• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.461-476
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• 2015

Global warming has accelerated glacial retreat in the high Arctic. The exposed glacier foreland is an ideal place to study chronosequential changes in ecosystems. Although vegetation succession in the glacier forelands has been studied intensively, little is known about the microbial community structure in these environments. Therefore, this study focused on how glacial retreat influences the bacterial community structure and its relationship with soil properties. This study was conducted in the foreland of the Midtre Lovénbreen glacier in Svalbard (78.9°N). Seven soil samples of different ages were collected and analyzed for moisture content, pH, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen contents, and soil organic matter fractionation. In addition, the structure of the bacterial community was determined via pyrosequencing analysis of 16S rRNA genes. The physical and chemical properties of soil varied significantly along the distance from the glacier; with increasing distance, more amounts of clay and soil organic carbon contents were observed. In addition, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were dominant in soil samples taken close to the glacier, whereas Acidobacteria were abundant further away from the glacier. Diversity indices indicated that the bacterial community changed from homogeneous to heterogeneous structure along the glacier chronosequence/distance from the glacier. Although the bacterial community structure differed on basis of the presence or absence of plants, the soil properties varied depending on soil age. These findings suggest that bacterial succession occurs over time in glacier forelands but on a timescale that is different from that of soil development.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.663-680
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• 2012

Previous major earthquakes revealed that most damage of the buried segmented pipelines occurs at the joints of the pipelines. It has been proven that the differential motions between the pipe segments are one of the primary reasons that results in the damage (Zerva et al. 1986, O'Roueke and Liu 1999). This paper studies the combined influences of ground motion spatial variations and local soil conditions on the seismic responses of buried segmented pipelines. The heterogeneous soil deposits surrounding the pipelines are assumed resting on an elastic half-space (base rock). The spatially varying base rock motions are modelled by the filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function and an empirical coherency loss function. Local site amplification effect is derived based on the one-dimensional wave propagation theory by assuming the base rock motions consist of out-of-plane SH wave or combined in-plane P and SV waves propagating into the site with an assumed incident angle. The differential axial and lateral displacements between the pipeline segments are stochastically formulated in the frequency domain. The influences of ground motion spatial variations, local soil conditions, wave incident angle and stiffness of the joint are investigated in detail. Numerical results show that ground motion spatial variations and local soil conditions can significantly influence the differential displacements between the pipeline segments.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.83-85
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• 2019

Pseudomonas sp. PAMC 29040 was isolated from a maritime tundra soil in Antarctica for its ability to degrade lignin and subsequently confirmed to be able to depolymerize heterogeneous humic substance (HS), a main component of soil organic matter. The draft genome sequences of PAMC 29040 were analyzed to discover the putative genes for depolymerization of polymeric HS (e.g., dye-decolorizing peroxidase) and catabolic degradation of HS-derived small aromatics (e.g., vanillate O-demethylase). The information on degradative genes will be used to finally propose the HS degradation pathway(s) of soil bacteria inhabiting cold environments.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.549-555
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• 2013

Human influence on soil formation has dramatically increased as the development of human civilization and industry. Increase of anthropogenic soils induced research of those soils; classification, chemical and physical characteristics and plant growth of anthropogenic soils. However there have been no reports on soil pore properties from the anthropogenic soils so far. Therefore the objectives of this study were to test computer tomography (CT) to characterize physical properties of an anthropogenic paddy field soil and to find differences between natural and anthropogenic paddy field soils. Soil samples of a natural paddy field were taken from Ansung, Gyeonggi-do (Ansung site), and samples of an anthropogenic paddy field were from Gumi in Gyeongsangnam-do (Gasan) where paddy fields were remodeled in 2011-2012. Samples were taken at three different depths and analyzed for routine physical properties and CT scans. CT scan provided 3 dimensional images to calculate pore size, length and tortuosity of soil pores. Fractal analysis was applied to quantify pore structure within soil images. The results of measured physical properties (bulk density, porosity) did not show differences across depths and sites, but hardness and water content had differences. These differences repeated within the results of pore morphology. Top soil samples from both sites had greater pore numbers and sizes than others. Fractal analyses showed that top soils had more heterogeneous pore structures than others. The bottom layer of the Gasan site showed more degradation of pore properties than ploughpan and bottom layers from the Ansung site. These results concluded that anthropogenic soils may have more degraded pore properties as depth increases. The remodeled paddy fields may need more fundamental remediation to improve physical conditions. This study suggests that pore analyses using CT can provide important information of physical conditions from anthropogenic soils.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2022

Background: Plant vegetation appears in heterogeneous and patchy forms in arid and semi-arid regions. In these regions, underneath the plant patches and the empty spaces between them are covered by biological soil crusts (moss, lichen, cyanobacteria, and fungi). Biological soil crusts lead to the formation and development of fertile islands in between vegetation patches via nitrogen and carbon fixation and the permeation of runoff water and nutrients in the soil. Results: The present study has investigated the association of biological soil crusts, the development of fertile islands, and the formation of plant patches in part of the Takht-e Soltan protected area, located in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. Three sites were randomly selected as the working units and differentiated based on their geomorphological characteristics to the alluvial fan, hillslope, and fluvial terrace landforms. Two-step systematic random sampling was conducted along a 100-meter transect using a 5 m² plot at a 0-5 cm depth in three repetitions. Fifteen samplings were carried out at each site with a total of 45 samples taken. The results showed that the difference in altitude has a significant relationship with species diversity and decreases with decreasing altitude. Results have revealed that the moisture content of the site, with biocrust has had a considerable increase compared to the other sites, helping to form vegetation patterns and fertile islands. Conclusions: The findings indicated that biological crusts had impacted the allocation of soil parameters. They affect the formation of plant patches by increasing the soil's organic carbon, nitrogen, moisture and nutrient content provide a suitable space for plant growth by increasing the soil fertility in the inter-patch space.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1997.05a
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• pp.47-52
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• 1997

The experimental investigations considered in this paper are similar in many respects to those of Lee$^1$, with some key differences. First, there is no layering of the soils in a heterogeneous liner. The only soil investigated is the clay component of the cover liner. This ensures that the clay is exposed to freezing and that frost propagation in the clay can be investigated separate from other processes. Second, a closed system approach to the simulation was adopted. According to Jones$^2$, closed-system freezing occurs when there is no source of water available beyond that originally present in the soil voids. Freezing under such conditions results in very thin or non-existent ice lenses. One of tile objectives of the experiments described in this paper was the moisture migration and the changing of moisture contents of the compacted clay liner in landfill. The closed-system was used to limit tile variables in the experimental simulation to make these calculations more direct, although the final results could be applied to an open system also. As a result, the moisture content decreased about 45%-46% after two freeze/thaw cycles.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.187-206
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• 2011

Accurate estimations of pre-failure deformations and post-failure responses of geostructures require that the simulation tool possesses at least three main ingredients: 1) a constitutive model that is able to describe the macroscopic stress-strain-strength behavior of soils subjected to complex stress/strain paths over a wide range of confining pressures and densities, 2) an embedded length scale that accounts for the intricate physical phenomena that occur at the grain size scale in the soil, and 3) a computational platform that allows the analysis to be carried out beyond the development of an initially "contained" failure zone in the soil. In this paper, a two-scale micropolar plasticity model will be used to incorporate all these ingredients. The model is implemented in a finite element platform that is based on the mechanics of micropolar continua. Appropriate finite elements are developed to couple displacement, micro-rotations, and pore-water pressure in form of $u_n-{\phi}_m$ and $u_n-p_m-{\phi}_m$ (n > m) elements for analysis of dry and saturated soils. Performance of the model is assessed in a biaxial compression test on a slightly heterogeneous specimen of sand. The role of micropolar component of the model on capturing the post-failure response of the soil is demonstrated.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.10b
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• pp.946-951
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• 1998

In order to calculate the thermal stresses of massive concrete structures in non-steady state conditions the thermal properties of the materials have to be well known. Structural materials such as concrete, rock and soil are heterogeneous, damp and porous so that measurements of their thermal properties by conventional methods would result in large errors. In this study, thermal conductivity was measured by the device, QTM-D3 which is usually used in Japan. Variables are chosen as age, water content, temperature, aggregate content, S/A ratio and type of cementitious materials. Finally a model for thermal conductivity was proposed.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.27-52
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• 2014

For landfill monitoring and aftercare, long-term prognoses of emission and deformation behaviour are required. Landfills may be considered as heterogeneous porous soil-like structures, in which flow and transport processes of gases and liquids interact with local material degradation and mechanical deformation of the solid skeleton. Therefore, in the framework of continuous porous media mechanics a model is developed that permits the investigation of coupled mechanical, hydraulical and biochemical processes in municipal solid waste landfills.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.194-204
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• 2015

Six study sites in Gumi, Goryeong in Gyeongbuk province and Naju in Jeonnam province were selected to investigate soil properties of poorly drained horizons in paddy soils. The horizons were re-established layers which were parent material layers originated from fluvial deposits. Topsoil layers were differentiated from piled parent materials while soil structure of the topsoil layer was massive with striated microstructure. Compaction at soil re-establishment and a lack of structure and aggregate development in these soils may cause the limitation of vertical water movement and result in poorly drained horizons. Soil samples were taken from paddy fields with top soils of sandy loam, silt loam and silty clay loam and re-established soils of coarse and fine texture. The samples were taken from each horizon for the analyses of soil chemical and mineral properties. Soils with re-established soils of coarse texture had greater amounts of sands from top soil texture distributions, while soils with fine texture had greater amounts of silts. Chemical properties of top soils were analyzed from rice cultivated soils at the time of re-establishments and one year after the re-establishments. The coarse texture of the re-established horizons decreased in EC values from 0.23 to $0.11(dS\;m^{-1})$, available phosphate values from 112 to $54(mg\;kg^{-1})$, and exchangeable Ca values from 6.6 to $4.9(cmol_c\;kg^{-1})$. On the other hand, soils with fine texture showed decrease only in pH and exchangeable Ca values. Especially, organic matter and available phosphate contents showed heterogeneous distributions from each horizon. This result may be caused by mixture of plough layer and subsurface layer during and consolidation. Hydraulic conductivity values were low at the boundaries of top soil and parent material layers except SL/coarse soil. Soil microstructure was massive structure without soil clods or pores and showed striated structure. Therefore, re-established paddy fields with fluvial deposits as parent material layers showed limited vertical movements of soil water because of occurrence of compacted layers and less-development of soil clods and aggregates.