBF- and OK-based partition interpolation, and it was suitable for the identification of highly polluted areas at a contaminated site. These results provide a useful method to obtain relatively accurate spatial distribution information of pollutants and to identify highly polluted areas, which is important for soil pollution remediation in the site.

Keywords: accuracy, applicability, partition interpolation, site, soil pollution, uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Saad M. Howladar, Ashraf Sh. Osman, Mostafa M. Rady, Hassan S. Al-Zahrani

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The effects of soil inoculation with phosphorien-containing Phosphate-Dissolving Bacteria (PDB) and/or magnesium (Mg) foliar application at the rates of 0, 0.5 and 1mM on growth, green pod and seed yields, and chemical constituents of Pisum sativum L. grown on a sandy calcareous soil were investigated. Results indicated that PDB and/or Mg significantly increased shoot length, number of branches plant–1, total leaf area plant–1 and canopy dry weight plant–1, leaf contents of pigments, soluble sugars, free proline, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and Ca/Na ratio, while leaf Na content was reduced. PDB and/or Mg also increased green pod and seed yields. We concluded that PDB and Mg have pronounced positive effects on Pisum sativum L. plants grown on sandy calcareous soil. PDB and Mg, therefore, have the potential to be applied for various crops to overcome the adverse effects of the newly-reclaimed sandy calcareous soils.

Keywords: bio-p-fertilizer, mg foliar application, newly-reclaimed soils, Pisum sativum L.

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Siamak Feizi, Gunvor Baardvik

Abstract:

Soil erosion has special consequences for landfills that are more serious than those found at conventional construction sites. Different potential heads between two sides of a landfill and the subsequent movement of water through pores within the soil body could trigger the soil erosion and construction instability. Such a condition was encountered in a landfill project in the southern part of Norway. To check the risk of internal erosion due to changes in the groundwater level (because of seasonal flooding in the river), a series of numerical simulations by means of Geo-Seep software was conducted. Output of this study provides a total picture of the landfill stability, possibilities of erosions, and necessary measures to prevent or reduce the risk for the landfill operator.

Keywords: erosion, seepage, landfill, stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Mohammed Bello Sokoto, Adewumi Babatunde Adebayo, Ajit Singh

Abstract:

The field experiment was conducted at the dry land Teaching and Research Farm of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, during the 2023 rainy season to determine the effects of organic, inorganic, soil conditioner and integrated use of soil conditioners (Agzyme) with organic (super gro) and inorganic fertilizers on the growth and yield of cowpea varieties. The research consisted of two cowpea varieties (SAMPEA-20-T and ex-GidanYunfa) and six combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizers and soil conditioners factorially combined and laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times. Data were collected on plant height, leaf area index, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, days to 50% flowering, grain yield, and 100 seed weight. Results indicated that the 100% inorganic fertilizer had a significantly increased growth parameter such as plant height and number of leaves, while combined application of the organic fertilizer and soil conditioner resulted in a significant increase in yield parameters such as number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight and grain yield. The study observed that the use of soil conditioner in combination with fertilizers supports sustainable cowpea production. Application of 50% recommended inorganic + 50% soil conditioner or 50% liquid organic + 50% soil conditioner was better in increasing the number of pods/plant, seeds/pod, 100 seed weight and grain yield. The ex-Gidan Yunfa cowpea variety generally performed better in most parameters measured, such as plant height, days to 50% flowering, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight and grain yield. Therefore, the combined application of 50% recommended inorganic + 50% soil conditioner or 50% liquid organic + 50% soil conditioner is effective for the sustainable production of cowpeas.

Keywords: integrated, fertilizers, growth, yield, cowpea, Sudan Savannah

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: N. Degui, Y. Daoud

Abstract:

The study investigates the assessment of micronutrient bioavailability and behavior in saline soils based on the determination of three cations and one anion on three soil profiles affected by secondary salinization in Lower Cheliff. The chemical fractionation method was used for the speciation study (different forms) of micronutrients in these soils. The results show that total form quantities of cations are height than norms in agricultural soils, thus the quantities of anion are lows. At the other hand, the quantities of available forms are lows. Statistical analysis reveals that cationic micronutrients localize preferentially in the coarse fraction of the soil in salty conditions and that sodicity causes a decrease in the iron reserve in the soil. The pH range ‘7.49 - 8.76’ represents a constraint for the complexation of micronutrients by organic matter. The study concluded that quantities of total and available forms of micronutrients in salty soils are influenced by soil properties such as: pH, electrical conductivity and exchangeable sodium.

Keywords: chemical fractionation, micronutrients, salty soils, speciation

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: A. Khosravi, S. Ghadirian, J. S. McCartney

Abstract:

Evaluation of the seismic-induced settlement of an unsaturated soil layer depends on several variables, among which the small strain shear modulus, Gmax, and soil’s state of stress have been demonstrated to be of particular significance. Recent interpretation of trends in Gmax revealed considerable effects of the degree of saturation and hydraulic hysteresis on the shear stiffness of soils in unsaturated states. Accordingly, the soil layer is expected to experience different settlement behaviors depending on the soil saturation and seasonal weathering conditions. In this study, a semi-empirical formulation was adapted to extend an existing Gmax model to infer hysteretic effects along different paths of the SWRC including scanning curves. The suitability of the proposed approach is validated against experimental results from a suction-controlled resonant column test and from data reported in literature. The model was observed to follow the experimental data along different paths of the SWRC, and showed a slight hysteresis in shear modulus along the scanning curves.

Keywords: hydraulic hysteresis, scanning path, small strain shear modulus, unsaturated soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Hamed Sadeghi, Pouya A. Panahi, Hamed Nasiri, Mohammad Sadeghi

Abstract:

Collapsible soils like loess comprise an important category of problematic soils for construction purposes and sustainable development. As a result, research on both geological and geotechnical aspects of this type of soil have been in progress for decades. However, considerable natural variability in physical properties of in-situ loess strata even in a single block sample challenges the fundamental laboratory investigations. The reason behind this is that it is somehow impossible to remove the effect of a specific factor like void ratio from fair comparisons to come with a reliable conclusion. In order to cope with this limitation, two types of artificially made dispersive and calcareous loess are introduced which can be easily reproduced in any soil mechanics laboratory provided that all its compositions are known and controlled. The collapse potential is explored for a variety of soil water salinity and lime content and comparisons are made against the natural soil behavior. Trends are reported for the influence of pore water salinity on collapse potential under different osmotic flow conditions. The most important advantage of artificial loess is the ease of controlling cementing agent content like calcite or dispersive potential for studying their influence on mechanical soil behavior.

Keywords: artificial loess, unsaturated soils, collapse potential, dispersive clays, laboratory tests

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Teodrose Atnafu Abegaze, P. K. Sharma

Abstract:

In this study, an attempt has been made to study the behavior of breakthrough curves in both layered and mixed heterogeneous soil by conducting experiments in long soil columns. Sodium chloride has been used as a conservative tracer in the experiment. Advective dispersive transport equations, including equilibrium sorption and first-order degradation coefficients, are used for solute transport through mobile-immobile porous media. In order to do the governing equation for solute transport, there are explicit and implicit schemes for our condition; we use an implicit scheme to numerically model the solute concentration. Results of experimental breakthrough curves indicate that the behavior of observed breakthrough curves is approximately similar in both cases of layered and mixed soil, while earlier arrival of solute concentration is obtained in the case of mixed soil. It means that the types of heterogeneity of the soil media affect the behavior of solute concentration. Finally, it is also shown that the asymptotic dispersion model simulates the experimental data better than the constant and linear distance-dependent dispersion models.

Keywords: numerical method, distance dependant dispersion, reactive transport, experiment

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Anne C. Richer-De-Forges, Dominique Arrouays, Songchao Chen, Mercedes Roman Dobarco

Abstract:

Most of the digital soil mapping (DSM) products rely on machine learning (ML) prediction models and/or the use or pedotransfer functions (PTF) in which calibration data come from soil analyses performed in labs. However, many other observations (often qualitative, nominal, or ordinal) could be used as proxies of lab measurements or as input data for ML of PTF predictions. DSM and ML are briefly described with some examples taken from the literature. Then, we explore the potential of an ordinal qualitative variable, i.e., the hand-feel soil texture (HFST) estimating the mineral particle distribution (PSD): % of clay (0-2µm), silt (2-50µm) and sand (50-2000µm) in 15 classes. The PSD can also be measured by lab measurements (LAST) to determine the exact proportion of these particle-sizes. However, due to cost constraints, HFST are much more numerous and spatially dense than LAST. Soil texture (ST) is a very important soil parameter to map as it is controlling many of the soil properties and functions. Therefore, comes an essential question: is it possible to use HFST as a proxy of LAST for calibration and/or validation of DSM predictions of ST? To answer this question, the first step is to compare HFST with LAST on a representative set where both information are available. This comparison was made on ca 17,400 samples representative of a French region (34,000 km2). The accuracy of HFST was assessed, and each HFST class was characterized by a probability distribution function (PDF) of its LAST values. This enables to randomly replace HFST observations by LAST values while respecting the PDF previously calculated and results in a very large increase of observations available for the calibration or validation of PTF and ML predictions. Some preliminary results are shown. First, the comparison between HFST classes and LAST analyses showed that accuracies could be considered very good when compared to other studies. The causes of some inconsistencies were explored and most of them were well explained by other soil characteristics. Then we show some examples applying these relationships and the increase of data to several issues related to DSM. The first issue is: do the PDF functions that were established enable to use HSFT class observations to improve the LAST soil texture prediction? For this objective, we replaced all HFST for topsoil by values from the PDF 100 time replicates). Results were promising for the PTF we tested (a PTF predicting soil water holding capacity). For the question related to the ML prediction of LAST soil texture on the region, we did the same kind of replacement, but we implemented a 10-fold cross-validation using points where we had LAST values. We obtained only preliminary results but they were rather promising. Then we show another example illustrating the potential of using HFST as validation data. As in numerous countries, the HFST observations are very numerous; these promising results pave the way to an important improvement of DSM products in all the countries of the world.

Keywords: digital soil mapping, improvement of digital soil mapping predictions, potential of using hand-feel soil texture, soil texture prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Faramarz Khoshnoudian, Saeed Vosoughiyan

Abstract:

The main goal of this article is to clarify the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects on the seismic performance of steel moment resisting frame buildings which are rested on soft soil and equipped with viscous fluid dampers (VFDs). For this purpose, detailed structural models of a ten-story SMRF with VFDs excluding and including the SSI are constructed first. In order to simulate the dynamic response of the foundation, in this paper, the simple cone model is applied. Then, the nonlinear time-history analysis of the models is conducted using three kinds of earthquake excitations with different intensities. The analysis results have demonstrated that the SSI effects on the seismic performance of a structure equipped with VFDs and supported by rigid foundation on soft soil need to be considered. Also VFDs designed based on rigid foundation hypothesis fail to achieve the expected seismic objective while SSI goes into effect.

Keywords: nonlinear time-history analysis, soil-structure interaction, steel moment resisting frame building, viscous fluid dampers

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Andreas Schomburg, Claire Le Bayon, Claire Guenat, Philip Brunner

Abstract:

Numerous river restoration projects have been established in Switzerland in recent years after decades of human activity in floodplains. The success of restoration projects in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem functions largely depend on the development of the floodplain soil system. Plants and earthworms as ecosystem engineers are known to be able to build up a stable soil structure by incorporating soil organic matter into the soil matrix that creates water stable soil aggregates. Their engineering efficiency however largely depends on changing soil properties and frequent floods along an evolutive floodplain transect. This study, therefore, aims to quantify the effect of flood frequency and duration as well as of physico-chemical soil parameters on plants’ and earthworms’ engineering efficiency. It is furthermore predicted that these influences may have a different impact on one of the engineers that leads to a varying contribution to aggregate formation within the floodplain transect. Ecosystem engineers were sampled and described in three different floodplain habitats differentiated according to the evolutionary stages of the vegetation ranging from pioneer to forest vegetation in a floodplain restored 15 years ago. In addition, the same analyses were performed in an embanked adjacent pasture as a reference for the pre-restored state. Soil aggregates were collected and analyzed for their organic matter quantity and quality using Rock Eval pyrolysis. Water level and discharge measurements dating back until 2008 were used to quantify the return period of major floods. Our results show an increasing amount of water stable aggregates in soil with increasing distance to the river and show largest values in the reference site. A decreasing flood frequency and the proportion of silt and clay in the soil texture explain these findings according to F values from one way ANOVA of a fitted mixed effect model. Significantly larger amounts of labile organic matter signatures were found in soil aggregates in the forest habitat and in the reference site that indicates a larger contribution of plants to soil aggregation in these habitats compared to the pioneer vegetation zone. Earthworms’ contribution to soil aggregation does not show significant differences in the floodplain transect, but their effect could be identified even in the pioneer vegetation with its large proportion of coarse sand in the soil texture and frequent inundations. These findings indicate that ecosystem engineers seem to be able to create soil aggregates even under unfavorable soil conditions and under frequent floods. A restoration success can therefore be expected even in ecosystems with harsh soil properties and frequent external disturbances.

Keywords: ecosystem engineers, flood frequency, floodplains, river restoration, rock eval pyrolysis, soil organic matter incorporation, soil structuration

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Daisy B. Badilla, Peter A. Gostomski

Abstract:

Abstract: Biofiltration may be used to control indoor air pollution. In biofiltration, microorganisms break down harmful contaminants in air or water, transforming them into non-toxic substances like carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. In this study, the CO₂ production and the elimination capacity (EC) of toluene at inlet concentrations between 20 and 80 ppm were investigated using three biofilters operated separately with soil as bed material. Results showed soil, with its rich microflora taken to full advantage without inoculants and additional nutrients, biodegraded toluene at removal rates comparable to those in other studies at higher concentrations. The amount of CO₂ generated corresponds to the amount of toluene removed, indicating efficient biodegradation and suggesting stable long-term performance at these low concentrations. Although the concentrations in this study differ from typical indoor toluene levels (ppb), the findings suggest that biofiltration could be effective for indoor air pollution control with appropriate design, taking into account biomass growth or biofilm structure, concentration, and gas flow rate.

Keywords: biofiltration, air pollution control, soil, toluene

Procedia PDF Downloads 12