Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography

© 2017 Soil microaggregates are the fundamental building block, at the micron scale, of the highly hierarchical structure of soils, and can exert a significant control on the local biological metabolism and microbial community partitioning. In this study we propose an analysis protocol for the morph...

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Published in:Geoderma
Main Authors: Voltolini, M, Taş, N, Wang, S, Brodie, EL, Ajo-Franklin, JB
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: eScholarship, University of California 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/58m8d2tm
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spelling ftcdlib:qt58m8d2tm 2023-05-15T15:39:42+02:00 Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography Voltolini, M Taş, N Wang, S Brodie, EL Ajo-Franklin, JB 382 - 393 2017-11-01 application/pdf http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/58m8d2tm english eng eScholarship, University of California qt58m8d2tm http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/58m8d2tm public Voltolini, M; Taş, N; Wang, S; Brodie, EL; & Ajo-Franklin, JB. (2017). Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography. Geoderma, 305, 382 - 393. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.06.005. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/58m8d2tm article 2017 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.06.005 2018-09-28T22:52:49Z © 2017 Soil microaggregates are the fundamental building block, at the micron scale, of the highly hierarchical structure of soils, and can exert a significant control on the local biological metabolism and microbial community partitioning. In this study we propose an analysis protocol for the morphometric characterization of complete soil microaggregates based on sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography. A comprehensive characterization of the aggregate morphology is the first step towards a complete characterization of the soil microaggregates, when trying to correlate morphometric parameters with physical and/or biological properties, or when building models (e.g., effective diffusivity, microbial distribution, etc.). We demonstrate our characterization approach on two single microaggregate samples from dramatically different soil environments: one from Kansas, primarily composed by inorganic particles, and one from Barrow (Alaska) dominated by plant fragments. A series of state-of-the-art morphometric analysis techniques have been employed providing quantitative results highlighting specific differences of the two samples. The role of the microstructure in a scenario microbial population development has been discussed and it has been found that the Barrow microaggregate seems to be more favorable, from a purely geometrical point of view, as also confirmed by a simple model presented in this work. The potential of this approach, when coupled with chemical and biological analysis for a fully comprehensive characterization of soil aggregates in the larger picture of enhanced biological activity, is evident. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barrow Alaska University of California: eScholarship Geoderma 305 382 393
institution Open Polar
collection University of California: eScholarship
op_collection_id ftcdlib
language English
description © 2017 Soil microaggregates are the fundamental building block, at the micron scale, of the highly hierarchical structure of soils, and can exert a significant control on the local biological metabolism and microbial community partitioning. In this study we propose an analysis protocol for the morphometric characterization of complete soil microaggregates based on sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography. A comprehensive characterization of the aggregate morphology is the first step towards a complete characterization of the soil microaggregates, when trying to correlate morphometric parameters with physical and/or biological properties, or when building models (e.g., effective diffusivity, microbial distribution, etc.). We demonstrate our characterization approach on two single microaggregate samples from dramatically different soil environments: one from Kansas, primarily composed by inorganic particles, and one from Barrow (Alaska) dominated by plant fragments. A series of state-of-the-art morphometric analysis techniques have been employed providing quantitative results highlighting specific differences of the two samples. The role of the microstructure in a scenario microbial population development has been discussed and it has been found that the Barrow microaggregate seems to be more favorable, from a purely geometrical point of view, as also confirmed by a simple model presented in this work. The potential of this approach, when coupled with chemical and biological analysis for a fully comprehensive characterization of soil aggregates in the larger picture of enhanced biological activity, is evident.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Voltolini, M
Taş, N
Wang, S
Brodie, EL
Ajo-Franklin, JB
spellingShingle Voltolini, M
Taş, N
Wang, S
Brodie, EL
Ajo-Franklin, JB
Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography
author_facet Voltolini, M
Taş, N
Wang, S
Brodie, EL
Ajo-Franklin, JB
author_sort Voltolini, M
title Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography
title_short Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography
title_full Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography
title_fullStr Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography
title_sort quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: new opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron x-ray microtomography
publisher eScholarship, University of California
publishDate 2017
url http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/58m8d2tm
op_coverage 382 - 393
genre Barrow
Alaska
genre_facet Barrow
Alaska
op_source Voltolini, M; Taş, N; Wang, S; Brodie, EL; & Ajo-Franklin, JB. (2017). Quantitative characterization of soil micro-aggregates: New opportunities from sub-micron resolution synchrotron X-ray microtomography. Geoderma, 305, 382 - 393. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.06.005. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/58m8d2tm
op_relation qt58m8d2tm
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op_rights public
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.06.005
container_title Geoderma
container_volume 305
container_start_page 382
op_container_end_page 393
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