Sustainable vegetative management plays a significant role in improving soil quality in degraded agricultural landscapes by enhancing soil microbial biomass. This study investigated the effects of grass buffers (GBs), biomass crops (BCs), grass waterways (GWWs), and agroforestry buffers (ABs) on soil microbial biomass and soil organic C (SOC) compared with continuous corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation (row crop [RC]) on claypan soils. The RC, AB, GB, GWW, and BC treatments were established in 1991, 1997, 1997, 1997, and 2012, respectively, and are located at Greenley Memorial Research Center in Missouri. Soil samples were collected in May 2018 from the 0‐ to

The current study involves placing 135 boreholes drilled to a depth of 10 m below the existing ground level. Three standard penetration tests (SPT) are performed at depths of 1.5, 6, and 9.5 m for each borehole. To produce thematic maps with coordinates and depths for the bearing capacity variation of the soil, a numerical analysis was conducted using MATLAB software. Despite several-order interpolation polynomials being used to estimate the bearing capacity of soil, the first-order polynomial was the best among the other trials due to its simplicity and fast calculations. Additionally, the root mean squared error (RMSE) was almost the same for the all of the tried models. The results of the study can be summarized by the production

Granular  Pile  Anchor  (GPA)  is  one  of  the  innovative  foundation  techniques,  devised  for mitigating heave of footing resulting from the expansive soils. This research attempts to study the heave behavior of (GPA-Foundation System) in expansive soil. Laboratory tests have been conducted on an experimental model in addition to a series of numerical modeling and analysis using the finite element package PLAXIS software. The effects of different parameters, such as (GPA) length (L) and diameter (D), footing diameter (B), expansive clay layer thickness (H) and presence of non-expansive clay are studied. The results proved the efficiency of (GPA) in reducing the heave of exp

In this study, phosphorescence analysis (KPA) is used for determining soil collected from the Tigris River from Al- Karrada and Bab Al-Sharq in Baghdad and samples were taken from rainwater collected from Al-Rashad, Al-Obeidi, Al-Dora and Al-Sadr City in Baghdad. The measurements were carried out by the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment, in the Radiation Protection Center. The collection, removal and evaporation of the samples ranged from January to the end of March 2018. The results show the presents of concentration of 238U and 235U in soil samples and the rainwater samples. The conclusion of this work is the concentration of uranium in soil samples is more than recommendations by ICRP value of 1.9 μg /l. While all water sample

Influence of metal nanoparticles synthesized by microorganisms upon soil-borne microscopic fungus Aspergillus terreus K-8 was studied. It was established that the metal nanoparticles synthesized by microorganisms affect the enzymatic activity of the studied culture. Silver nanoparticles lead to a decrease in cellulase activity and completely suppress the amylase activity of the fungus, while copper nanoparticles completely inhibit the activity of both the cellulase complex and amylase. The obtained results imply that the large-scale use of silver and copper nanoparticles may disrupt biological processes in the soil and cause change in the physiological and biochemical state of soil-borne microorganisms as well.

Ten soil samples were collected from Ishaqi project  area, Salah Al-Dean Governorate, and analysed for chemical elements (Fe2O3, Al2O3, CaO, K2O Na2O, Co, Zn, Cu, and Pb) to detect the pollution in the study soil using the indices of geo-accumulation (I-geo), contamination factor (CF), and pollution load index (PLI), The results of I-geo indicate that the soil of Ishaqi project area is unpolluted with Pb,  Co and slightly polluted with Zn and Cu.  The results of CF for Zn, Cu, and  Co showed class 2 of moderate contamination and class 1 of low contamination in some samples while those for Pb demonstrated class 1 –of  low contamination. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) values for Co, Zn, Cu, and Pb showed cla

In this work, different soil samples were brought to study and analyse the element concentrations from different middle regions of Iraq (such as, Habbaniah, Garmah, Fallujah, and Tarmiah cities). Using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been documented as an atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) technique.  Laser-induced plasma utilized to analyse elements in materials (gases, liquids, and solids) in order to analyse elements in materials (gases, liquids and solid). The Nd:YAG laser excitation source at 1064nm with pulse width and pulse duration of 9ns is used to generate power density of 5.5 x 10¹² MW/mm², with optical spectrum in the range 320 -740 nm.

The soils of Habbaniyah and Garmah citi

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding diets containing different levels of parsley on the hematological traits of local Iraqi geese. A total of twenty-four local geese, one year old, were used in this experiment. The birds were allocated into four treatment groups, consisting of six geese each. Treatment groups were: control diet (C) (free from parsley); T1: control diet + 80 g/d parsley; T2: control diet + 160 g/d parsley; and T3: control diet + 240 g/d parsley. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were obtained from all geese from the brachial vein by venipuncture. Hematological traits included in this study were red blood cells count (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), mean cell