Soil systems indirect effects

York and New England are devoid of fish due to the effects of acid rain. Indirect effects of the low pH values associated with acid rain also affect organisms. As noted in Table 13.1, one of the properties of an acid is the ability to dissolve certain metals. This has a profound effect on soil subjected to acid rain. Acid rain can mobilize metal ions such as aluminum, iron, and manganese in the basin surrounding a lake. This not only depletes the soil of these cations disrupting nutrient uptake in plants, but also introduces toxic metals into the aquatic system. 

Fungi clearly play significant direct and indirect roles in effecting and modulating transport of a wide range of elements in soil systems. The principal transport modes that they are implicated in can be summarized as dispersion, concentration, inter-organism and bulk transfer (Fig. 3.5). 

The indirect pathway by which air pollutants interact with plants is through the root system. Deposition of air pollutants on soils and surface waters can cause alteration of the nutrient content of the soil in the vicinity of the plant. This change in soil condition can lead to indirect or secondary effects of air pollutants on vegetation and plants. 

Electro-osmosis has been defined in the literature in many indirect ways, but the simplest definition comes from the Oxford English Dictionary, which defines it as the effect of an external electric held on a system undergoing osmosis or reverse osmosis. Electro-osmosis is not a well-understood phenomenon, and this especially apphes to polar non-ionic solutions. Recent hterature and many standard text and reference books present a rather confused picture, and some imply directly or indirectly that it cannot take place in uniform electric fields [31-35]. This assumption is perhaps based on the fact that the interaction of an external electric held on a polar molecule can produce only a net torque, but no net force. This therefore appears to be an ideal problem for molecular simulation to address, and we will describe here how molecular simulation has helped to understand this phenomenon [26]. Electro-osmosis has many important applications in both the hfe and physical sciences, including processes as diverse as water desahnation, soil purification, and drug delivery. 

Besides the commonly used direct LIF detection, indirect LIF detection on the microchip has also been reported. This method has been employed to detect explosives in spiked soil samples (see Figure 7.9) [620]. In contrast to a capillary-based system, an increase in E from 185-370 V/cm for MEKC separation did not result in an unstable background fluorescence due to excessive loule heating. This was probably because of the effective heat dissipation in the glass chip. However, upon multiple injection, it was found that the detection sensitivity decreased, which might be caused by the degradation of the visualizing dye (Cy7) [620]. Indirect LIF also allows the detection of unlabeled amino acids [683]. 

Most of the pollutants listed in this chapter find their way into water directly by human or natural discharges (from diffuse or point sources) or indirectly through discharges into soil. It is therefore important to realize that in order to manage or control such direct or indirect pollution, the chemistry of such chemicals must be understood and their physicochemical behavior in soil-water systems predicted. To accomplish these tasks, and to minimize adverse effects on the environment, one needs to have a background in water chemistry, soil mineralogy, soil surface chemistry, and the... 

The toxicological impact of polluted soil on humans is indirect. Chemical pollutants in soil affect the ability of soil to support plant life (fertility) by depressing microorganistic and soil-dwelling animal activities. Plants growing in polluted soil absorb toxic chemicals through their root systems and induce toxic effects in humans when those plants are ingested. Polluted soil also adversely affects humans via bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals in animals when plants that have absorbed these chemicals from polluted soil are eaten or when they are dermally absorbed by animals that come in contact with such soil. 

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