Significant loss of soil inorganic carbon at the continental scale.

Widespread soil acidification due to atmospheric acid deposition and agricultural fertilization may greatly accelerate soil carbonate dissolution and CO2 release. However, to date, few studies have addressed these processes. Here, we use meta-analysis and nationwide-survey datasets to investigate changes in soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stocks in China. We observe an overall decrease in SIC stocks in topsoil (0-30 cm) (11.33 g C m-2 yr-1) from the 1980s to the 2010s. Total SIC stocks have decreased by ∼8.99 ± 2.24% (1.37 ± 0.37 Pg C). The average SIC losses across China (0.046 Pg C yr-1) and in cropland (0.016 Pg C yr-1) account for ∼17.6%-24.0% of the terrestrial C sink and 57.1% of the soil organic carbon sink in cropland, respectively. Nitrogen deposition and climate change have profound influences on SIC cycling. We estimate that ∼19.12%-19.47% of SIC stocks will be further lost by 2100. The consumption of SIC may offset a large portion of global efforts aimed at ecosystem carbon sequestration, which emphasizes the importance of achieving a better understanding of the indirect coupling mechanisms of nitrogen and carbon cycling and of effective countermeasures to minimize SIC loss.

[Determination of heavy metals in dominant plant species in Vanadium/Titanium mine area by microwave digestion-ICP-AES].

Ten kinds of dominant plants in Vanadium/Titanium mine area were collected, the contents of heavy metals including Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd and Ti of which aboveground and underground parts were determined by ICP-AES using microwave digestion, respectively. All samples of the plants were digested with HNO3-H2O2 system. The relative standard deviation was less than 5% for all the elements, and the recoveries were 92.90%-103.85% by adding standard recovery experiment. This method was simple, sensitive and precise and can perform simultaneous multi-elements determination compared with conventional method of the plants determination, which could satisfy the sample examination request and provide scientific rationale for determining inorganic elements of plants.

[Characteristics of water infiltration in urban soils of Nanjing City].

By using dual-ring method, this paper measured the water infiltration rate in urban soils under representative land use patterns in Nanjing City, and studied the characteristics of water infiltration in the soils with different compaction degree. The results showed that there was a great difference in the infiltration rate among the soils with different compactness. Soil infiltration rate decreased with increasing bulk density and decreasing porosity, and the water-transport-limiting layer existed in heavily compacted soils resulted in a dramatic decrease of final stabilized infiltration rate. There was a significant linear relationship between the initial and final infiltration rates in the same soil though their absolute values had a great difference. The urban soils in Nanjing City had a wide range of final infiltration rate varied from 1 mm X h(-1) to 679 mm X h(-1), which was highly related to the soil compactness, structural status, and skeleton grain contents. The decrease of urban soil infiltration rate could induce the increase of runoff and of the probability and intensity of flooding.

[Distribution and migration of heavy metals in soil profiles by high-resolution sampling].

The vertical distribution of heavy metals in soils profiles is a result of heavy metals accumulation and migration under combining influence of edaphic factors and environmental conditions. It's an important basis for evaluation of heavy metals pollution and remediation of contaminated soils. By traditional sampling methods, i.e., soils were sampled according to pedogenetic horizons, only very general information about element migration can be learned. In the current study, three sites near a steel factory were selected to represent three types of land use, i.e. forest, dry land for vegetable cultivation and rice paddy field. Soils were sampled horizontally by high-resolution sampling method. In the top of 40 cm soils were sectioned in 2 cm intervals, then 5 cm intervals in next 40 cm, and 10 cm intervals in the last 20 cm of profile. Total content of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr and Cd were determined, and the vertical distribution of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Cd in every profile was analyzed. The results indicated that enrichment of heavy metals appeared in the upper most layer of the natural forest soil that without any anthropic disturbance, and this phenomenon proved that heavy metals were coming from atmospheric deposition. We found that Cu, Zn and Pb moved downward in a short distance, Cd migrated relatively faster than Cu, Zn and Pb, while Cr had no recognizable location of migration front. In the soil profiles of dry land and paddy field, there were influences of agricultural practice, the distribution and movement of metals were thus different form those of the forest soil. In cultivated layer heavy metals were evenly distributed because soils in the upper layer were mixed by cultivation, however, bellow the cultivated layer obvious migration took place again. It is concluded that different heavy metals have different mobility and there is such a relative order: Cd>Cu>Zn>Pb. The study shows that the distribution pattern can be obtained with the currently adopted high-resolution sampling method, than traditional horizon sampling, and more precise migration distance and rates can be estimated.