JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Earthworms are an important component of soil fauna because of their fundamental impact on soil physical, chemical and biological properties. To evaluate the effects of earthworms on some soil chemical properties as well as plant growth indicators, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design in greenhouse conditions. The first factor involved the presence or absence of earthworms (Eisenia foetida), the second factor was different organic matter including control (no organic materials), pruning waste compost of apple and grape (PWC), wheat straw (WS), Herbal extracts waste (HE), pruning waste (PW) and the third factor was the presence or absence of corn plant for evaluating rhizosphere soil. At the end of growing period, some soil chemical properties including total nitrogen, organic carbon, ammonium, nitrate and plant growth indicators were measured. The results showed that application of organic matter and earthworm inoculation had significant effects on soil chemical properties. The pruning waste compost (PWC) treatment showed the largest impact on ammonium and nitrate content (1.7 and 3.3 times compared to control treatment, respectively). In pruning waste compost (PWC) treatment, organic carbon amount in rhizospheric soil increased from 0.9 at non-rhizosphere to 1.32 %. The presence of earthworm improved plant growth parameters including shoot and root dry weight by 34% and 30%, respectively, compared to earthworm absence condition. Soil ammonium and nitrate contents at earthworm presence increased 32% and 49%, respectively. Therefore, application of organic matter with earthworm inoculation had better results in comparison with no earthworm inoculation.

Petroleum pollution is an important environmental issue in most of the countries especially those have an oil industry. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of petroleum pollution on soil water repellency and its relation to soil structural stability in Bakhtiardasht area, Isfahan. Polluted and adjacent non-polluted locations were selected to be representative in the green space around the Isfahan Oil Refinery. Soil water repellency was assessed using water drop penetration time (WDPT) in the polluted locations. Soil sample with least aggregates disturbance were collected and selected soil physical and chemical properties were measured. Soil structural stability was evaluated using the wet-sieving method and mechanically dispersible clay (MDC) structural stability indices of mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric weight diameter (GMD) of aggregates and MDC were then calculated. Results showed that the positive effect of petroleum pollution on the MWD and GMD become significant. Negative impact of petroleum pollution on MDC was also significant. Increment of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) increased the soil water repellency. A positive correlation was observed between soil water repellency and GMD. However, TPHs concentrations greater than 6.4% decreased the MWD and GMD presumably due to anionic repulsion between clay particles and hydrocarbon functional groups. Although greater water repellency increased soil structural stability in the polluted locations when compared to control locations, however, diminished water retention of polluted soil has created an unfavorable condition for the green space in the area.

Cadmium (Cd) is a metal with high toxicity and solubility in water, which is a serious environmental threat to human health. Phytoremediation is an environment-friendly method and a promising new and cost effective technology that uses plants to clean organic and inorganic contaminated media. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of Jatropha curcas for remediation of soils contaminated with Cd. Seedlings were planted in the soil spiked with Cd in amounts of 0, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150 mg kg^-1 (Cd₀, Cd₂₅, Cd₅₀, Cd₇₅, Cd₁₀₀ and Cd₁₅₀) for a period of five months. Biocentration factor (BCF, metal concentration ratio of plant roots to soil), translocation factor (TF, metal concentration ratio of plant shoots to soil) and removal efficiency (RE, total metal removed by plant biomass to total metal loaded in soil) were determined. Cd concentrations among plant parts were in the following trend: roots>stems>leaves. The highest total Cd concentration (up to 1100 mg kg^-1) and the highest RE were found in Cd₁₅₀ and Cd₂₅, respectively. BCF and TF of the plant were more and less than 1, respectively. Hence, although this species has a potential to be used in phytostabilization of Cd-contaminated soil, more researches in the field condition are needed.

This study was conducted to determine some mineral content concentrations in soils and plants of three elevation classes (1500, 2200 and 3000m) and two phenological stages of flowering and seedling in north facing slopes of Sabalan rangelands. Soil samples from the depth of 20cm and plant samples using 1×1m plots with 10 replications were collected. After sample preparation, the concentrations of minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, ion, copper, zinc and magnesium were determined using spectrophotometer and flame photometer. Data was analyzed by SAS9.1 software using a Completely Randomized Design with a Generalized Linear Model procedure. Results showed that elevation had a significant effect on Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn of soil and P, Na, K, Mg and Mn of plants in the study areas (P&le0.05). Growing stages had a significant effect on all elements of plants except Ca (P&le0.05). Moreover, results showed that in three elevation classes the high demand minerals' concentrations were higher at the starting seedling stage in comparison with the flowering stage. In contrast, the low demand minerals' concentrations in three elevation sites were higher in the flowering stage in comparison with seedling stage. Interaction effect of elevation and growing stage was also significant in relation to all elements except Ca (P&le0.05).

This study was conducted to determine some mineral content concentration in soil and plant of three elevation classes (1500, 2200 and 3000m) and two phenological stages of flowering and seedling start in north-facing slopes of Sabalan rangelands. Soil samples from the depth of 20cm and plant samples using 1×1m plots with 10 replications were collected. After sample preparation, the concentrations of minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, ion, copper, zinc and magnesium were determined using spectrophotometer and flame photometer. Data was analyzed by SAS9.1 software using Completely Randomized Design with a Generalized Linear Model procedure. Results showed that elevation had a significant effect on Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn of soil and P, Na, K, Mg and Mn of plants in the study areas (P&le0.05). Growing stages had a significant effect on all elements of plants except Ca (P&le0.05). Moreover, results showed that in three elevation classes the high demand minerals’ concentration was higher at the starting seedling stage in comparison with the flowering stage. In contrast, the low demand minerals’ concentration in three elevation sites was higher in the flowering stage in comparison with seedling stage. Interaction effect of elevation and growing stage was also significant in relation to all elements except Ca (P&le0.05).

To improve the engineering properties of fine-grained soils, the use of various additives has always been considered important. In this study, the effect of hydrated lime on compressive strength of clay soils was studied in both optimum moisture and saturated modes. For this purpose, by adding varying amounts of hydrated lime (0, 1, 3and 5%) to the clay, several samples were prepared and tested by the standard proctor and Harvard miniature compaction apparatus. Then the samples were tested for unconfined compressive strength in optimum moisture and saturated modes after different curing days (7, 14, 28 and 90 days). The results showed that by increasing the amount of hydrated lime, the maximum dry unit weight was reduced and the optimum moisture was increased. Increasing the hydrated lime also increased the compressive strength of the soil in both dry and saturated modes and this resistance increase was significantly influenced by cured days and the amounts of hydrated lime. The results showed that the rate of 5% hydrated lime was the maximum compressive strength, but with regard to softening factor, the amount of 3% hydrated lime was determined as the optimum value.

Heavy metals are known to have deleterious effects on human health. The main route of human exposure to heavy metals is the daily intake of food. This study was designed to investigate the heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Cr, Ni and Cd) in soil and major food crops (wheat, potato and corn) and estimate the health risks of metals to humans via soil and the crops consumed in Hamedan Province, using the total non-cancer hazard quotient. Daily metal intakes were estimated for three receptor groups and then compared with health guideline values. The non-cancer risk estimations showed that chromium, manganese, cadmium, zinc, Iron, Nickel and copper have oral Hazard Quotient values less than a value of one. The Hazard Index values were greater than 1 for all age groups, suggesting that adults and children in the study area may experience a potential non-cancer risk due to diet of heavy metal via wheat, corn and potato consumption and soil ingestion. Consumption of plant foods particularly wheat was found to be the major route of human exposure to heavy metal. The soil ingestion route is also important.

Mobarakeh Steel Complex has been using treated industrial wastewater for irrigation of green space to combat water shortage and prevent environmental pollution. This study was performed to assess the impact of short-, middle-, and long-term wastewater irrigation on soil quality attributes in green space of this complex. Soils were sampled from the wet bulb produced by under-tree trickles in three depths of forested lands irrigated with treated wastewater (for 2, 6 and 18 years) or groundwater. Several chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the soil samples were determined in the laboratory and compared to those of the native unirrigated soils as the controls. The results showed that pH was significantly reduced in the wastewater-irrigated soils as compared to the control. Organic matter content and cation exchange capacity significantly increased in the irrigated soils due to the incorporation of tree leaves into soil. Soil salinity also increased as the irrigation period increased because of the relatively high salinity of water and wastewater used for irrigation. Microbial basal respiration and arginine ammonification were greater in the irrigated soils in comparison to the control. In general, forestation and irrigation management have improved most of the soil quality indexes in the Mobarakeh Steel Complex green space, but some soil characteristics, such as salinity, need to be monitored and improved in future.

Technosols are modified soils affected by human activities. This study investigated genesis, classification and physicochemical properties of four pedons of Technosols developed on refused oil refinery materials and compared them with two unpolluted pedons. Mineralogical studies showed smectite as a dominant clay mineral with other clay minerals. These clay minerals adsorb oil compounds in their interlayer spaces and reduce their mobility and decomposition. Different micromorphological features resulting from oil compounds in soils, including depletion zones, types of coatings (quasi and hypocoating) and features due to horizontal and vertical movement of oil compound in soil showed dynamics of oil compounds and their effects on soil forming process. The refused petroleum compounds decrease pH and increase organic carbon, amorphous form of Iron in soils. Taking into account the presence of high amounts of gypsum and carbonate in polluted soil, the studied soils were classified as Typic Calcigypsids in Soil Taxonomy but in WRB system, due to the presence of impermeable geomembrane within 100 cm of soil surface, they were classified as Linic Technosols, showing the more precision of WRB system in their classification. 

The importance of decreasing the cost of soil structures due to the budget constraints makes engineers avoid handling large volumes of soil, thus making maximum use of local materials. Soil performance change in order to improve engineering applications of soil is called soil stabilization. Soil stabilization methods can be mechanical, electrical, thermal, chemical, etc. Gypsiferous soil including soils used in civil affairs and special structures in the vicinity of water needs to be established. This study is conducted to evaluate changes of shear strength of gypsiferous soil, using chemical method by addition of “A polyurethane Mastic”.  The studied gypsiferous soil was prepared from 3km north-west of Ramhormoz in Khuzestan province. Soil samples containing 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 5% and 7% of the said material additive were compressed with optimum moisture content obtained from standard Procter test, and finally, were tested under the direct shear test at shear rate of 0.5 mm per minute. After achieving cohesion parameters of soil, the best mix of the additive “A polyurethane Mastic” was found to be 5%.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of poultry manure (PM) and its derived biochars on chemical properties of a sample calcareous soil. Poultry manure and its derived biochars at 200(B₂₀₀), 300(B₃₀₀) and 400(_B400)°C were incorporated with 400 g of soil at 2% level (w/w) and incubated for 150 days. Some chemical properties of soil and bio-availability of some nutritional ingredients such as phosphorous, potassium, iron, manganese, zinc and copper were determined at different times of incubation. Soil nutrients availability, organic carbon (OC), electrical conductivity (EC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) increased by addition of all these organic substances. Biochars prepared at higher temperatures were more effective in increasing soil OC and its durability. Addition of PM and B₂₀₀ decreased soil pH, whereas B₄₀₀ increased it. Although highest soil EC was observed in B₃₀₀ and B₄₀₀ treated samples in the early stages of incubation, the rate of increasing in soil EC was higher at PM and B₂₀₀ treated samples. In general, it was concluded that biochar prepared at 300°C had the highest effect on availability of nutrients and their durability in the soil. 

Assessing the root system and its tensile strength is necessary for determine the impact of roots in increasing the soil shear strength. The present study aims to investigate effects of slope and flow of riverbank on root system of riparian POPULOYS trees. In a relatively direct interval, 6 riparian POPULOYS trees were chosen on the slope of Simereh riverbank. To assess the root system, the circular profiles trenching method was utilized. The surface around each tree was divided into four quadrants: upper quadrant, lower quadrant, in slope direction and in flow direction. In every quadrant, number and diameter of roots were measured. The obtained results showed that the highest number of roots were in 90-100 cm depth. 59% of Roots, in the slop direction and 53% of roots in flow direction, were located in the top quadrant. Approximately, 97% of roots had up to 20 mm diameter. The greatest difference in the number of roots in upper, lower, in slop direction and in flow direction quadrants, were seen in diameters up to 5 mm. In slope direction, this difference was almost 2.7 times more than the difference seen in flow direction. The average ratio of root cross-section was 0.26%. The obtained results indicate that the root system of riparian POPULOYS trees on the riverbank is asymmetrical.

Soil moisture is one of the main input parameters in many models for monitoring and predicting crop yield. The ability of mathematical models has allowed correct application of brackish water and selection of management options. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the performance of HYDRUS-2D for simulating soil volumetric water content in a heterogeneous heavy soil under field conditions. Three volumes of irrigation water (10, 15 and 20 L) and three salinity levels of irrigation water (1.279, 2.5 and 5 dSm^-1) were exerted in a linear drip irrigation system with three replications. In order to check the amount of soil volumetric water content, soil profiles were drilled to 40 cm depth and vertical wall of drip irrigation line was networked. Soil volumetric water content was measured with a TDR MiniTrase kit 6050X3K1B model. The observed soil moisture values were compared with the simulated ones using statistical indices (i.e. nRMSE and CRM).  The results indicated that mean soil volumetric water content distribution in irrigation water with different levels of salinities was in the range of field capacity. The range of nRMSE values varied from 0.91 to 2.07 percent in different replications. According to calculated nRMSE values, performance of the simulation model, was ranked as excellent for simulation of soil volumetric water content. Range of CRM values was shown to be from -0.0080 to 0.0170 that was really low. Results of these two statistics indicate high ability of the model in simulating soil volumetric water content using estimating hydraulic parameters by inverse solution.

Knowledge of variation in soil properties from each event to another is very important for the determination of critical periods during which soil is susceptible to erosion processes. This study was carried out to investigate soil loss in sequential rainfall events in Zanjan Province. Toward this, ten soil textures samples were taken and were transported to small plots (60 cm×80cm) with 20-cm depth) on a 8% slope land at three replications. The plots were exposed to ten simulated rainfalls with an intensity of 55 mm h^-1 for 30-min and 5-day intervals. A total of 300 simulated rainfall trials were carried out at the plots.  Results indicated that soil moisture, runoff production and soil loss were significantly affected by rainfall events (P< 0.001). Increasing soil moisture and consequently decreasing soil infiltration capacity were the most crucial element in increasing runoff production and soil loss in the sequential rainfall events, in a way that about 84% of soil loss variation in the rainfall events could be explained based on antecedent soil moisture. After the fifths rainfall event, no significant differences  was found in soil infiltration capacity as well as runoff production because of soil moisture reaching to the water-holding capacity. Nevertheless, an increasing trend was observed in soil loss after fifth event which could associate with presence of more erodible soil particles on the surface and consequently increasing the concentration of surface flows.

Digital soil mapping techniques which incorporate the digital auxiliary environmental data to field observation data using software are more reliable and efficient compared to conventional surveys. Therefore, this study has been conducted to use k- Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) and artificial neural network (ANN) to predict spatial variability of soil salinity in Ardekan district in an area of 700 km², in Yazd province. In this study, 180 soil samples were collected in a grid sampling manner and then soil chemical and physical properties were measured in laboratory. Environmental auxiliary variables were included topographic attributes, remote sensing data (ETM+) and apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). The result of the study showed that the K-mean nearest neighborhood had higher accuracy than ANN models for predicting soil electrical conductivity (ECe). Overall, k-NN models could provide significant relationships between soil salinity data and environmental auxiliary variables. The k-NN model had the root mean square and coefficient of determination of 12.10 and 0.92, respectively, between predicted and observed ECe data. Also, apparent EC, and remotely sensed indices and wetness index were identified as the most important factors for predicating the soil salinity in the studied area.

Potassium (K) fixation in soil is an important process which affects the availability of K to plants. There is limited information on K fixation capacity (PFC) of soils in Chahar Mahal & Bakhtiary province. This study was carried out with the aim of determining PFC and its relation with soil characteristics in 10 samples of surface soils in Chahar Mahal & Bakhtiary province. PFC was determined by adding six different levels of K by using KCl salt and measuring cation exchange capacity (CEC) in mineral, organic and clay fraction of soils. The results showed that the CEC in the mineral, organic and clay soils changes from 16.02-19.38, 1.71-3.27 to 29.3-39.8 cmol+/kg consequently. Potassium availability index (PAI) in the soils changes from 0.36 to 0.7 and Potassium fixation index (PFI) changes from 0.29 to 0.63. According to the results PFI and PAI showed significant correlation with whole and mineral fraction of the soil CEC, clay percent, pH and CaCO₃ percent. The results of this study also showed that fixation of K fertilizer in the studied soils plays an important role in K dynamic of soil and K availability to plants.

Improvement of soils is among the major concerns in civil engineering, therefore a variety of approaches have been employed for different soil types. The annual budget of implementing the projects of this kind in countries clearly implies the importance of the subject. The loose granular soils and sediments have always imposed challenges due to their low strength and bearing capacity. Bio-mediated soil improvement has recently been introduced as a novel link of biotechnology (biotech) and civil engineering for improving the problematic soils, i.e. utilizing some bacteria to precipitate calcite on the soil particles. Bio-grouting is a branch of Bio-mediated soil improvement which is a method based on microbial calcium carbonate precipitation. In this regard, the soil samples were stabilized by injecting the bacterium Sporosarcina pasteurii in the first phase of the process and Urea and Calcium Chloride in the second phase of the process (two-phase injection) as the nutrients into the sandy soil columns and subjected to unconfined compressive strength test. In this research, Taguchi method was utilized for design of experience (DOE). Based on results obtained, the activity of the bacteria caused the precipitation of calcium carbonate in soil samples so that after 21 days, the unconfined compressive strength of the soil increased from 85 kPa in the control sample to 930 kPa at optimum condition.

Pollutants are considered the disturbing factors of environment, and among them the heavy metals are more important considering their non-degradability and physiological effects on organisms in low concentrations. The goal of this research was to investigate the effect of industrial landuse on Cd and Pb concentrations in surface soils of the southwest Isfahan. According to satellite images and topographic maps (1:50000) of the study area, soil samples (depth: 0–20 cm) were collected using random sampling. A total of 38 surface soil samples were obtained from industrial areas (lowest distance = 1480 m) in the area of 73481 ha. Total concentrations of Cd and Pb in the digested solution were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). Using Arc GIS, the spatial distribution patterns and Cd and Pb variography of samples were analysed and finally the best models of spatial distribution of heavy metals were achieved. The primary results showed that the mean concentrations of Cd, and Pb of surface soil samples in industrial areas were 1.8 to 31.5 mg Kg^-1 higher than the world’s mean values, respectively. Although the mean concentrations of Cd and Pb were respectively 8 to 700 mg Kg^-1 lower than the standard of Iranian Department of Environment for industrial landuse.

The status of soil K forms and its relationship with K content in wheat grain at harvest period may be important for nutrient fertility management. For this purpose, 40 surface (0-20 cm) and subsurface (20-40 cm) soil samples and also grain samples from wheat fields of Darab region were randomly sampled in 2014. Then physicochemical properties of the soils and the contents of soluble, exchangeable and non-exchangeable K and contents of K in wheat grains were determined. Results indicated that content of soluble, exchangeable and non-exchangeable K in the studied soils ranged 15-70, 91-443 and 396-1182 mg kg^-1, respectively. Significant relationships were obtained between soil K forms and clay, calcium carbonate and CEC. Although it is expected that content of easily available K (soluble and exchangeable K) was low at late stage of wheat growth, most soils had sufficient K content. The positive and significant relationship among different K forms was indicative of the K forms equilibration at the time of wheat harvesting. Although there is not a relationship between K content in wheat grain and soil K forms, it was shown that K content of wheat grain was correlated with soil exchangeable K and clay content in fine-textured soils (clay > 30%). It means that ammonium acetate may be a suitable extractant for estimation of soil K status and plant available K of heavy-textured soils in the studied region.

This study was done to evaluate the effect of afforestation in sand dunes at the vicinity of Shush, because of the importance of soil protection and wind erosion in sand dunes, also sand dunes afforestation as an effective and long lasting fixation mechanism. The study site was covered by petroleum mulch about 20 years ago and afforested by Prosopis juliflora. To study the effects of afforestation on sand dunes, two 10 ha afforested sites (25-50 and 75-100 percent canopy coverage) and control were selected. In each of studied site 15 plots were established and soil physiochemical properties were determined. Our result indicated that afforestation caused soil texture to change from sandy to sandy-loam. Also, soil phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon and nitrogen increased in 0-5 cm soil depth by afforestation that could be because of nutrient absorption from soil depth and returning to the surface by litter fall compared to the control. This study revealed that 25-50 percent canopy coverage resulted in better soil physiochemical properties compared to control site. In conclusion, sand dunes afforestation not only resulted in sand dunes fixation but also soil fertility and long lasting fixation.