Restoration of degraded lands by adoption of recommended conservation management practices can rehabilitate watersheds and lead to improving soil and water quality. The objective was to evaluate the effects of grass buffers (GBs), biomass crops (BCs), grass waterways (GWWs), agroforestry buffers (ABs), landscape positions, and distance from tree base for AB treatment on soil quality compared with row crop (RC) (corn [Zea mays L.]–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation) on claypan soils. Soil samples were taken from 10‐cm‐depth increments from the soil surface to 30 cm for GB, BC, GWW, and RC with three replicates. Soil samples were collected from summit, backslope, and footslope landscape positions. Samples were taken at 50‐ and 150‐cm distances from the tree base. β‐Glucosidase, β‐glucosaminidase, dehydrogenase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase (FDA), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), active carbon (AC), and water‐stable aggregates (WSA) were measured. Results showed that β‐glucosidase, β‐glucosaminidase, dehydrogenase, FDA, AC, WSA, and TN values were significantly greater (P < 0.01) for the GB, BC, GWW, and AB treatments than for the RC treatment. The first depth (0–10 cm) revealed the highest values for all soil quality parameters relative to second and third depths. The footslope landscape had the highest parameter values compared with summit and backslope positions. The 50‐cm distance of AB treatment had higher values than the 150‐cm distance for all measured parameters. Results showed that perennial vegetation practices enhanced soil quality by improving soil microbial activity and SOC.
Core Ideas
Permanent vegetative management (trees and grasses) enhanced soil quality.
Perennial practices improved microbial activity and increased soil organic carbon.
Perennial vegetative practices have agricultural and environmental significance.
Establishing perennial practices is an effective approach to enhance soil quality.
Organic soil is problematic soils in geotechnical engineering due to its properties, as it is characterized by high compressibility and low bearing capacity. Therefore, several geotechnical techniques tried to stabilize and improve this soil type. In this study, sodium silicate was used to stabilize sand dune columns. The best sodium silicate concentration (9%) was used, and the stabilized sand dune columns were cured for seven days. The results for this soil were extracted using a numerical analysis program (Plaxis 3D, 2020).In the case of studying the effect of (L/D) (where ‘’L” and ‘’D’’ length and diameter of sand dune columns) of a single column of sand dunes stabilized with sodium silicate with a diff
A laboratory experiment has been carried out in the College of Science-University of Salahaddin to study the effect of different levels (0,5,10 and 15%) and sizes(250 and 1000µm) of walnut seeds residues and (160mg.kg-1) phosphorus fertilization on the concentration of phosphorus availability and alkaline phosphatase activity in calcareous soil during 15 and 30 days period of incubation, the experimental design in factorial complet randomize design (C.R.D) with three replications. The results indicated that the application of different levels of walnut seed residues decreases the concentration of phosphorus availability and alkaline phosphatase activity, however the results revealed that combination between levels and sizes o
Soil stabilization with stone powder is a good solution for the construction of subgrade for road way and railway lines, especially under the platforms and mostly in transition zones between embankments and rigid structures, where the mechanical properties of supporting soils are very influential. Stone powder often has a unique composition which justifies the need for research to study the feasibility of using this stone powder type for ground improvement applications. This paper presents results from a comprehensive laboratory study carried out to investigate the feasibility of using stone powder for improvement of engineering properties of clays.
The study is devoted to both static and earthquake response analysis of retaining structures acted upon by lateral earth pressure. Two main approaches were implemented in the analysis, namely, the Mononobe-Okabe analytical method and the numerical Finite element procedure as provided in the ready software ABAQUS with explicit dynamic method. A basic case study considered in the present work is the bridge approach retaining walls as a part of AL-Jadiriya bridge intersection to obtain the effects of the backfill and the ground water on the retaining wall response including displacement of the retaining structure in addition to the behavior of the fill material. Parametric studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of several factors
Abstract<p>In this research, the geotechnical properties of the soil profile in Hilla city within Babylon Governorate in the middle parts of Iraq are described. The geotechnical data at the specific sites were collected from some geotechnical investigation reports performed at some selected locations. This article is devoted to studying the distribution of soil properties (the physical and mechanical) in the horizontal and vertical directions. Moreover, a correlation between different physical and mechanical properties is performed. The correlation is executed using statistical analysis by Microsoft Excel Software (2016). From the regression results, it was found that the nature of the soil is c</p>
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Abstract<p>In this research, the geotechnical properties of the soil profile in Hilla city within Babylon Governorate in the middle parts of Iraq are described. The geotechnical data at the specific sites were collected from some geotechnical investigation reports performed at some selected locations. This article is devoted to studying the distribution of soil properties (the physical and mechanical) in the horizontal and vertical directions. Moreover, a correlation between different physical and mechanical properties is performed. The correlation is executed using statistical analysis by Microsoft Excel Software (2016). From the regression results, it was found that the nature of the soil is c</p>
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