88374 - SOIL CHEMISTRY AND CARBON CYCLE

Learning outcomes

Soil component and chemistry of the finest fractions: clay minerals, oxy-hydroxides, humic substances. Cycles of organic carbon and nitrogen. Strategies to increase C sink: recycling of agricultural, forest, agro- industrial and urban biomasses. Behavior of pollutants in the soil-water-plant ecosystem according to their chemical-physical characteristics. Adsorption, accumulation and biotic and abiotic transformations of pollutants at rhizosphere level and vegetable absorption.

Course contents

The Course contents are divided into two subunits: one dealing with general concepts related to soil as a biosystem and the other one related to the evaluation of case studies

1. General concepts (25 hours)

1.1 Soil Chemistry (7 hours)

Soil components. Chemical and physical characteristics of the soil finest fraction: clay minerals, oxy-hydroxides components and humic substances. Cementing agents.

1.2. The biogeochemical carbon cycle (6 hours)

Sources of soil organic matter. Composition of plant residues. Decomposition of organic matter. Humic substances: genesis, nature and colloidal characteristics. The biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. Carbon/nitrogen ratio. Factors affecting soil organic matter and nitrogen.

1.3. Strategies to increase C sink (6 hours)

Recycling of agricultural, forest, agro-industrial and urban biomasses. Animal manures: significance, quantity, chemical composition, storage , treatment, management, long-term effects on soil. Urban and industrial wastes. Sewage effluent and sludge. Composts

1.4. Soil as a biofilter against pollution (6 hours)

Behavior of (in)organic pollutants in the soil-water-plant biosystem according to their chemical-physical characteristics. Adsorption and (a)biotic transformations of pollutants at rhizosphere level. Root accumulation at the root and plant uptake.

2. Case studies (17 hours)

2.0 Carbon cycle (5 hours)

2.1 Modelling soil carbon and nitrogen cycles during land use change (6 hours)

2.2 Erosion, deposition and soil carbon: Process-level controls, experimental tools and models to address C cycling in dynamic landscapes (6 hours)

Readings/Bibliography

The didactic material will be provided by the teacher and made on-line available (IOL), specific reading will be indicated during the course.

Suggested textbooks:
Blume et al. (2016), SOIL SCIENCE, Springer (chapters: 1-3, 5, 10).
Strawn et al. (2015), SOIL CHEMISTRY, Wiley (chapters: 1, 7-11).

Teaching methods

The course is divided into four parts:
1. Frontal lessons: through didactic unit explanations, students should gain knowledge of the main instruments available on key topics of soil chemistry and cycle of carbon.
2. Seminars: invited speakers will hold seminars on key topics of the course. At the end of each seminar an interactive activity (peer instruction) will be carried out with the aim of stimulating discussion and strengthening the understanding of the topics covered during the seminar.
3. Laboratory exercises: group exercises will be held in the classroom. During the exercises, practical tasks on key topics of the course will be assigned to solve in group.
4. School trip: visit to the exibition “Anthropocene” (MAST, Bologna).

Assessment methods

Assessment will be based on performance in the partecipation at in-class activities (seminars, exercises, visit) and a final oral examination.

Grades will be based on the following percent distribution:
- in-class activities: 20%,
- final examination: 80%.

The final examination consists of a technical conversation on the course contents. In this occasion, the teacher will also ask two questions aiming at the verification of knowledge acquisition about the theoretical part of the course. The final exam will last approxymately 20 minutes.

The final quotation of the Course " SOIL CHEMISTRY, AGRONOMY AND HERBACEOUS BIOMASS" will be the mean of this quotation and that obtained for the Course of "Agronomy and herbaceous Biomasses"

Teaching tools

Blackboard, Projector, Handouts, slides, Periodic Table of the Element, scientific websites

Office hours

See the website of Luciano Cavani