Archive SOILS-L: file log9505, part 1/1, size 220295 bytes:

------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------

Hello. My name is Teresa Mourad. I am a graduate student at the Ohio State
University in Columbus, majoring in Environmental Education. Currently, I am
conducting some research among high school students on their perceptions of
soil (do they think it is important to study, personally relevant etc).

I was wondering if I could introduce them to this forum to ask questions about
the research interests soil scientists have and what issues and problems you
perceive. If this is appropriate, I will be glad to explain my project in
greater detail.

Secondly, as I was looking at the soil Survey of Franklin County (Columbus), I
noted that much of the soil types here were classified as unsuitable for
building or sanitary facilities and that such projects can only be undertaken
with special engineering design and/or intensive maintenance. Is this true of
most urban areas throughout the US? How far do these efforts go in ensuring
that contaminants do not leach into the soil or groundwater?

Thank you for attention. I look forward to your responses.

Teresa

Dear Soils-L Subscribers,

I am pleased to announce that the list has been fixed!
Some of you might not be aware there was anything wrong. To fill
you in, some time in early March, nearly 400 subscribers were
inadvertently unsubscribed from the list against their will. I
myself was unsubscribed without my knowledge. I am still not sure
what happened but I have had an old subscriber list merged with
the latest one so we are back up to our robust number of
subscribers (almost 500!). Granted, there were some of you who
really did want to leave the list and now find yourselves back
on. Please send me email to let me know if you would like me to
drop you from the list, assuming that you cannot unsubscribe
yourself. A quick reminder for those who have forgotten how to do
it...
To unsubscribe from SOILS-L, send an email message to the
address listserv@unl.edu with this text:

UNSUB SOILS-L

Remember that you must send this message from the email address
from which you subscribed to the list. I hope that this does not
inconvenience too many of you. I hope we can bring the list back
to life now that we are all connected once again.

--
Sincerely,

Jerome Pier
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant
Biological Systems Engineering, Univ. Nebraska - Lincoln
jp@unl.edu

I will be out of my office until Tuesday 6th of June.

Please contact Prue Williams if you require any further information:
williamsp@crop.cri.nz

Kind regards
Trish
-----

I am not the list owner, but questions from your students seems reasonable
to me. After all, people don't all need to respond. Tom
Tom Hodges, Cropping Systems Modeler
USDA-ARS email: thodges@beta.tricity.wsu.edu
Rt. 2, Box 2953-A voice: 509-786-9207
Prosser, WA 99350 USA Fax: 509-786-9370
== ## Rent this space ## ==

If this represents anything, it is only my opinion.

On Mon, 1 May 1995, Teresa M Mourad wrote:

> Hello. My name is Teresa Mourad. I am a graduate student at the Ohio State
> University in Columbus, majoring in Environmental Education. Currently, I am
> conducting some research among high school students on their perceptions of
> soil (do they think it is important to study, personally relevant etc).
>
> I was wondering if I could introduce them to this forum to ask questions about
> the research interests soil scientists have and what issues and problems you
> perceive. If this is appropriate, I will be glad to explain my project in
> greater detail.
>

I will be out of my office until Tuesday 6th of June.

Please contact Prue Williams if you require any further information:
williamsp@crop.cri.nz

Kind regards
Trish
-----

I will be out of my office until Tuesday 6th of June.

Please contact Prue Williams if you require any further information:
williamsp@crop.cri.nz

Kind regards
Trish
-----

UNSUBSCRIBE-L

I will be out of my office until Tuesday 6th of June.

Please contact Prue Williams if you require any further information:
williamsp@crop.cri.nz

Kind regards
Trish
-----

On Mon, 1 May 1995 HMC4@vax.york.ac.uk wrote:

>UNSUBSCRIBE-L

On Mon, 1 May 1995 jp@unlinfo.unl.edu (jerome pier) wrote:

>To unsubscribe from SOILS-L, send an email message to the address
>
>listserv@unl.edu
>
>with this text:
>
>UNSUB SOILS-L
>
>Remember that you must send this message from the email address
>from which you subscribed to the list.

I will be out of my office until Tuesday 6th of June.

Please contact Prue Williams if you require any further information:
williamsp@crop.cri.nz

Kind regards
Trish
-----

On Mon, 1 May 1995, Charlie Brush wrote:

> On Mon, 1 May 1995 jp@unlinfo.unl.edu (jerome pier) wrote:
>
> >To unsubscribe from SOILS-L, send an email message to the address
> >
> >listserv@unl.edu
> >
> >with this text:
> >
> >UNSUB SOILS-L
> >
> >Remember that you must send this message from the email address
> >from which you subscribed to the list.
>

... or have Jerome do it if that address is no longer valid.
Tom thodges@beta.tricity.wsu.edu

I will be out of my office until Tuesday 6th of June.

Please contact Prue Williams if you require any further information:
williamsp@crop.cri.nz

Kind regards
Trish
-----

teresa,
while i am not the owner of this listserv, i feel that the use
of this medium for educational purposes is appropriate. as an
agronomist who has moved into the environmental risk assessment
arena, experience has taught me that risk education/communication
is a critical factor in environmentally-related decisions.
regards, mike broder

Hello Soil Scientists:
I am a plant biologist who researches the effects of soil and air
pollutants on plants. I'm interested (among other things!) in using compost
to decrease lead uptake by fruit and vegetable crops grown in soils
contaminated with hundreds to thousands of parts per million lead. I've
spent a lot of time in the last few years digging up literature on plant
uptake of various metals from composted solid wastes and sewage sludges,
but don't have many references on soils with thousands of ppm lead.
I'd greatly appreciate any references on the effect of added
organic matter on plant uptake of lead by food crops. I'd also appreciate
any references, preferably review articles with citations, on the general
topic of lead uptake by food crops from highly contaminated soils.
Finally, any other suggestions or tips from those with experience in this
area would be helpful. You may send responses directly to me at:
pbw1@cornell.edu
I'll post a summary to the list.

Thanks in advance,
Peter Woodbury
Senior Research Specialist
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853-1801
email pbw1@cornell.edu

Hello everyone

My name is Daryl Dagesse, and I'm currently working on a Ph.D. at the
University of Guelph (although I currently hold a teaching position at
Brock University).

My research involves over-winter effects on soil structure, and I would
greatly appreciate hearing from any and all people with similar interests.
I would be particularly interested in obtaining any "non-traditional"
references - that is, any that may deal with this area of research from
outside of the usual soils - physical geography literature. Please feel
free to contact me directly at ddagesse@spartan.ac.brocku.ca
Daryl Dagesse
Senior Demonstrator/Instructor
Department of Geography, Brock University
St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1
905-688-5550 x4071, FAX 905-688-6922
ddagesse@spartan.ac.brocku.ca

To All who responded to my message on May 1,

Thank you very much for your very encouraging responses. I am grateful at the
number of responses I received.

This is a preliminary study and will only involve one school. So I promise you
will not be flooded with questions. We will attempt to subscribe to this list
at the school through the teacher's account. We will probably get the students
on-line sometime next week.

Meanwhile, I had not had any replies on my second question. Are most cities in
the US built on soils that are in fact unsuitable as building sites and for
sanitary facilities as Columbus OH seems to be? Is the engineering adequate to
prevent soil contamination? Or perhaps these are not real issues and I should
turn my attention to other soil issues?

Thank you again for your responses and for the excitement you have generated
for my study.

Teresa.
Mourad.5@osu.edu

On Tue, 2 May 1995, Teresa M Mourad wrote:

> Meanwhile, I had not had any replies on my second question. Are most cities in
> the US built on soils that are in fact unsuitable as building sites and for
> sanitary facilities as Columbus OH seems to be? Is the engineering adequate to
> prevent soil contamination? Or perhaps these are not real issues and I should
> turn my attention to other soil issues?

I am not knowledgeable about this, but possibly any soil will not be
suitable for disposal of human sanitary wastes in the quanities
associated with urban populations?
Tom thodges@beta.tricity.wsu.edu

Hello,

My name is Lois Cooper from Columbus, Ohio. I am an environmental
science teacher at Marion-Franklin High School. We are working on a very
unique soil unit. I would like to have my students connect with someone
to provide us with data and basic information that would assist our learning.
I am working on a project with Teresa Mourad from OSU. She has introduced
herself on the internet several days ago. We hope that you will be able to
work with us by allowing our students to ask questions and gain information.
Please respond back ASAP.

My address is:

e-mail lcooper@freenet.columbus.oh.us
us mail Lois Cooper Marion-Franklin High School, 1265 Koebel Road,
Columbus, Ohio 43207 614-365-8072 fax- 614-365-6625

Lois,
My name is Jodi Boyce and I'm a graduate student in soil science at the
University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I would be glad to give you any help I
can with your class soil project. My email address is VolDawg@aol.com here
in AOL, but I also have an account at UT which is jboyce@utkvx.utk.edu.

In reply to Teresa Mourad, working on the perceptions of soil among high
school students:

The newsletter of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science, "New Zealand Soil
News", Volume 32 No 2, April 1984 (a special issue on "The Teaching of Soil
Science"), carried a highly relevant article "Teaching about Soils: Some
Primary Considerations" by John C. Happs, then Lecturer in Science Education
at the Western Australian College of Advanced Education, Perth, Western
Australia. This reported on a survey of the perceptions that primary school
students have of soil which the author carried out while he was at the
Science Research Education Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New
Zealand. If Ms Mourad or her collaborating teachers would like to know more,
they could try contacting Dr Happs and/or the Science Research Education
Unit, or, at the very least, I could send a photocopy of the article upon
request (I was co-editor of the newsletter at that time).

The project sounds worthwhile.

Jock Churchman

>Hello. My name is Teresa Mourad. I am a graduate student at the Ohio State
>University in Columbus, majoring in Environmental Education. Currently, I am
>conducting some research among high school students on their perceptions of
>soil (do they think it is important to study, personally relevant etc).
>
>I was wondering if I could introduce them to this forum to ask questions about
>the research interests soil scientists have and what issues and problems you
>perceive. If this is appropriate, I will be glad to explain my project in
>greater detail.
>
>Secondly, as I was looking at the soil Survey of Franklin County (Columbus), I
>noted that much of the soil types here were classified as unsuitable for
>building or sanitary facilities and that such projects can only be undertaken
>with special engineering design and/or intensive maintenance. Is this true of
>most urban areas throughout the US? How far do these efforts go in ensuring
>that contaminants do not leach into the soil or groundwater?
>
>Thank you for attention. I look forward to your responses.
>
>Teresa
>
>
Dr Jock Churchman
CSIRO Division of Soils
Private Bag No. 2
Glen Osmond
South Australia 5064
AUSTRALIA

Phone: (08) 303 8498
61 8 303 8400 (International)

Fax: 61 8 303 8550

Hi Teresa
I work for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly the Soil
Conservation Service) here in west central Ohio., particularly Logan and
Shelby Counties.

You mentioned the Soil Survey for Franklin County listed many soils as
unsuitable for septic systems. I asked this same question when I began
working for SCS back in 1983. One of the soil scientists who helped to train
me said that due to the high clay and silt content of many of the soils in
Ohio, they were inadequate to filter out wastes on their own.

Specially designed septic systems and some with aeration devices are needed
to treat this waste and the discharge water from these systems is supposed to
be "clean" enough to discharge into field drain tiles, creeks, etc. As you
mentioned, these systems require maintenance. However, many are not
maintained properly. You can imagine what happens to our water supply. We
have had many problems associated with this situation especially at Lake
Loramie and Indian Lake.

There has been a great deal of research done in recent years on using
wetlands to treat human waste. This is being done successfully in many areas.
I watched a program the other day that showed a greenhouse with aquatic vegeta
tion used to treat waste in a cold climate where this vegetation would have
frozen otherwise.

If you need to talk to a soil scientist, we have an excellent one at our
State office there in Columbus. His name is Rich Gehrig. Our NRCS number is
in your phone book under Federal Agencies. He is a wealth of knowledge and
would enjoy speaking to your group.
Jim Snyder
jsnyder317@aol.com

Teresa Mourad wrote:

Secondly, as I was looking at the soil Survey of Franklin County (Columbus),
I
noted that much of the soil types here were classified as unsuitable for
building or sanitary facilities and that such projects can only be undertaken
with special engineering design and/or intensive maintenance. Is this true of
most urban areas throughout the US? How far do these efforts go in ensuring
that contaminants do not leach into the soil or groundwater?

Thank you for attention. I look forward to your responses.

Teresa

Different soils will have different solutions to the unsuitablility. Here in
the Ozarks a fragipan is one factor that makes the soil unsuitable ( wetness
and impermeable layer). The solution is a modified shallow placement system
with a curtain drain or if the fragipan is less than 24 inches a low pressure
pipe system. If the soil is too shallow to bed rock the modified shallow
placement system or low pressure pipe may work. When the soil is too shallow
for either one of those systems, a system that does not use natural soil may
be implemented, such as constructed wetlands. We also sand line trenches of
soils with more than 50 percent rock fragments.

Each urban area handles the solution in their own ways. Most use centerized
sewer systems. Some areas do not have effective laws to handle septic
system. The way each community deals with their effluent is as varied as the
the way the soil is varied through the world.

Hello,
I don't have much info on Pb uptake by specific hyperaccumulators, however, a
British research team backed by US Army and Leverhume Trust funding has been
doing extensive research on a variety of hyperaccumulators to produce
marketable metals from the plants.

I just picked this up as a small blurb in the February, 1995 issue of
"Pollution Engineering."

Good Luck,
Kent S. Koptiuch, CGWP
KSKGeoS

With respect to urbanization and soil suitability for onsite waste treatment:

This is a wide-ranging question . . . . in general my experience and impression
is that most urban areas are sewered and the soil suitability question is moot.
However, the ever-creeping sprawl around them often relies on septic systems,
and soil suitability and surface water quality are major issues. This is going
on in the urbanized piedmont of NC. In the NC coastal plain, state regulations
allow as little as 1 foot of separation between trench bottoms and water tables
even in sand where the travel time may be as little as 30 minutes! The concern
among public officials hereabouts is geared mostly toward circumventing even
those paltry standards, rather than protecting water quality and public
health.

My septic system, of course, is working well and poses no threat to water
quality . . . .

Jonathan Phillips
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
GEPHILLI@ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU
919/328-6082

Hello everyone,

My name is Becca Kaufmann and I am new to this list.
I signed on hoping to get some help on a topic that greatly concerns my
sister. I am not in any way affiliated with anything about conservation or
soils but i did not know where to go to get my concerns answered.

My neice had taken a sample of their well water in to her junior high school
for a project they were working on. In the course of the testing she found
out that they had high concentration of nitrate, the instructor actually
said that it was off the scale. Not knowing what kind of scale they used,
what kinds of dangers does this impose,
and is there anything they can do? Like I said they live in the country and
their only source of water has been a well that has been there for many
years. Is there any health related problems they should be aware of? Any
symptoms which they should look for nitrate exposure?

I know this is asking alot, and I hope you all will forgive me for using the
list in this way. I figured this would be the best place to get my questions
answered through all your combined expertise.

Thank you all very much in advance.
Becca Kaufmann (Crafty5195@aol.com)

Regarding your question about high nitrate, I offer these comments:

1. Be sure the sample and test were accurate. If I were them I would
investigate an EPA certified lab for more testing and follow the lab's
sampling procedures.

2. High nitrate is not desirable for human adults but is especially bad for
infants. The government has set a standard of 10 mg/liter nitrate which
drinking water should not exceed. This is mainly for infants which would
use the water for drinking and for formula preparation. The nitrate
interferes with the utilization of oxygen in the blood ("blue baby
syndrome"). Older children and adults can handle higher levels of nitrate
than 10 mg/liter, but I do not know what the limit is.

3. Another question which must be asked is this: If there are nitrates in
the water, from where did they come and what else could be there as other
contaminants? The nitrate has come from some outside pollution source.
What other substances could be present (such as bacteria or other
pollutants)? That is why I mentioned further testing in #1 above and
reliable testing. I do not question the junior high teacher's abilities,
but I teach at the college level and I would not always place a high degree
of reliability on results obtained in a class/laboratory setting.

4. I do not know what specific health symptoms they should look for other
than the situation with the infants. I guess I would not be as concerned
with the nitrate per se as I would the possibility of other more potentially
harmful substances.

Here's hoping you will get some more help with this question. It is a good
one.

Tom Zimmerman

In message Wed, 3 May 1995 07:53:24 -0500, CRAFTY5195@aol.com writes:

> Hello everyone,
>
> My name is Becca Kaufmann and I am new to this list.
> I signed on hoping to get some help on a topic that greatly concerns my
> sister. I am not in any way affiliated with anything about conservation
> or soils but i did not know where to go to get my concerns answered.
>
> My neice had taken a sample of their well water in to her junior high
> school for a project they were working on. In the course of the testing
> she found out that they had high concentration of nitrate, the
> instructor actually said that it was off the scale. Not knowing what
> kind of scale they used, what kinds of dangers does this impose,
> and is there anything they can do? Like I said they live in the country
> and their only source of water has been a well that has been there for
> many years. Is there any health related problems they should be aware
> of? Any symptoms which they should look for nitrate exposure?
>
> I know this is asking alot, and I hope you all will forgive me for using
> the list in this way. I figured this would be the best place to get my
> questions answered through all your combined expertise.
>
> Thank you all very much in advance.
> Becca Kaufmann (Crafty5195@aol.com)
>
Tommy (Tom) L. Zimmerman, Associate Professor
The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute
1328 Dover Road, Wooster, OH 44691-4000
Voice: 216-264-3911, ext. 1325; FAX: 216-262-7634
E-Mail: tzimmerm@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu OR zimmerman.4@osu.edu

On Wed, 3 May 1995, Xavier Ubeda Cartanya wrote:

>
>
I guess that sums up the global situation.
Question is:- what do we do about it ?

My understanding is that nitrate contamination of drinking water is
dangerous only to very small children. Pregnant or nursing women and
small children should consume bottled water where supplies of tap water
are high in nitrate. Probably other people here could say more or
check with your local public health officials.
Tom
Tom Hodges, Cropping Systems Modeler
USDA-ARS email: thodges@beta.tricity.wsu.edu
Rt. 2, Box 2953-A voice: 509-786-9207
Prosser, WA 99350 USA Fax: 509-786-9370
== ## Rent this space ## ==
If this represents anything, it is only my opinion.

On Wed, 3 May 1995 CRAFTY5195@aol.com wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> My neice had taken a sample of their well water in to her junior high school
> for a project they were working on. In the course of the testing she found
> out that they had high concentration of nitrate, the instructor actually
> said that it was off the scale. Not knowing what kind of scale they used,
> what kinds of dangers does this impose,
> and is there anything they can do? Like I said they live in the country and

The following message covers the situation quite well. However, the
federal drinking water quality standard is 44 mg/L nitrate, I believe.
My book of standards shows 10 mg/L of Nitrate as elemental N (NO3-N).
Many labs report nitrate, not nitrate-N. Thus, if the standard used is
10 mg/L NO3-N, you could have as much as 44 mg/L NO3 and still not exceed
the drinking water quality standards of the EPA and most states.

****************************************************
Robert B. Harrison
Dept. of Ecosystem Science 206-685-7463 voice
& Conservation 206-685-3091 fax
AR-10; Univ. of Washington RobH@u.washington.edu
Seattle WA 98195
****************************************************

On Wed, 3 May 1995, Tommy L. Zimmerman wrote:

> Regarding your question about high nitrate, I offer these comments:
>
> 1. Be sure the sample and test were accurate. If I were them I would
> investigate an EPA certified lab for more testing and follow the lab's
> sampling procedures.
>
> 2. High nitrate is not desirable for human adults but is especially bad for
> infants. The government has set a standard of 10 mg/liter nitrate which
> drinking water should not exceed. This is mainly for infants which would
> use the water for drinking and for formula preparation. The nitrate
> interferes with the utilization of oxygen in the blood ("blue baby
> syndrome"). Older children and adults can handle higher levels of nitrate
> than 10 mg/liter, but I do not know what the limit is.
>
> 3. Another question which must be asked is this: If there are nitrates in
> the water, from where did they come and what else could be there as other
> contaminants? The nitrate has come from some outside pollution source.
> What other substances could be present (such as bacteria or other
> pollutants)? That is why I mentioned further testing in #1 above and
> reliable testing. I do not question the junior high teacher's abilities,
> but I teach at the college level and I would not always place a high degree
> of reliability on results obtained in a class/laboratory setting.
>
> 4. I do not know what specific health symptoms they should look for other
> than the situation with the infants. I guess I would not be as concerned
> with the nitrate per se as I would the possibility of other more potentially
> harmful substances.
>
> Here's hoping you will get some more help with this question. It is a good
> one.
>
> Tom Zimmerman
>
>
> In message Wed, 3 May 1995 07:53:24 -0500, CRAFTY5195@aol.com writes:
>
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > My name is Becca Kaufmann and I am new to this list.
> > I signed on hoping to get some help on a topic that greatly concerns my
> > sister. I am not in any way affiliated with anything about conservation
> > or soils but i did not know where to go to get my concerns answered.
> >
> > My neice had taken a sample of their well water in to her junior high
> > school for a project they were working on. In the course of the testing
> > she found out that they had high concentration of nitrate, the
> > instructor actually said that it was off the scale. Not knowing what
> > kind of scale they used, what kinds of dangers does this impose,
> > and is there anything they can do? Like I said they live in the country
> > and their only source of water has been a well that has been there for
> > many years. Is there any health related problems they should be aware
> > of? Any symptoms which they should look for nitrate exposure?
> >
> > I know this is asking alot, and I hope you all will forgive me for using
> > the list in this way. I figured this would be the best place to get my
> > questions answered through all your combined expertise.
> >
> > Thank you all very much in advance.
> > Becca Kaufmann (Crafty5195@aol.com)
> >
> Tommy (Tom) L. Zimmerman, Associate Professor
> The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute
> 1328 Dover Road, Wooster, OH 44691-4000
> Voice: 216-264-3911, ext. 1325; FAX: 216-262-7634
> E-Mail: tzimmerm@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu OR zimmerman.4@osu.edu
>

>My understanding is that nitrate contamination of drinking water is
>dangerous only to very small children. Pregnant or nursing women and
>small children should consume bottled water where supplies of tap water
>are high in nitrate.
>Tom
>Tom Hodges, Cropping Systems Modeler

Young livestock may also be affected....

Is there any correlation between high nitrate (NO3) in drinking water and
human cancers related to nitrites (NO2)?

John A. Lory, Soil Scientist Voice: (402) 472-1516 (w)
USDA-Agricultural Research Service (402) 466-8735 (h)
119 Keim Hall-East Campus Fax: (402) 472-0516
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Email: jlory@unlinfo.unl.edu
Lincoln, NE 68583-0915

>The following message covers the situation quite well. However, the
>federal drinking water quality standard is 44 mg/L nitrate, I believe.
>My book of standards shows 10 mg/L of Nitrate as elemental N (NO3-N).
>Many labs report nitrate, not nitrate-N. Thus, if the standard used is
>10 mg/L NO3-N, you could have as much as 44 mg/L NO3 and still not exceed
>the drinking water quality standards of the EPA and most states.
>
>****************************************************
>Robert B. Harrison
>Dept. of Ecosystem Science 206-685-7463 voice
> & Conservation 206-685-3091 fax
>AR-10; Univ. of Washington RobH@u.washington.edu
>Seattle WA 98195
>****************************************************
>

The 10 mg/L drinking water criterion has been around for a long time.
My references suggest it originated with WHO. It remains the the Ontario
standard and the national Canadian guideline. I've
looked in the 10 mg/L criterion a few times, & have never seen more
recent work suggesting that it's too low (that's not to imply such work
has never been done, but rather that it hasn't found it's way into
the readily available background documentation).

Also, I've never seen a water quality lab report nitrate or any other N
species as other than mg/L N. Indeed to do so would fly in the face
of what seems to be global, albeit unofficial, convention.

44 mg/L NO3-N in a drinking water supply would certainly set off alarm
bells in these parts.

If this well serves as a rural water supply, it might be a good idea to have
the waters tested, not only for NO3, but also bacterial contamination
& any other potential agricultural pollution (e.g., pesticides being used in the
vicinity). Investigations in Ontario have shown significant numbers of rural
water supplies that are affected by poor siting (near manure runoff, failed
septic
septic systems, etc.), naive farm practices (washing fertilizer spreaders,
pesticide sprayers, etc, in close proximity to the well), and poor maintenance.

Of course, NO3 is a more general groundwater problem due to high N fertilizer
applications, but many rural well water problems are of a local nature that
could be alleviated by moving the well to a safer up-gradient location &/or
good
housekeeping & maintenance practice.

-bb
Byron Bodo
240 Markham St., Toronto, ON, Canada M6J 2G6
tel: (416) 967 7286
fax: (416) 967 9004
email: bodo@io.org

National Drinking Water Quality Standard for Nitrate (NO3) = 10 mg/L
or milligrams per liter. I would suggest calling your county
extention specialist first and then possibly contacting the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency/ Human Risk Assessment Branch at 401
M Street S. W. Washington D. C. 20460 (Case #14797-55-8). To my
knowledge (which is at best limitted) nitrates are a concern with
pregnant women, infants and small children. The nitrates compete
with oxygen for exchange sites on blood hemeglobin. This may result
in methemoglobinemia ("blue baby syndrom").

On Wed, 3 May 1995 07:40:30 -0500 <CRAFTY5195@aol.com> said:
...(snip)
>My name is Becca Kaufmann and I am new to this list.
...(snip)
>My neice had taken a sample of their well water in to her junior high school
>for a project they were working on. In the course of the testing she found
>out that they had high concentration of nitrate, the instructor actually
>said that it was off the scale. Not knowing what kind of scale they used,
> what kinds of dangers does this impose,
>and is there anything they can do? Like I said they live in the country and
>their only source of water has been a well that has been there for many
>years. Is there any health related problems they should be aware of? Any
>symptoms which they should look for nitrate exposure?

I believe the major concern is an illness that babies are liable to get if
nitrate exceeds 10ppm--you need to find out what "off the scale" means and
you should talk to your county medical officer once you know the actual
concentration. Your county will also be able to analyze your sister's well
water if you request it. Nitrate is a common contaminant of well waters,
especially of shallow wells and is not much of a hazard to adults (you get
nitrate in much of the food you eat. Again, the level is what you need to
know but if the well has been used for years your sister probably doesn't
have a crisis. But find out.
Don Wauchope

> Date: Mon, 01 May 1995 20:14:46 -0500
> From: pbw1@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu (Peter Woodbury)
> Subject: Soil Pb mitigation with OM ?
> To: Multiple recipients of list <soils-l@unl.edu>
> Reply-to: soils-l@unl.edu

> Hello Soil Scientists:
> I am a plant biologist who researches the effects of soil and air
> pollutants on plants. I'm interested (among other things!) in using compost
> to decrease lead uptake by fruit and vegetable crops grown in soils
> contaminated with hundreds to thousands of parts per million lead. I've
> spent a lot of time in the last few years digging up literature on plant
> uptake of various metals from composted solid wastes and sewage sludges,
> but don't have many references on soils with thousands of ppm lead.
> I'd greatly appreciate any references on the effect of added
> organic matter on plant uptake of lead by food crops. I'd also appreciate
> any references, preferably review articles with citations, on the general
> topic of lead uptake by food crops from highly contaminated soils.
> Finally, any other suggestions or tips from those with experience in this
> area would be helpful. You may send responses directly to me at:
> pbw1@cornell.edu
> I'll post a summary to the list.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Peter Woodbury
> Senior Research Specialist
> Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
> Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853-1801
> email pbw1@cornell.edu
>
>
>Peter,

The Sewerage Treatment farm at Werribee, Victoria, Australia was
doing research into plant uptake of heavy metals some years back. I
don't know if they still are. They were doing as part of the sewage
treatment management procedures. If they can't help you directly,
they may be able to give you some leads on where next to look. I
don't have an E-mail address for them, but I think their postal
address is

Melbourne Water Laboratories
68 Ricketts Road
Mt Waverley, Victoria Australia 3149

Their telephone number should be 61 3 565 1722. Unfortunately we are
just undergoing a change in telephone numbers at the moment and we're
only part way through.

Good Luck
Kerryn

Not to sound off too much, but the following statements made recently on
the net are not chemically correct.

***********
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 09:36:48 -0500
Reply to: soils-l@unl.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list <soils-l@unl.edu>
Subject: RE: Help, high Nitrate

--- previous deleted ---
2. High nitrate is not desirable for human adults but is especially bad for
infants. The government has set a standard of 10 mg/liter nitrate which
drinking water should not exceed. This is mainly for infants which would
--- following deleted ---

***********
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 16:36:43 -0500
Reply to: soils-l@unl.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list <soils-l@unl.edu>
Subject: Help, high Nitrate -Reply

--- previous deleted ---
National Drinking Water Quality Standard for Nitrate (NO3) = 10 mg/L
or milligrams per liter. I would suggest calling your county
--- following deleted ---

***********

The incorrect quotation of the National Drinking Water Quality Standard
as 10 mg/L Nitrate instead of as 10 mg/L Nitrate-N is widespread. Please
make a distinction so that each person is talking about the same thing.
For instance, 10 mg/L Nitrate-N is the equivalent of 44 mg/L Nitrate. If
water is analyzed by a water quality lab they almost always report
Nitrate-N since it will usually be compared directly to the National
Drinking Water Quality Standard.

However, some labs DO report Nitrate and not Nitrate-N. For instance,
if you follow directly the procedures in the software and manual of our
ion chromatograph (albeit old), water analysis results are reported
directly as Nitrate, not Nitrate-N, and you have to convert to get
Nitrate-N by dividing by 4.4. One student didn't make the distinction,
and in a lab report compared their Nitrate values to the 10 mg/L
Nitrate-N value of the DWQS. His value of 14 mg/L Nitrate was actually
well below the standard of 10 mg/L Nitrate-N, but numerically appeared to
be above. Before rushing to judgement on water analysis results above or
below 10 mg/L, first make sure that your units are Nitrate as N and not
Nitrate as NO3.

****************************************************
Robert B. Harrison
Dept. of Ecosystem Science 206-685-7463 voice
& Conservation 206-685-3091 fax
AR-10; Univ. of Washington RobH@u.washington.edu
Seattle WA 98195
****************************************************

Howdy,

I am about to turn in the thesis for my masters degree on friday,
and have run into a few last minute debates with the committee.
The ressearch that I did included a 2 year field study that traced
nitrogen at high and low rates under fallow and winter wheat rotations.
For each treatment I sampled down to 1.8m in 15cm increments. For each
of the treatments I had 3 replication plots, that had 2 sample cores
taken from each, giving 6 replicant samples for each layer for each
treatment. I analysed for nitrogen with the standard colorometric
technique from KCl extracted 6 gram wet soil samples taken from each
15cm layer from the soil cores. Analysis for both NH4-N and NO3-N
was done on an ALPKEM analyser with reclaibration done every 30
samples or so. As far as I can tell, all analysis is fairly standard
and no mistakes were made in the sampling or processing of the
soil samples.

So why am I writing??? After analysing the data, it was found that
there was a large range of variability in the measured nitrogen
contents. It was not common to see CV's of .5 to 1.0 for deviations
between layers and total profile nitrogen contents. I have discussed
this at length with the committee and they say that there is no way
that the error can be this high. Since the majority of the analysis
was conducted on my own, and since I am EXTREAMLY confident that
I cut no corners in processing the samples and analysing the data,
I see no other cause. I know that it is hard to have a 6g sample
correctly represent an entire layer-profile, but in explaining this
to the committee, there is little other reaction than that "the
experiment must be flawed". (Something that i am starting to take
as a personal attack). I have not been able to find too many experiments
that give actual values for variability in the soil profile, but have
found that many researchers have a means of "filtering" data that
is not explainable (extremes). Does any body have any values on
the top of their heads as to what variablity is commonly seen in
these types of experiments. Since I have to have a good answer as
to the validity of my data in the next two day's, numbers would
be the most apreciated, but any sources of information would be
wonderful.

Thank you very much for your time,

dan
Daniel R. Fuka
dan@quetzalcoatl.com
Quetzal Computational Associates
3701 San Mateo, NE Suite I
Albuquerque, NM 87110-1249
(505)883-3706

In reply to:

> dan@quetzalcoatl.com
> Quetzal Computational Associates
> 3701 San Mateo, NE Suite I
> Albuquerque, NM 87110-1249
> (505)883-3706
>
> I am about to turn in the thesis for my masters degree on friday,
> and have run into a few last minute debates with the committee.
> The ressearch that I did included a 2 year field study that traced
> nitrogen at high and low rates under fallow and winter wheat rotations.
> For each treatment I sampled down to 1.8m in 15cm increments. For each
> of the treatments I had 3 replication plots, that had 2 sample cores
> taken from each, giving 6 replicant samples for each layer for each
> treatment. I analysed for nitrogen with the standard colorometric
> technique from KCl extracted 6 gram wet soil samples taken from each
> 15cm layer from the soil cores. Analysis for both NH4-N and NO3-N
> was done on an ALPKEM analyser with reclaibration done every 30
> samples or so. As far as I can tell, all analysis is fairly standard
> and no mistakes were made in the sampling or processing of the
> soil samples.
>
> So why am I writing??? After analysing the data, it was found that
> there was a large range of variability in the measured nitrogen
> contents. It was not common to see CV's of .5 to 1.0 for deviations

Dear Dan and Others....

0.5 to 1.0 as % are excellent values of a coefficient of variation
(I assume that is what you mean). Lower than 25% is okay for field
samples and for lab experiments less than 10%. Infact a CV of less than
1% would make me very suspicious indeed (especially if I am a referee)

However if you mean 50 to 100% I think you have problems. I suggest
you look for a good ag. stats book and maybe repeat your sampling?
I would mave to say that for field experiments and CV > 25% (0.25)
would be a very strong indicator of highly variable N-determination.

--
Dr. Philip Clarke, Department of Soil Science
Waite Solid State NMR Facility, University of Adelaide
P.M.B. 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia,Australia, 5064
Ph/Fax (0)8 303 7399 pclarke@waite.adelaide.edu.au

Dear Subscribers,

I am a student attending Godollo University of Agriculture
Sciences in Hungary. We work on the surveying of a quite
protected area. We want to make a special soil map of it, what
shows not the individual soils, but shows special soil series of
the area (slope series, water series, etc.).
Could you help us to find any information on the INTERNET about
the method of making soil series, drawing the maps?

Peter

>

Can you explain why there is a single conversion factor going between
nitrate-n and nitrate?

gail
>
> directly as Nitrate, not Nitrate-N, and you have to convert to get
> Nitrate-N by dividing by 4.4. One student didn't make the distinction,
> and in a lab report compared their Nitrate values to the 10 mg/L
> Nitrate-N value of the DWQS. His value of 14 mg/L Nitrate was actually
> well below the standard of 10 mg/L Nitrate-N, but numerically appeared to
> be above. Before rushing to judgement on water analysis results above or
> below 10 mg/L, first make sure that your units are Nitrate as N and not
> Nitrate as NO3.
>
>
> ****************************************************
> Robert B. Harrison
> Dept. of Ecosystem Science 206-685-7463 voice
> & Conservation 206-685-3091 fax
> AR-10; Univ. of Washington RobH@u.washington.edu
> Seattle WA 98195
> ****************************************************
>

Could you be seeing some residual variability from previous treatments on
your plots? Did you characterize nitrogen levels in your plots before
applying treatments?

gail
>
> So why am I writing??? After analysing the data, it was found that
> there was a large range of variability in the measured nitrogen
> contents. It was not common to see CV's of .5 to 1.0 for deviations
> between layers and total profile nitrogen contents. I have discussed
> this at length with the committee and they say that there is no way
> that the error can be this high. Since the majority of the analysis
> was conducted on my own, and since I am EXTREAMLY confident that
> I cut no corners in processing the samples and analysing the data,
> I see no other cause. I know that it is hard to have a 6g sample
> correctly represent an entire layer-profile, but in explaining this
> to the committee, there is little other reaction than that "the
> experiment must be flawed". (Something that i am starting to take
> as a personal attack). I have not been able to find too many experiments
> that give actual values for variability in the soil profile, but have
> found that many researchers have a means of "filtering" data that
> is not explainable (extremes). Does any body have any values on
> the top of their heads as to what variablity is commonly seen in
> these types of experiments. Since I have to have a good answer as
> to the validity of my data in the next two day's, numbers would
> be the most apreciated, but any sources of information would be
> wonderful.
>
> Thank you very much for your time,
>
> dan
> Daniel R. Fuka
> dan@quetzalcoatl.com
> Quetzal Computational Associates
> 3701 San Mateo, NE Suite I
> Albuquerque, NM 87110-1249
> (505)883-3706
>
>
>

It is very simple. The atomic weight of N is 14, the atomic weight
of NO3- is 14 + (3 x 16) = 62
62/14 = 4.4

So nitrate reported in terms of ppm of N is 4.4 times lower than that
reported in terms of NO3-

BTW, reports I have seen from Germany were in terms of NO3-, which
looked really shocking to me until I realized the difference in units. :-)

Tom
Tom Hodges, Cropping Systems Modeler
USDA-ARS email: thodges@beta.tricity.wsu.edu
Rt. 2, Box 2953-A voice: 509-786-9207
Prosser, WA 99350 USA Fax: 509-786-9370
== ## Rent this space ## ==
If this represents anything, it is only my opinion.

On Thu, 4 May 1995, Gail Olson wrote:

> >
>
> Can you explain why there is a single conversion factor going between
> nitrate-n and nitrate?
>
> gail
> >
> > directly as Nitrate, not Nitrate-N, and you have to convert to get
> > Nitrate-N by dividing by 4.4. One student didn't make the distinction,
> > and in a lab report compared their Nitrate values to the 10 mg/L
> > Nitrate-N value of the DWQS. His value of 14 mg/L Nitrate was actually
> > well below the standard of 10 mg/L Nitrate-N, but numerically appeared to
> > be above. Before rushing to judgement on water analysis results above or
> > below 10 mg/L, first make sure that your units are Nitrate as N and not
> > Nitrate as NO3.
> >
> >
> > ****************************************************
> > Robert B. Harrison
> > Dept. of Ecosystem Science 206-685-7463 voice
> > & Conservation 206-685-3091 fax
> > AR-10; Univ. of Washington RobH@u.washington.edu
> > Seattle WA 98195
> > ****************************************************
> >
>
>
>
>

Dear Peter,

> protected area. We want to make a special soil map of it, what
> shows not the individual soils, but shows special soil series of
> the area (slope series, water series, etc.).

What are "special soil series"?

gail

p.s. I don't know where you can get info on the internet.

> Could you help
us to find any information on
the INTERNET about > the method of making soil series, drawing the maps?
>
> Peter

Response to Dan Fuka on variability of soil nitrates:

I wasn't clear on wether your variability numbers were in ppm or decimal form o
f CV. If they were in ppm they were extremely accurate. Anyway you can look a
t my paper: Shapiro and Kranz. 1992. Comparison of auger and core soil sampli
ng methods to determine soil nitrate under field conditions. Journal of Produc
tion Agriculture 5:358-362. I can fax you a copy if you contact me directly.
402 584 2803. Chas

>
> Howdy,
>
> I am about to turn in the thesis for my masters degree on friday,
> and have run into a few last minute debates with the committee.
> The ressearch that I did included a 2 year field study that traced
> nitrogen at high and low rates under fallow and winter wheat rotations.
> For each treatment I sampled down to 1.8m in 15cm increments. For each
> of the treatments I had 3 replication plots, that had 2 sample cores
> taken from each, giving 6 replicant samples for each layer for each
> treatment. I analysed for nitrogen with the standard colorometric
> technique from KCl extracted 6 gram wet soil samples taken from each
> 15cm layer from the soil cores. Analysis for both NH4-N and NO3-N
> was done on an ALPKEM analyser with reclaibration done every 30
> samples or so. As far as I can tell, all analysis is fairly standard
> and no mistakes were made in the sampling or processing of the
> soil samples.
>
> So why am I writing??? After analysing the data, it was found that
> there was a large range of variability in the measured nitrogen
> contents. It was not common to see CV's of .5 to 1.0 for deviations
> between layers and total profile nitrogen contents. I have discussed
> this at length with the committee and they say that there is no way
> that the error can be this high. Since the majority of the analysis
> was conducted on my own, and since I am EXTREAMLY confident that
> I cut no corners in processing the samples and analysing the data,
> I see no other cause. I know that it is hard to have a 6g sample
> correctly represent an entire layer-profile, but in explaining this
> to the committee, there is little other reaction than that "the
> experiment must be flawed". (Something that i am starting to take
> as a personal attack). I have not been able to find too many experiments
> that give actual values for variability in the soil profile, but have
> found that many researchers have a means of "filtering" data that
> is not explainable (extremes). Does any body have any values on
> the top of their heads as to what variablity is commonly seen in
> these types of experiments. Since I have to have a good answer as
> to the validity of my data in the next two day's, numbers would
> be the most apreciated, but any sources of information would be
> wonderful.
>
> Thank you very much for your time,
>
> dan
> Daniel R. Fuka
> dan@quetzalcoatl.com
> Quetzal Computational Associates
> 3701 San Mateo, NE Suite I
> Albuquerque, NM 87110-1249
> (505)883-3706
>

There have been several responses to Dan's message. I have been following
them with interest. During my college days we were heavily into the N
cycle, with special emphasis on NH4 and NO3.

We working in Northern Michinan woods and in the Coram Experimental Forest
in Montana. Looking at the mycorhizae (darn, it's been a long time since I
had to spell that word) influence on N in forest soils.

We found, and I am sure my college profs will correct me if I'm wrong,
that N variation was fairly wide under forest vegetation in both Northern
Michigan hardwoods on glacial soils and in mid-elevation timber stands in
the west.

Dan, check out work done in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in
the east (I think it's in New Hampshire). They went all out in their
N studies. It's a classic. Also, work done in the Coram Experimental
Forest in Montana, done by foresters and soil scientists from Michigan
Technological University.

I have the same question about .5 to 1 CV means as has been raised by
others. A .5 to 1 percent variation is suspect as being way to narrow
for soils research.

Whereas 50 to 100 percent variation is not unreasonable. At least,
where I've worked. Shoot, soil scientists mapping in the glaciated
country see that every day. Two holes put down with 6 inches of
each other can be of entirely different series. And, this is on the
morphological scale, let alone on at the chemical scale.

Still, good advice has been posted here concerning Dan's question.
I'd give serious thought. If after much contemplation and exploration
Dan still feels he is right, then stick to your guns.

Dan, good luck on your thesis.

==========================================================================
== George Teachman ==
== Soil Scientist ==
== United States Department of Agriculture ==
== Natural Resource Conservation Service ==
== Fort Collins, Colorado ==
== 303-282-1960 ==
== ==
== george@talon.ftc.nrcs.usda.gov ==
== ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ==
== Welcome to earth, third rock from the sun. Cause and effect. ==
== There are only three laws of nature, and one exception. ==
== 1) F=ma; 2) E=m(c squared); 3) You can't push a rope ==
== From these three laws all others can be derived. ==
== Except those explained by CHAOS THEORY. ==
==========================================================================

For a nonstatistician, regulator who is trying to apply statistical
analyses in the field. Not test plots but depth 30 segregated
samples (30 cm intervals) collected from 6 drill holes on a large
coal slurry impoundment (approximately 213 acres). Adequate sample
size? Please explain what is the basis for a judgement of "Okay" or
"suspicious" in reference to a coefficient of variation of 25% , 10%
,1% ? Literature Reference? Is coefficient of variation the same as
R-squared? Be nice!!

I know this is off the subject but the reclamation of this site is on
the line. I have attempted to correlate hot water soluble boron to
ECe (saturated paste extract), depth, hot water soluble selenium. A
gross look at the data seems to indicate capillary rise of these
constituent in the slurry profile. A "GOOD" statistical fit would
help my case in avoiding following the permittee's proposal of
placing six inches of "topsoil" on the slurry and walking away.
We probably have saturation of the lower portion of the inactive
slurry pond during certain time of the year, so the "vector" or
driving force, if you will, for for continued salt migration is
present. Since i'm on this subject...if the "hypothesis" stated
above is correct. How can I predict the magnitude of salt migration
and concentrations of these constituents within the rhizosphere
constituents over time. Will these concentration result in
phytotoxicity (boron) or plant selenium uptake (i.e. greater than 5
ppm)? I know these are big questions but have at it.

A recent response to the question on high nitrate included this comment:
"Of course, NO3 is a more general groundwater problem due to high N fertilizer applications, but many rural
well water problems are of a local nature that could be alleviated by moving the well to a safer up-gradient
location &/or good housekeeping & maintenance practice."

Fertilizer N applications may certainly contribute to nitrate problems, where fertilizer N rates exceed crop
removal ior are not effectively taken up by the crop. This points out the need for efficient fertilizer
management practices to ensure that fertilizer applications are related to crop requirements and managed in
a way to ensure optimum fertilizer use efficiency. However, elevated nitrate levels in well-water was a
problem well before the use of chemical fertilizers. Summerfallow, geological nitrate sources, late release
of N from legume breaking, improper manure handling and the siting/sanitation problems mentioned in the
previous replies are all potential contributors and must be considered in determining the source of the
problem.

Cindy Grant

Dan,
If I understand what you did correctly I am not surprised by the
high degree of variability you found. I understand that you analysed each
increment of each soil core individually (a total of six analyses per
treatment per increment, 3 rep X 2 subsamples). Soil data is notoriously
variable. My experience has been that soil data analyzed on a single core
basis is often highly skewed to the right, that is there are lots of low
values with some hot spots. This type of nonnormal distribution creates
high CV's. Most reported soil data and soil samples run for analysis in
agronomic plot experiments are composite samples of multiple cores.
Typical examples include compositing at least two to three 4-cm diam cores
for deep samples or 10 2-cm diam. cores for surface samples. High
variability of soil data can persist even with composited cores. For
example in a study I have here in frount of me the ANOVA reports CV's
greated than 50% for surface samples (0 to 30 cm in three increments) in a
study investigating the affect of manure application on established alfalfa
(three replicates, 10 composited cores per sample, across 8 treatments and
8 sampling times). Data derived from single cores would be expected to have
even higher CV's.

I have always been curious about what the impact of composite
samples has on our evaluation and interpretation of nutrient levels in the
soil. My experience is that a log distribution does a decent job of
describing the distribution of single core subsamples. With this
distribution the median is a more appropriate than the mean as an indicator
of the "center" of the data (i.e. what's typical). Yet with composite
samples we are obtaining a mean value. An example demonstrates my point.
If we have 5 subsamples from a field analyzed for Nitrate-N (0, 1,2, 4, 53
ppm) the mean is 12 ppm and the median is 2 ppm.

I'd be interested in the thoughts of others that have considered this topic.

John A. Lory, Soil Scientist Voice: (402) 472-1516 (w)
USDA-Agricultural Research Service (402) 466-8735 (h)
119 Keim Hall-East Campus Fax: (402) 472-0516
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Email: jlory@unlinfo.unl.edu
Lincoln, NE 68583-0915

On Thu, 4 May 1995, Gail Olson wrote:

> >
>
> Can you explain why there is a single conversion factor going between
> nitrate-n and nitrate?
>
> gail
> >

Gail;
the "conversion factor" is as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
molecular weight of Nitrate (NO3)

Number Atomic weight per
element per molecule Weight (g/mol) molecule
------- ------------ -------------- ----------
N 1 14 1*14 = 14
O 3 16 3*16 = 48
----------
64 g/mol NO3

---------------------------------------------------------------------
molecular weight of Nitrate-N (NO3-N)

Number Atomic weight per
element per molecule Weight (g/mol) molecule
------- ------------ -------------- ----------
N 1 14 1*14 = 14
----------
14 g/mol NO3-N
---------------------------------------------------------------------
the 4.4 conversion factor comes from (mol wt of NO3)/(mol wt of NO3-N)

= (64 g/mol)/(14 g/mol) = about 4.4
---------------------------------------------------------------------

If this seems confusing, welcome to the club. It was incredibly
confusing to me the first time I was asked whether or not my data was
reported nitrate or nitrate-N.

The use of NO3 and NO3-N interchangeably is no small problem. I have
encountered one serious situation (water quality violations, and the
potential to shut down projects) where NO3 data was used in place of
NO3-N data, and this was found out only after tracking down the source of
the analysis when the person with the data was confused and didn't know
if it was NO3-N or NO3. Most of the time data water quality is reported
as NO3-N, but certainly not always.

In some cases individuals that should know didn't understand the
difference when asked whether or not data was NO3-N or NO3, and some have
insisted that the drinking water quality standard was 10 mg/L NO3, not 10
mg/L NO3-N This is the first thing I try to make sure of when someone
points out a violation of the 10 mg/L NO3-N drinking water quality
standard or is worried about a nitrate value above 10 mg/L. We had 2
messages here in this forum so far (of 4 total messages on the subject so
far), that specified 10 mg/L NO3 instead of NO3-N as the DWQ standard,
and this hints at the degree of the problem. I hope anyone reading this
distlist is well aware of the difference by now.

****************************************************
Robert B. Harrison
Dept. of Ecosystem Science 206-685-7463 voice
& Conservation 206-685-3091 fax
AR-10; Univ. of Washington RobH@u.washington.edu
Seattle WA 98195
****************************************************

Peter,
I'm not sure there's much information on the internet on creating soil series
and drawing soil maps. For the U.S., the "standard" for creating soil maps
is:

Soil Survey Manual
U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook No. 18
by Soil Survey Division Staff
Issued October 1993

You can order this book through:

Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20402

"Practical Pedology: Studying Soils in the Field" by Stuart McRae (1988;
Ellis Horwood Limited, Chichester, England) also has some good information
(British perspective) on describing soils and making soil maps.

Keep in mind that these references will give you information on the science
of mapping soils. The art of mapping soils comes with experience. If at all
possible, seek out the advice of an experienced soil mapper in your area.
That person can provide you with a lot of insight.

Nelson Thurman
Soil Mapper and Consulting Soil Scientist
Springfield, VA
nthurman@aol.com

I'd suggest a look at Prof Pierre Robert's web site at the University of
MInnesota.

Jim - Farmer - Iowa City, IA,
jnmeade@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu

Jim,

Saw your message on SOILS-L about a soils web page.

Could you email the address?

TIA - Julian Barr
-----------------------------------------------------------
Julian J.F. Barr
Department of Agricultural & Environmental Science
King George VI Building
University of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
U.K.

Phone: 0191 222 6000 x6913
Fax: 0191 222 5228
email: J.J.F.Barr@ncl.ac.uk
-----------------------------------------------------------

Julian,

There is a web sit, but when I tried to access it this morning I couldn't
connect. For a quick answer, I'll refer you to the author Prof. Pierre
Robert, probert@soils.umn.edu, or his precision agriculture mailing list,
precise-agri@soils.umn.edu.

You can easily find the gopher site by searching under either Yahoo or
the Agrigator and looking under the University of Minnesota. There are
several directories and files on this gopher server which might interest you.
The University of Wisconsin also has a soils guy, Neil ??? (sorry about
memory lapse) who has a gopher site.

Sorry about the inability to give you the exact web reference for Robert,
but it is there. Good luck.

On Fri, 5 May 1995, Julian Barr wrote:

> Jim,
>
> Saw your message on SOILS-L about a soils web page.
>
> Could you email the address?
>
> TIA - Julian Barr
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Julian J.F. Barr
> Department of Agricultural & Environmental Science
> King George VI Building
> University of Newcastle
> Newcastle upon Tyne
> NE1 7RU
> U.K.
>
> Phone: 0191 222 6000 x6913
> Fax: 0191 222 5228
> email: J.J.F.Barr@ncl.ac.uk
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>

Jim - Farmer - Iowa City, IA,
jnmeade@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu

There have been a couple of posts about Soils web sites. Here is
another.

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly known as the
Soil Conservation Service) is responsible for conducting soil surveys
on the non-federal lands of this country.

USDA-NRCS has a home page and is located at

http://www.ncg.nrcs.usda.gov/Welcome.html

>From this location you can get to the National Soil Survey Center.

==========================================================================
== George Teachman ==
== Soil Scientist ==
== United States Department of Agriculture ==
== Natural Resource Conservation Service ==
== Fort Collins, Colorado ==
== 303-282-1960 ==
== ==
== george@talon.ftc.nrcs.usda.gov ==
== ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ==
== Welcome to earth, third rock from the sun. Cause and effect. ==
== There are only three laws of nature, and one exception. ==
== 1) F=ma; 2) E=m(c squared); 3) You can't push a rope ==
== From these three laws all others can be derived. ==
== Except those explained by CHAOS THEORY. ==
==========================================================================

Hello everyone,

Apparently, some messages somehow do not reach me on the soils-l list. I would
very much like to know what Xavier Cartanya wrote. Secondly, I am trying to
trace Timothy Craul's response to my question about urban soils that he sent on
May 1. I would be grateful if someone can forward these 2 messages to my
personal mailbox, so as not to flood the list with repeat messages.

Thank you very much.

Teresa
Mourad.5@osu.edu

________________________________________________________________________
On May 3, Peter J. Harris responded:

> On Wed, 3 May 1995, Xavier Ubeda Cartanya wrote:

> I guess that sums up the global situation.
> Question is:- what do we do about it ?
_______________________________________________________________________

Dear Jock,

I am amazed at how global my simple request has become. Thank you for your very
encouraging response. I would be very interested in obtaining a copy of John
Happs's article.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Teresa Mourad
Ohio State University Extension
Community Development #14
2120 Fyffe Road,
Columbus OH 43210-1010
USA
E-Mail: Mourad.5@osu.edu
Fax: 614-292-7341
Tel: 614-292-8436

Hello All from the University of Reading, Soil Sci Dept,UK,
We are obviously not alone in having confusion in our undergraduate
groups about the difference between mg nitrate and mg nitrate-N. It takes
quite a while for the difference to sink in (I am tempted to say - leach
far enough - damn, I did).

One of the best expositions, especially for passing on to non-scientists,
that I have found is the chapter on nitrate in "The Consumers Good
Chemical Guide" 1994. by John Emsley, W H Freeman & Co, Oxford and New York.
ISBN 0-7167-4505-4

The book will also allow you to raise a few eyebrows at parties on the
subject of the constituents of up-market perfumes.

Peter Harris

I found a soil survey site at Minnesota. I don't know if it is the one mentioned
earlier, but it should get someone started in the right direction.

gopher://gopher.soils.umn.edu/11/survey

Mike Anderson
mca@orser9.erri.psu.edu

Many methods for Nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, and NH4+ are prone to
interferances and degradation thru the extraction process.

2 questions

1. Have you compared your technique to a separation technique such as ion
chromatography(EPA Method 300) or Cap. Electrophorisis.

2. Have you run a total N method (kjeldahl) an compared the mass balance to
your N species technique.

A separate technique such as ion Chromatography should help to validate your
work or show the reason for the variability.

We're working in a Cecil (Kaolinitic typic Kanhapludult ) typic soil
in the Piedmont of North Carolina. We're interested in
N-mineralization rates. Currently we're assessing mineralization in
the 0-10 cm depth of mineral soil. We're wondering what happens with
N-mineralization with depth? Are there any significant (meaning
anywhere from 2 kg/ha/yr up) mineralization rates found below 10 cm?

I appreciate any first hand information or references. Thanks.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
/ \ Stephen R. Colbert |
+ // \\ NCS Forest Nutrition Cooperative + +
/// \\\ Box 8008 |
+ //// \\\\ North Carolina State University + +
///// \\\\\ Raleigh, NC 27695-8008 |
+_____ ______ + +
/\/ \/\ Phone: 919-515-3500 |
+ /\/\ /\/\ Fax: 919-515-6193 + +
/\/\/ \/\/\ Email: steve_colbert@ncsu.edu |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Steve,

I've worked with subsurface soils from several meters below the surface.
There is virtually no ammonium oxidation potential or arginine
ammonification potential. I know this is deeper than you asked about, but
I figure it may be the extreme case.

Mark Fuller
University of California, Davis
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources
phone Laboratory (916) 752-0146
Home (916) 756-0489
fax (916) 752-1552
email: mefuller@ucdavis.edu

Is the data in error or is there just a high degree of variability in the
nitrogen content of the soil?
How many times is the soil tilled between rotations?
>From wstites@uwspmail.uwsp.edu Fri Apr 30 06:55:57 1905
Received: from uwspmail.uwsp.edu by crcnis1.unl.edu with SMTP id AA07649
(5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for <soils-l@unl.edu>); Fri, 5 May 1995 11:49:16 -0500
Message-Id: <199505051649.AA07649@crcnis1.unl.edu>
From: wstites@uwspmail.uwsp.edu
Message-Version: 2
>To: soils-l@unl.edu
>From: wstites (Stites, Will - Groundwater/Ext)
Date: Fri May 5 11:55:57 CDT 1995
Ua-Content-Id: <PMX-LAN-2.2.1-******-uwspmail-wstites-20215>
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To: soils-l@unl.edu
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In regard to: Dan's problems with his graduate committee, and
a question about sampling a waste pile,

Assuming Dan was talking about coefficient of variation as a fraction,
not a percentage, I would be surprised to see soil N CVs much lower
than he reported. For example, in a project of mine, we collected soil
profiles from the surface to 3m in 30 to 90 cm increments. CVs among
all the samples were 52% the 1st year and 74% the second year. Just
looking at the topmost samples, the CVs were 44% and 77%. There were 24
samples from the surface increment, about 110 overall. Soil chemical
properties are notorious for having extreme variation over small
distances, and I have to wonder where Dan's committee was coming from,
if their point of view was accurately represented. (As George Teachman
said, welcome to Planet Earth.)

As for Henry Sauer's questions about sampling and compositing, most of
the answers needed could be found in Petersen and Calvin and the
accompanying chapters in Klute, 1986, Methods of Soil Analysis (Part I).
American Soc. Agron., Monogr. 9. Another good analysis is Lloyd and McKee,
1983. Replications and subsamples needed to show treatment responses
on forest soils of the Coastal Plain. SSSAJ 47(3):587-590.

The basic rule for composites is, the variance goes as 1/n, where
n is the number of subsamples in the composite. That means the CV will
go as 1/sqrt(n). CV is std. dev. divided by the mean. It is (always?)
expressed as a percentage.

Will Stites
Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center

My views are my own and don't represent anyone else's.

The value of statistical analysis shows its ugly head again.
John Lowry's comments about statistical analysis are well taken.
For an ANOVA, there is an assumption (requirement) of equivalence
of variance for a legitimate analysis (homoscedastic). If the
data presents nonuniform distribution (heteroscedastic) the data
must be transformed to homoscedastic distribution. This may
involve log (or ln), Fourier, or other transformation. A common
point of discussion in this regard is whether the selected
transformation has a mechanistic, as opposed to statistical,
justification.

The issues raised by Lowry's comments illustrates the need for
repeat studies repeated over time and location; to extensively
characterize the sites; and to keep in mind that statistics is a
tool which, by itself, is of limited use. there is some
descretion in the use of statistics, but accordingly a
requirement to discuss one's selection of statistical tests along
with the discussion of the data in the text.


Michael W. Broder
US-EPA
Broder.Michael@epamail.epa.gov

I recently acquired a couple of math programs that have been very helpful in
my work. I thought I would pass on some information about the programs since
they may be helpful to some of you.

One program will solve algebra, calculus, ordinary differential equations and
linear algebra problems. It also can find Lie symmetries and symbolic
solutions of partial differential equations and automates generation of
p.d.e.'s in arbitrary coordinates. It also provides 2 and 3D scientific
graphics, including plots of point sets, functions, parametric curves and
surfaces, and vector fields. It will also write p.d.e.'s in non-Cartesian
coordinates and pass on the equations to its' companion program for numerical
solution.

The companion program solves partial differential equations numerically by
finite element analysis. It solves a very wide range of p.d.e.'s of
elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic and mixed types. It will solve static,
time-dependent and eigenvalue problems with two space dimensions.

I have several demo disks of each program and I will be happy to pass them on
to anyone who wants them until I run out. Just send me your name and mailing
address.

I hope this has been useful.
Fred

>
> I recently acquired a couple of math programs that have been very helpful in
> my work. I thought I would pass on some information about the programs since
> they may be helpful to some of you.
>
> One program will solve algebra, calculus, ordinary differential equations and
> linear algebra problems. It also can find Lie symmetries and symbolic
> solutions of partial differential equations and automates generation of
<<<snip>>>
> I have several demo disks of each program and I will be happy to pass them on
> to anyone who wants them until I run out. Just send me your name and mailing
> address.
>
> I hope this has been useful.
> Fred
>
Dear Fred and others,
Could you tell us what platform (presumably IBM)
and if it is commercial software, perhaps also the company
and the name of the software?
Also if anyone is offering software etc...
What about uuencoding or binhexing them and
using the mailer (or would people object to
being mailed such potentially large email?)
Or at least offering it to people via email if they are
interested?

Regards,
Philip, who doesnt want the soils and agmodels mail lists
to end up like the newsgroup.

--
Dr. Philip Clarke, Department of Soil Science
Waite Solid State NMR Facility, University of Adelaide
P.M.B. 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia,Australia, 5064
Ph/Fax (0)8 303 7399 pclarke@waite.adelaide.edu.au

Dear Fred:
I would appreciate receiving copies of your computer programs and Math
software.. Thanks in advance..

Jabro

My ADDRESS IS: 116 A.S.I Bldg.
Dept. of Agronomy
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802

Dear Fred,
I'd also like to receive a copy of the demo of the Math program you
mentioned. Thanks.
My address: USDA-ARS ERRC
600 E. Mermaid Lane
Wyndmoor, PA 19038

>I recently acquired a couple of math programs that have been very helpful in
>my work. I thought I would pass on some information about the programs since
>they may be helpful to some of you.
>
>One program will solve algebra, calculus, ordinary differential equations and
>linear algebra problems. It also can find Lie symmetries and symbolic
>solutions of partial differential equations and automates generation of
>p.d.e.'s in arbitrary coordinates. It also provides 2 and 3D scientific
>graphics, including plots of point sets, functions, parametric curves and
>surfaces, and vector fields. It will also write p.d.e.'s in non-Cartesian
>coordinates and pass on the equations to its' companion program for numerical
>solution.
>
>The companion program solves partial differential equations numerically by
>finite element analysis. It solves a very wide range of p.d.e.'s of
>elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic and mixed types. It will solve static,
>time-dependent and eigenvalue problems with two space dimensions.
>
>I have several demo disks of each program and I will be happy to pass them on
>to anyone who wants them until I run out. Just send me your name and mailing
>address.
>
>I hope this has been useful.
>Fred
>
Dear Fred,
My name is Jason Chang at UC Berkeley.
I would like to receive the demo disks for the math software you
refered to.

Mail address : 108 Hilgard Hall
Dept. ESPM
Ecosystem Science Division
University of California
Berkeley, CA. 94720

One quick question regarding the software:: what is it called?
It sounds like "Matlab".

In any case, thanks.

-- Jason Chang --

Dear List Subscribers,

Please send your requests for math software directly to
the poster:

FRunyan@aol.com

This type of interaction is considered a personal reply and is
best performed on a one-to-one basis and not appropriate for
posting to the general discussion list. I encourage posting of
availability of software, resources, etc. which might be of
interest to those in the soil science community.

--
Sincerely,

Jerome Pier
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant
Biological Systems Engineering, Univ. Nebraska - Lincoln
jp@unl.edu

Dear Fred:
I would appreciate receiving the math software. My address is:
Shifang Fan
Dept. of LAWR
236 Hoagland Hall
UC Davis
Davis, CA 95616

FRED:
I like to have a copy of demo software. Thank you

waldo ojeda
Soil and Water Science
The university of Arizona
429 Shantz #38
Tucson, Az 85721

Jason:

The names of the software are Macsyma and PDEase.

Fred

>I recently acquired a couple of math programs that have been very helpful in
>my work. I thought I would pass on some information about the programs since
>they may be helpful to some of you.
>
>One program will solve algebra, calculus, ordinary differential equations and
>linear algebra problems. It also can find Lie symmetries and symbolic
>solutions of partial differential equations and automates generation of
>p.d.e.'s in arbitrary coordinates. It also provides 2 and 3D scientific
>graphics, including plots of point sets, functions, parametric curves and
>surfaces, and vector fields. It will also write p.d.e.'s in non-Cartesian
>coordinates and pass on the equations to its' companion program for numerical
>solution.
>
>The companion program solves partial differential equations numerically by
>finite element analysis. It solves a very wide range of p.d.e.'s of
>elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic and mixed types. It will solve static,
>time-dependent and eigenvalue problems with two space dimensions.
>
>I have several demo disks of each program and I will be happy to pass them on
>to anyone who wants them until I run out. Just send me your name and mailing
>address.
>
>I hope this has been useful.
>Fred
>
>

Hello Fred,

I read your posting and i am interested in receiving a copy of the math
software demo disks. My address is:

199 Sunnyside Drive
London, Ontario
Canada
N5X 3P9

Let me know if you require additional information (or perhaps blank disketts).

Thanks.

Frank C. Colozza

i was hoping someone else would say this since i have a bad
reputation for this particular pet peeve, but no one has so i will
take a shot --

when replying to an email message to a list server, the user should
be considerate to other users and consider where the reply should be
addressed to keep folks from having to read replies that don't
concern them.

personal replies should be sent to the individual who originated the
message, not the distribution list.

if this had been done correctly, i would not have read 5 messages
today (at least) that gave an address for sending the math software.

to accomplish this simple step (at least in the pegasus mail software
we use) you have only to change the address reply field from the
"reply to" field to the "from" field.

sorry if this is nit-picking, but it only takes a second and results
in time-savings for everyone on the list.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
/ \ Stephen R. Colbert |
+ // \\ NCS Forest Nutrition Cooperative + +
/// \\\ Box 8008 |
+ //// \\\\ North Carolina State University + +
///// \\\\\ Raleigh, NC 27695-8008 |
+_____ ______ + +
/\/ \/\ Phone: 919-515-3500 |
+ /\/\ /\/\ Fax: 919-515-6193 + +
/\/\/ \/\/\ Email: steve_colbert@ncsu.edu |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Please help keep this list pure.
Tom Armstrong
Hill Farmer

Please send to:
Dominic Bosonetta
c/o Wilson HS, Long Beach
4400 East 10th Street
Long Beach, CA

Thank you for the info

I will be teaching an integrated Science class for 10th graders.. Life &
Physicla combined... a two year program... I am just beginning to write the
cirriculum... need all the help I can get .... IDEAS and LESSON PLANS lol

Dear Fred:
I would like to receive copies of your computer programs and
Math software.. Thanks in advance..
Imre

My name is Imre Czinkota
Adress:
Dept. Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry
Agricultural University, Godollo
Pater str. 1. Godollo, Hungary, H-2103.

TO: Multiple recipients of list <soil-l@unl.edu>

This is a little late in joining the discussions regarding the concern
expressed by Teresa Mourad. I was glad to see many excellent points brought
out by various respondents, e.g., need for validating the analytical
results and for using the correct units in expressing nitrate
concentration. Another point that appears to cause confusion is the nature
of nitrate toxicity. As many have pointed out, high nitrate can cause
problems to people and animals, especially infants and ruminants. Since
nitrate is present in food, feed, and water, people become very concerned.
Therefore, we should all have a better understanding on what is meant by
"nitrate toxicity". First of all, it is not nitrate per se that is toxic
(although at high enough concentrations, all chemicals, including salt and
sugar, can be toxic). In the digestive systems of humans and animals,
especially in infants and ruminants, nitrate (NO3-) can be reduced to
nitrite (NO2-), which produces NO that competes with O2 for sites on
hemoglobins in the blood streams. When blood can no longer carry
sufficient oxygen, it turns blue in color, thus the term "blue baby
symdrome" (or methemoglobinemia). Babies have less tolerance, because
nitrate can be reduced in their digestive systems more readily. In the case
of ruminants, the concern is not so much for high nitrate in water, but in
feeds, e.g., too high nitrogen supplements in feeds. Similarly, when
animals are returned to pastures too early in the spring when young forages
have higher nitrate contents, problems can occur. What is the critical
level has been debated extensively. Obviously, it varies among different
animals and people. Age, diet, etc. all influence. We will not pursue this
debate here.

--
H. H. Cheng, Professor and Head
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
College of Agricultural, Food, & Environmental Sciences
University of Minnesota
1991 Upper Buford Circle
St. Paul, MN 55108-6028
Tel: 612/625-9734; FAX: 612/625-2208
e-mail: hcheng@soils.umn.edu

In an effort to avoid re-inventing the wheel, I would like to know where I
might find a simple water-budget model for calculation or simulation on a
PC or Mac. The principal input/output parameters that I am interested in
are listed here:

Input variables: unit period precipitation, unit period potential
evapotranspiration, soil porosity (FC, WP, PWP), infiltration threshold,
depth to water table, etc.

Desired outputs: unit period actual evapotranspiration, vegetation
interception, soil water recharge, and surface runoff.

Any help is most appreciated.

Sam Snedaker
<ssnedaker@rsmas.miami.edu>

H.H. Cheng said :

especially in infants and ruminants, nitrate (NO3-) can be reduced to
nitrite (NO2-), which produces NO that competes with O2 for sites on
hemoglobins in the blood streams. (...) or methemoglobinemia). Babies
have less tolerance, because nitrate can be reduced in their digestive
systems more readily.>

Cases known among cattle, but have cases been *observed* among babies or
human adults (and if so, is it frequent) ? Thanks. JG.

Thanks for your input. One question about your statement "CV will go
as 1/sqrt(n)". Are your stating that CV will be a function of or
correlated with (linear?) 1/sqrt(n)? The references will help thank
again!

Regarding metemhogobinemia in infants, a number of references were cited in a review of nitrate levels in
soils and groundwater produced by Les Henry of University of Sask. They include:
1) Comly, H.H. 1945. Cyanosis in infants caused by nitrates in well water. J. Amer. Med. Assoc.
129:112-116.
2) Cornblath, M. and Hartmann, A.F. 1948. Methemoglobinemia in young infants. j> Ped. 33:421.
3). Bosch, H.M. , Rosenfield, A.B., Huston, H. , Shipman, H.R., and Woodward, F.L. 1950.
Methemogobinemia and Minnesota water supplies. J. Am. Water Works Assoc. 42:161-170.
4) Faucett, R.L. and Miller, H.C. 1946. Methemoglobinemia occurring in infants fed milk diluted with well
water of high nitrate content. J. Pediatrics. 29:593-596.
5) Ferrant, M. 1946. Methemoglobinemia: two cases in newborn infants caused by nitrates in well water.
J. Pediatrics. 29:585-592.
6) Medovy, H., Guest, W.C. and Victor, M. 1947. Cyanosis in infants in rural areas. Can. Med. Accoc. J.
56:505-508.
7) Shearer, L.A., Goldsmith, J.R., Young, C. , Kearns, O.A. and Tamplin, B.R. 1972. Methemoglobin levels in
infants in an area with high nitrate water supply. Am. J. Pub. Health 62:1174-1180.
8) WAlton, G. 1951. Survey of literature relating to infant methemoglobinemia due to nitrate0conntaminated
water. Amer. J. Pub. Health. 41:986-996.

As I understand it, cases have declined over time due to improved knowledge of the problem and better
construction and sanitation of wells and are currently quite rare.

Cynthia Grant

Here is an opportunity to recieve information on agronomy, recycling, the
environment, and natural resources, without using any paper. :)

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UNSUB SOILS-L

Back in the early 1960's Dr. George
Smith, University of Missouri, looked
at the nitrate level of many wells in
the state of Missouri over at least a
3 year period. I remember one story
that he relayed to us as graduate
students that I have always remembered.
He found a home well that tested in
excess of 700ppm nitrate-N. He went
back to talk with the family and
neighbors that lived around that area.
He found out that the home had a
history of "blue babies" that could
be remembered back at least 75 years.
He also found out that the home had
a history of aborted births that
dated back at least that far. So
it seems that the presence of nitrate
not only affected babies but also
the mothers before birth.

Charles B. Roth
Purdue University
Department of Agronomy
1150 Lilly Hall
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1150
phone: (317)494-8051
fax: (317) 496-1368
e-mail: roth@dept.agry.purdue.edu

UNSUB SOILS-L

UNSUB SOILS-L

Hello,
My name is Kerryn Robinson. I work for Department of Agriculture,
Victoria, Australia in the area of the effects of salt (sodium
chloride) on soil. Recently, I graduated with a degree in Applied
Science.

I have a small problem at the present: When I used a drainage curve
to calculate the pore size distribution of a subsoil, I obtain a
total volume greater than 100%. In a swelling soil, I know this is
reasonable, but can someone point me in the direction of a method to correct
for the swelling of the clays so that I can show any effects of saline
irrigation on pore size distribution?

Kerryn

UNSUB SOILS-L

please send for me

I have just subscribed to this list and as such will introduce myself. My
name is Julie and I am attending the University of Minnesota as an
undergraduate in Soil Science. I have not had a lot of classes in the subject
but have a burning interest to learn all that I can and that is my reason for
joining this list. Next year I will be doing an undergraduate research
program that is going to deal with soil erosion on construction sites in MN.
I cannot think of a good discussiontopic unless anyone has information on the
construction erosion. I have worked with the Alaska Forest Service in their
soil science department, but other than that I don't have a lot of
experience.

John L. Peterson
BS 1973 Chemistry, CSU Fresno
Agricultural Chemical Industry
Production
Analytical Lab Manager
Water/Wastewater
Pollution Regulations
Fertilizer Analysis Specialty

Hello

I wanted to send out a special thank you to all of the people
who helped me last week on my last minute request for information
regarding expected variability in field measurements of soil nitrogen.
With all of the replies that came out from the request, I was able
to gather enough of a literature base to support that error as high
as I found is not too uncommon in these field systems. (This was of
course backed by a complete examination of the field, lab, and data
processing techniques to verify that no error were introduced through
sloppiness.)

A special thanks goes out to Charles Shapiro, Jim Morrison, John Lory,
and Will Stites for taking the time to send me references, fax me
articles, and give me a little moral support during this very
desperate time. Without their last minute help, I would have left
the school with much less credibility.

In the end, I finished up the degree, and left with some credibility.
With all the help that was given, many sources were found to defend
the error found in my field study as typical of other studies. I guess
that I made a mistake several years ago when the data was obtained
in believing that there was that much variability in these field
systems without backing it up. Without your help, I would have never
been able to get all the references that I did to validate my field
experiment, and I would have left feeling miserable that my degree
was given to me out of pitty. Now, I have left the school in with
all of my credibility intact, and in simi-good standing with my
committee.

I am sorry that I have not written back earlier, but was hit fairly
hard with catchup work when I returned to work.

Thank you once again,
dan

Daniel R. Fuka
Quetzal Computational Associates

A big 'Hello there' from Tasmania

My name is Daniel Mendham, and this is my first communication with the
listserve group, soils-l, and I look forward to hearing from you all!
Currently I am doing a Ph.D. in plant nutrition at The University of
Tasmania, in the agricultural science department and am also working in
conjunction with the Cooperative Research Centre for Temperate hardwood
forestry.

My project is looking for a 'ubiquitous' soil test for phosphorus. I am
trying to develop a system whereby we can predict whether a given plant will
respond to an application of phosphorus fertilizer from a few principles of
soil nutrient supply and plant uptake. I am sure that you all recognize that
this may be a difficult task, but I am giving it a go, and at the moment, it
looks promising (although I have only been going for 2 months now).

About me personally- I live on a property about half an hours drive from
work, where we grow many irrigated crops including cabbages, kohl rabi,
carrots, onions, canola, barley... all for seed, as well as essential oils
such as fennel (we have also grown peppermint, and dill in the past). Other
crops that we include in our rotations are poppies, pyrethrum, japanese
squash... The topic for my Honours thesis was 'Factors affecting the Malting
Quality of Barley' Anyone wanting more info is quite welcome to it, but I
think that I have taken up enough of your time for now...

"Burning question": Is it possible to design a phosphorus test that
requires only a knowledge of a limited number of soil and plant parameters,
and not a rigorous series of empirical tests that are required for most
(all?) soil tests now.

I would be interested in the response to this question, because it is the
crux of my current project, and I think that it is possible. If anybody has
any suggestions, I would like to hear them.

(As they say...) Be hearin' from ya
Daniel Mendham
CRC Temperate Hardwood Forestry
Tasmania, Australia
Telephone (international) + 61 02 207967
Fax (international) + 61 02 207942
E-mail D.Mendham@tas.for.csiro.au

Greetings!

My name is Robert W. Higley; I am a Radiation/Environmental/Industrial
Specialist currently working with the U.S. Navy here in San Diego, CA. As
for the metion of contaminants leaking into the environment and whether the
same quality/environmental controls are being implemented throughout the USA,
----- the answer is yes it is either in place (ratified laws) or is still
under debate. Currently, California has been a leader in implementing
controls to ensure the proper management of our ecosystems. Normally,
someone will research an area and propose it to the powers that be to request
a large scale pilot (testing). If the proposal is written logically and in
'plain English' (a college started this saying in my office) then the
possibility of it being implemented is rather high.
Now, I know that I am digressing a bit; if you are interested in obtaining
further information, which might or might not be helpfull in your research,
contact me.

unsubscribe

unsubscribe

I am forwarding this to soils-L and agmodels-L because it appears to be
for real...Don Wauchope
----------------------------Original message----------------------------

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Just thought I'd pass this on.......Hannah

----------------------------Original message----------------------------

This is important. It will protect you from a virus program that is
going around.

Franck

=============================================================================
Franck E. Dayan E-Mail: dayanfe@mail.auburn.edu
=============================================================================
= 101 Life Sciences =
= Auburn University =
= Auburn, AL 36849 =
=============================================================================
Nothing New Under The Sun
=============================================================================

Subject: IMPORTANT!! READ AND FORWARD IMMEDIATELY (fwd)

People:

Hey, a friend of mine very knowledgeable in the area of computers and
networking has forwarded this to me. Please read it carefully and take
heed to its warning. I would hate for anyone on my mailing list to be
subjected to the horror of a computer virus...especially while
networking. Later all, and this is not a joke...

> >
> >Some miscreant is sending e-mail under the title "good times"
> >nation-wide.
> >If you get anything like this, DON'T DOWNLOAD THE FILE! It has a
> virus
> >that
> >rewrites your hard drive, obliterating anything on it. Please be
> >careful
> >and forward this mail to anyone you care about--I have.
> >
> >Date: 12/2/94 11:59 AM
> >
> >Subject: INTERNET VIRUS
> >
> >Thought you might like to know...
> >
> >The FCC released a warning last Wednesday concerning a matter of
> major
> >importance to any regular user of the InterNet. Apparently, a new
> >computer
> >virus has been engineered by a user of America Online that is
> >unparalleled
> >in its destructive capability. Other, more well-known viruses such
> as
> >Stoned, Airwolf, and Michaelangelo pale in comparison to the
> prospects
> >of
> >this newest creation by a warped mentality.
> >
> >What makes this virus so terrifying, said the FCC, is the fact that
> no
> >program needs to be exchanged for a new computer to be infected. It
> can
> >be spread through the existing e-mail systems of the InterNet. Once
> a
> >computer is infected, one of several things can happen. If the
> >computer contains a hard drive, that will most likely be
> >destroyed.
> >If the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be
> placed
> >in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop - which can severely damage
> >the
> >processor if left running that way too long. Unfortunately, most
> novice
> >computer users will not realize what is happening until it is far too
> >late.
> >
> >Luckily, there is one sure means of detecting what is now known as
> the
> >"Good Times" virus. It always travels to new computers the same way
> -
> >in
> >a text e-mail message with the subject line reading simply "Good
> Times".
> >Avoiding infection is easy once the file has been received - not
> reading
> >it. The act of loading the file into the mail server's ASCII buffer
> >causes the "Good Times" mainline program to initialize and execute.
> The
> >program is highly intelligent - it will send copies of itself to
> >everyone
> >whose e-mail address is contained in a received-mail file or a sent-
> mail
> >file, if it can find one. It will then proceed to trash the
> computer it
> >is running on.
> >
> >The bottom line here is - if you receive a file with the subject line
> >"Good TImes", delete it immediately! Do not read it! Rest assured
> that
> >whoever's name was on the "From:" line was surely struck by the
> virus.
> >
> >Warn your friends and local system users of this newest threat to the
> >InterNet! It could save them a lot of time and money.
> >
> >================== RFC 822 Headers ==================
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

The good times virus is a hoax. The following message from one of our
consultants pretty well explains the situation.

--
Al Stangenberger Univ. of California at Berkeley
forags@nature.berkeley.edu Dept. of Env. Sci., Policy, & Mgt.
BITNET: FORAGS AT UCBNATUR 145 Mulford Hall # 3114
(510) 642-4424 FAX: (510) 643-5438 Berkeley, CA 94720-3114

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 06:54:04 -0700
From: lindahl@ack.berkeley.edu (Ken Lindahl)
Message-Id: <199504281354.GAA29548@ack.berkeley.edu>
Subject: the "G**d T*m*s" virus is a hoax

Warnings about the "Good Times" virus are circulating again on the Internet.
The warning states (roughly) that the virus is contained in an email message
with the subject "Good Times," and that if you merely read the message your
system will become infected and completely destroyed. The warning advises
you to delete any message with a subject "Good Times" without reading it,
and advises you to forward the warning to anyone you care about.

The "Good Times virus" is a complete hoax.

It originally surfaced in December 1994, and eventually was traced to
either an AOL user or a student at an unidentified University, or both,
depending on which report you believe. I have appended the advisory from
DOE's Computer Incident Advisory Capability.

Surprisingly, the same hoax resurfaced in March 1995 and again in
April 1995. The most recent round of warnings included a reference to
an "official FCC warning," also a hoax.

What to do if you receive a "Good Times" warning message:
Do not forward it. You should reply to the sender, informing him/her
that the so-called virus is a hoax, and the warning message (which
advises you to send the warning to all your friends) is little more
than a chain-letter. You may wish to append the CIAC advisory.

What to do you have already forwarded the "Good Times" warning message:
Send another message to the same set of recipients, informing them
that the so-called virus is a hoax. You may wish to append the CIAC
advisory.

Thanks,
Ken
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Lindahl lindahl@ack.berkeley.edu
Data Communication & Newtorking Services +1-510-642-0866
University of California, Berkeley http://ack.berkeley.edu/~lindahl
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. DOE's Computer Incident Advisory Capability
___ __ __ _ ___ __ __ __ __ __
/ | /_\ / |\ | / \ | |_ /_
\___ __|__ / \ \___ | \| \__/ | |__ __/

Number 94-04 December 6, 1994

Welcome to the fourth issue of CIAC Notes! This is a special edition to
clear up recent reports of a "good times" virus-hoax. Let us know if you
have topics you would like addressed or have feedback on what is useful and
what is not. Please contact the editor, Allan L. Van Lehn, CIAC,
510-422-8193 or send E-mail to ciac@llnl.gov.

$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$
$ Reference to any specific commercial product does not necessarily $
$ constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by $
$ CIAC, the University of California, or the United States Government.$
$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$-$

THE "Good Times" VIRUS IS AN URBAN LEGEND

In the early part of December, CIAC started to receive information requests
about a supposed "virus" which could be contracted via America OnLine, simply
by reading a message. The following is the message that CIAC received:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Here is some important information. Beware of a file called Goodtimes. |
| |
| Happy Chanukah everyone, and be careful out there. There is a virus on |
| America Online being sent by E-Mail. If you get anything called "Good |
| Times", DON'T read it or download it. It is a virus that will erase your |
| hard drive. Forward this to all your friends. It may help them a lot. |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS IS A HOAX. Upon investigation, CIAC has determined that this message
originated from both a user of America Online and a student at a university
at approximately the same time, and it was meant to be a hoax.

CIAC has also seen other variations of this hoax, the main one is that any
electronic mail message with the subject line of "xxx-1" will infect your
computer.

This rumor has been spreading very widely. This spread is due mainly to the
fact that many people have seen a message with "Good Times" in the header.
They delete the message without reading it, thus believing that they have
saved themselves from being attacked. These first-hand reports give a false
sense of credibility to the alert message.

There has been one confirmation of a person who received a message with
"xxx-1" in the header, but an empty message body. Then, (in a panic, because
he had heard the alert), he checked his PC for viruses (the first time he
checked his machine in months) and found a pre-existing virus on his machine.
He incorrectly came to the conclusion that the E-mail message gave him the
virus (this particular virus could NOT POSSIBLY have spread via an E-mail
message). This person then spread his alert.

As of this date, there are no known viruses which can infect merely through
reading a mail message. For a virus to spread some program must be executed.
Reading a mail message does not execute the mail message. Yes, Trojans have
been found as executable attachments to mail messages, the most notorious
being the IBM VM Christmas Card Trojan of 1987, also the TERM MODULE Worm
(reference CIAC Bulletin B-7) and the GAME2 MODULE Worm (CIAC Bulletin B-12).
But this is not the case for this particular "virus" alert.

If you encounter this message being distributed on any mailing lists, simply
ignore it or send a follow-up message stating that this is a false rumor.

Karyn Pichnarczyk
CIAC Team
ciac@llnl.gov

> Some miscreant is sending e-mail under the title "good times"
> nation-wide.
> If you get anything like this, DON'T DOWNLOAD THE FILE! It has a
> virus that rewrites your hard drive, obliterating anything on it.
> Please be careful and forward this mail...

This is an urban computer legend. In fact, it is a hoax
that keeps making its rounds onto different mailing lists.

UNSUBSCRIBE-L

Robert Higley wrote:

>
> Greetings!
>
> My name is Robert W. Higley; I am a Radiation/Environmental/Industrial
> Specialist currently working with the U.S. Navy here in San Diego, CA. As
> for the metion of contaminants leaking into the environment and whether the
> same quality/environmental controls are being implemented throughout the USA,
> ----- the answer is yes it is either in place (ratified laws) or is still
> under debate. Currently, California has been a leader in implementing
> controls to ensure the proper management of our ecosystems. Normally,
> someone will research an area and propose it to the powers that be to request
> a large scale pilot (testing). If the proposal is written logically and in
> 'plain English' (a college started this saying in my office) then the
> possibility of it being implemented is rather high.
> Now, I know that I am digressing a bit; if you are interested in obtaining
> further information, which might or might not be helpfull in your research,
> contact me.
>

Dear Robert,

I am interested in finding our more about the types of contaminants that you
mentioned and the specific type of controls that are being implemented. Do you
think that the recent debate about budget cuts will affect these controls?
I would appreciate your response in "plain English" as I am trying to formulate
these issues to high school students.

Thank you much.

Teresa Mourad
Mourad.5@osu.edu

Dear friends:

my name is Mr. Florent Picard, 46, from Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada.
I am married and i have a daughter, Beatrix, 13 years old. My mother
language is french.
I am a full time college level teacher (not high school) in business
and computer science applied to business. Since sept 1981, I teach at Cegep
Montmorency in Laval, located north of Montreal.
My students are aged 18-22 and they don't intend to go to the
university after they completed their DEC (Diplome en etudes collegiales).

The city of Chateauguay where i live is in the middle of two
problems: the city of Mercier which is famous in the world as having the
underground the most polluted in the world because of pits of used oil
thrown apparently by the Tricil company having a government permit; and the
indian reserve of Kanawake where Mohawks and Warriors accept any hazardous
material like nuclear waste of destroyed russian ambassy (which went under
fire a few years ago).

My $100 question is: how is the soil of the whole planet affected by
the contaminated air flowing from the Tchernobyl nuclear power plant in
Russia ? I heard that all animals in the great north of Canada are no good
to eat because they are contaminated by that air. But i know that we smell
the same air...; and i know many friends who got cancer lately; is that soil
on which we walk more contaminated than before because of that air ?

It is your turn now to give me an answer. Thanks.

M. Florent Picard
picardf@cam.org
www Home Pages:
http://www.cam.org./~picardf/index.html

I received this message from an American Society of Agricultural Engineers
Power and Machinery list group. Since it pertains to a soils question about
pesticide residues on soil, I thought it appropriate to forward the message
and questions to this soils list group for answers and discussion. I
thought the questions were interesting and challenging.

If you reply to this message it will not go to Richard Derksen who asked the
questions. I will forward any general replies to him if you do not wish to
communicate with him directly. By the way, he is the equivalent of Jerome
Pier for his list group. If you do send him a message I'm sure the rest of
this soils group would appreciate seeing the message, too. So, cc: this
list as well.

Thank you for your help.

Tom Zimmerman, The Ohio State Universtiy, Wooster, Ohio

------------------------------
From: rcd1@cornell.edu (Richard Derksen)
Wed, 24 May 1995 14:11:17 -0500
To: <ASAE-PM41-L@cornell.edu>
Subject: pesticide residue on soil

I'd appreciate any information on or if someone could point me toward
resources that address the issue of off-target pesticide movement as a
result of soil being blown or washed off a field following an insecticide,
fungicide, or herbicide application onto a roadway or adjacent off-target
area. Neighbors of one particular potato farm in New York have raised this
issue and we haven't found any good data yet to illustrate the level of
potential contamination and resulting potential health risk. The neighbors
contend that the soil is contaminated and their health is at risk because
they inhale or ingest these soil particles as they are blown across their
property or are kicked up by road traffic.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Rich D.

********************************************************
Richard Derksen ph. (607) 255-9555
316 Riley-Robb Hall fax (607) 255-4080
Cornell University e-mail: rcd1@cornell.edu
Ithaca, NY 14853-5701
*********************************************************
Tommy (Tom) L. Zimmerman, Associate Professor
The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute
1328 Dover Road, Wooster, OH 44691-4000
Voice: 216-264-3911, ext. 1325; FAX: 216-262-7634
E-Mail: tzimmerm@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu OR zimmerman.4@osu.edu

Hello , my name is Jonathan Webber. I am working as a research assistant in the
field of modeling thermal/hydraulic properties of soils. If there is anyone who
shares such interest (ie thermal conductivity etc.. of soils) please contact me
at res2005@husky1.stmarys.ca , thanks... Regards Jonathan Webber
St. Marys University

Yes, I am interested in the thermal properties of soils. My question, are
you working on the GENERAL thermal properties, or the DYNAMIC thermal
properties inherent within specific soil combinations?

I am a Radiation Specialist and have been getting more, and more interested
in the dynamics of thermal energy transfer/absorption of various soil types.
If you know of any GOOD reading and research areas, I would be very
gratefull. Let me know how your research goes. It sounds very interesting
and possibly very usefull.

Respectfully Yours,

Shi Kahr (aka Wallace)

I try to keep politics off technical servers, but this is an issue
that affects all cyberspace users, so I thought I would forward it.
We can each act on it accordingly.

----------Begin Forwarded Message----------------------------

>>In This Issue:
>>Campaign & New Petition to Stop the Communication Decency Act!
>>Calendar of Events
>>Quote of the Week
>>What YOU Can Do
>>
>>* See http://www.eff.org/Alerts/ or ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/ for more
>>information on current EFF activities and online activism alerts! *
>>
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>Subject: Campaign & New Petition to Stop the Communication Decency Act!
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>EFF, VTW, CDT and other organizations in the Stop314 Coalition have issued
>>a new immediate action alert. Please read this alert and act quickly!
>>
>>
>> ********
>>
>>
>> CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE EXON/GORTON COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
>>
>> Update: -Bill is on the Senate floor
>> -Please act to help Leahy stop the Exon censorship bill
>>
>> PETITION TO HELP SENATOR LEAHY STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
>> COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
>> May 19, 1995
>>
>> PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
>> REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL June 9, 1995
>> REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS
>>
>> Distributed by the Voters Telecommunications Watch (vtw@vtw.org)
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>CONTENTS
>> The Time Is Now
>> Another Petition?
>> What Is Sen. Leahy Proposing?
>> How To Sign The Petition
>> The Petition Statement
>> Signing the petition from Fidonet or FTN systems
>> For More Information
>> List Of Participating Organizations
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>THE TIME IS NOW
>>
>> HELP SENATOR LEAHY STOP THE EXON COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
>>
>>The Senate is expected to on vote the Communications Decency Act (CDA,
>>a.k.a. the Exon Bill) within the next three weeks.
>>
>>The Communications Decency Act, in its current form, would severely
>>restrict your rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression
>>online, and represents a grave threat to the very nature and existence
>>of the Internet as we know it today. Without your help now, the
>>Communications Decency Act will likely pass and the net may never be
>>the same again.
>>
>>Although the CDA has been revised to limit the liability of online
>>service providers, it would still criminalize the transmission of any
>>content deemed "obscene, lewd, lacivious, filthy, or indecent,"
>>including the private communications between consenting adults. Even
>>worse, some conservative pro-censorship groups are working to amend the
>>CDA to make it even more restrictive.
>>
>>Currently, Senator Exon is negotiating with pro-censorship groups and
>>commercial entities that would be affected by the CDA. The voices of
>>Internet users must be heard now. We need to demonstrate that we are a
>>political force to be reckoned with.
>>
>>In an effort to preserve your rights in cyberspace, Senator Patrick
>>Leahy (D-VT) has introduced the only legislative alternative to the
>>Communications Decency Act. Senator Leahy is willing to offer his bill
>>as a substitute for the CDA, but needs your support behind his
>>efforts.
>>
>>Senator Leahy's legislation would commission a study to examine the
>>complex issues involved in protecting children from controversial
>>content while preserving the First Amendment, the privacy rights of
>>users, and the free flow of information in cyberspace.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>ANOTHER PETITION?
>>
>>Yes. With a strong showing of support from the net.community, Senator
>>Leahy can offer his bill as a substitute for the Communications Decency
>>Act when the Senate votes on the issue later this month. Senator Leahy
>>needs and wants to demonstrate to his colleagues in the Senate that the
>>net.community is behind him in his efforts. We must rise to the task
>>and demonstrate that we will not sit idly by as our rights are
>>threatened.
>>
>>Senator Leahy, a strong civil liberties advocate, has been the Senate's
>>most vocal critic of the Exon/Gorton Communications Decency Act, and
>>has taken a leading role in defending the rights and civil liberties of
>>Internet users. Senator Leahy has taken a great political risk in
>>representing the interests of Internet users on Capitol Hill. The time
>>has come for us to show our appreciation and our support for his
>>efforts.
>>
>>The previous petition against the Communications Decency Act generated
>>over 108,000 signatures, and was instrumental in Senator Leahy's
>>decision to offer his alternative As the Senate moves to vote on the
>>CDA, we must act quickly to ensure that our collective voice continues
>>to be heard.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>WHAT IS LEAHY PROPOSING?
>>
>>Senator Leahy's bill, S. 714, would direct the Department of Justice
>>and the Department of Commerce to commence a 5 month study to examine:
>>
>>* Current law enforcement authority to prosecute the distribution of
>> pornography over computer networks;
>>
>>* Whether any additional law or law enforcement resources are necessary;
>>
>>* The availability of technological capabilities, consistent with the
>> First Amendment and the free flow of information in Cyberspace, to
>> protect children from accessing controversial commercial and non-
>> commercial content;
>>
>>* Ways to promote the development and deployment of such technologies.
>>
>>After conducting the study, the Justice Department must report to Congress
>>on its findings, and, if necessary, recommend changes in current law.
>>
>>Leahy's bill represents the only substantive legislative alternative to the
>>Communications Decency Act, and will buy important time to have a detailed
>>and rational discussion about the issues involved in protecting children
>>from controversial content, and avoid the rush to censorship which is
>>occurring now on the Senate Floor.
>>
>>Without a strong show of support for Leahy's bill, the Communications
>>Decency Act is very likely to pass.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>WHAT CAN I DO?
>>
>>Please Sign the petition in support of Senator Leahy's alternative.
>>There are two ways to sign:
>>
>>1. World Wide Web:
>>
>> URL:http://www.cdt.org/petition.html
>>
>> Please follow all instructions carefully. Please also put a link
>> to this page on your homepage.
>>
>>2. email:
>>
>> send email to petition@cdt.org.
>>
>> Please provide the following information EXACTLY AS SHOWN.
>> INCORRECT SUBMISSIONS CANNOT NOT BE COUNTED!
>>
>> Be sure that you make a carriage return at the end of each line
>>
>> Your Name
>> Your email address
>> Are you a US Citizen (yes or no) (** IF NO, skip to last line)
>> Your Street Address (** USE ONLY ONE LINE)
>> Your City
>> Your State
>> Your Zip Code (**VERY IMPORTANT)
>> Country
>>
>>PRIVACY POLICY: Information collected during this campaign will not be
>>used for any purpose other than delivering a list of signers to
>>Congress and compiling counts of signers from particular states and
>>Congressional districts. It will not be reused, sold, rented, loaned,
>>or available for use for any other purpose. All records will be
>>destroyed immediately upon completion of this project.
>>
>> --- sample email submission ---
>>
>> To: petition@cdt.org
>> From: everybody@ubiquitous.net
>> Subject: signed
>>
>> Every Body
>> everybody@ubiqutious.net
>> YES
>> 1111 State Street, Apt. 31 B
>> Any Town
>> CA
>> 94320
>> USA
>>
>> --- sample email submission ---
>>
>>Multiple signatures will not be counted, so please only sign once.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>THE PETITION STATEMENT
>>
>>We the undersigned users of the Internet are strongly opposed to the
>>"Communications Decency Act" (Title IV of S. 652), which is currently
>>pending before the Senate. This legislation will severely restrict our
>>rights to freedom of speech and privacy guaranteed under the
>>constitution.
>>
>>Based on our Nation's longstanding history of protecting freedom of
>>speech, we believe that the Federal Government should have no role in
>>regulating the content of constitutionally protected speech on the
>>Internet.
>>
>>We urge the Senate to halt consideration of the Communications Decency
>>Act and consider in its place S. 714, the "Child Protection, User
>>Empowerment, and Free Expression In Interactive Media Study Bill", an
>>alternative approach offered by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
>>
>>Signed:
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>SIGNING THE PETITION FROM FIDONET OR FTN SYSTEMS
>>
>>To sign the petition from FidoNet or other FTN systems, create a
>>netmail message to your local UUCP host. Search the nodelist for the
>>GUUCP flag, and use the address of that system:
>>
>>To: UUCP, [GUUCP system's address here. "To:" name MUST be set to UUCP]
>>From: [you]
>>Subject: signed
>>_________________________________________________________________________
>>To: petition@cdt.org
>>
>> Every Body
>> everybody@ubiqutious.net
>> YES
>> 1111 State Street, Apt. 31 B
>> Any Town
>> CA
>> 94320
>> USA
>>
>>[Message starts on 3rd line. The second "To:" line with the internet
>>email address MUST be the first line of the message body, and the blank
>>line following that is REQUIRED. Mail will not be delivered by the gateways
>>without it.]
>>
>>If you are unsure whether your FTN has an Internet gateway, or suspect it
>>may use something other than a GUUCP nodelist flag, ask your network
>>coordinators.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>PETITION RATIONALE
>>
>>We oppose the "Communications Decency Act", sponsored by Senators James
>>Exon (D-NE) and Slade Gorton (R-WA), for the following reasons:
>>
>>* It criminalizes the transmission of constitutionally protected speech,
>> including the private communications between consenting individuals;
>>
>>* It would violate privacy rights by protecting system administrators
>> who take steps to ensure that their networks are not being used to
>> transmit prohibited content, even if those steps include reading all
>> messages, in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
>> (ECPA).
>>
>>* It fails to account for the unique characteristics of interactive
>> media, including the tremendous control users have over the content
>> they or their children receive.
>>
>>* It would give the Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction over
>> online speech by giving the FCC authority to establish rules
>> governing the distribution of content online;
>>
>>The Internet and other interactive communications technologies offer a
>>unique opportunity for the free exchange of information and ideas, and
>>embody the very essence of our nation's democratic traditions of
>>openness, diversity and freedom of speech.
>>
>>As users of these technologies, we know perhaps better than anyone that
>>there are other, less restrictive ways to protect children from
>>controversial materials while preserving the First Amendment and the
>>free flow of information.
>>
>>Senator Leahy's bill provides an opportunity to address the issues
>>raised by the Communications Decency Act without restricting the free
>>speech and privacy rights of users.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>FOR MORE INFORMATION
>>
>>Petition updates will be posted to appropriate newsgroups and other
>>forums on a regular basis.
>>
>>To have the latest status report sent to you automatically, send email
>>to: p-update@cdt.org
>>
>>If you have specific questions, or if you are interested in mirroring
>>the petition page, contact Jonah Seiger <jseiger@cdt.org>
>>
>>Other petition related information can be found on the CDT petition
>>page.
>>
>> URL:http://www.cdt.org/petition.html
>>
>>For More information on the Communications Decency Act issue:
>>
>>Web Sites
>>
>> URL:http://www.cdt.org/cda.html
>> URL:http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
>> URL:http://www.panix.com/vtw/exon/
>>
>>FTP Archives
>>
>> URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/policy/freespeech/00-INDEX.FREESPEECH
>> URL:ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
>>
>>Gopher Archives:
>>
>> URL:gopher://gopher.eff.org/11/Alerts
>> URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com/11/vtw/exon
>>
>>Information By auto-reply email:
>>
>>If you don't have www/ftp/gopher access, you can get up-to-date
>>information from the following autobots:
>>
>>General information on the CDA issue cda-info@cdt.org
>>Current status of the CDA issue cda-stat@cdt.org
>>Chronology of events of the CDA issue vtw@vtw.org with the
>> subject "send events"
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
>>
>>In order to use the net more effectively, several organizations have
>>joined forces on a single Congressional net campaign to stop the
>>Communications Decency Act.
>>
>>In alphabetical order:
>>
>>Californians Against Censorship Together BobbyLilly@aol.com
>>Center For Democracy And Technology (CDT) info@cdt.org
>>Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) info@eff.org
>>Feminists For Free Expression (FFE) FFE@aol.com
>>Florida Coalition Against Censorship pipking@mail.firn.edu
>>Hands Off! The Net baby-x@phanton.com
>>Inner Circle Technologies, Inc. aka. NovaLink
>>League for Programming Freedom lpf@uunet.uu.net
>>National Libertarian Party 73163.3063@compuserve.com
>>Marijuana Policy Project MPProject@AOL.com
>>MindVox system@phantom.com
>>National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) info@nptn.org
>>National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981 AFL-CIO) kip@world.std.com
>>Panix Public Access Internet info@panix.com
>>People for the American Way jlessern@reach.com
>>Society for Electronic Access sea@sea.org
>>The WELL info@well.com
>>Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW) vtw@vtw.org
>>
>>If you would like to add your organization to this list, contact Shabbir
>>Safdar at VTW <shabbir@vtw.org>
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>
>>Subject: Calendar of Events
>>---------------------------
>>
>>
>>This schedule lists EFF events, and those we feel might be of interest to
>>our members. EFF events (those sponsored by us or featuring an EFF speaker)
>>are marked with a "*" instead of a "-" after the date. Simlarly, government
>>events, such as deadlines for comments on reports or testimony submission, are
>>marked with "!" in place of the "-" after the date.
>>
>>If you know of an event of some sort that should be listed here, please
>>send info about it to Stanton McCandlish (mech@eff.org)
>>
>>The latest full version of this calendar, which includes material for
>>later in the year as well as the next couple of months, is available from:
>>
>>ftp: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/calendar.eff
>>gopher: gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF, calendar.eff
>>http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/calendar.eff
>>
>>
>>Updated: May 15, 1995
>>
>>
>>1995
>>----
>>
>>May 22-
>> 24 - ErgoCon '95 - Silicon Valley Ergonomics Conference & Exposition;
>> San Jose, Calif.
>> Contact: Abbas Moallem, +1 408 9244132 (voice), +1 408 924 4153
>>(fax)
>>
>>May 26-
>> 28 - Virtual Futures 1995; U. of Warwick, Coventry, UK. VF'95 "is an
>> interdisciplinary event that examines the role of cybernetic
>> and specifically dissipative or non-linear models in the arts,
>> sciences, and philosophy. The conference explores the relationship
>> between postmodern philosophy and chaos theory, with topics
>> ranging from: information technology, hypertext and
>> multimedia applications...[to] neural nets, and nanotechnology."
>> Speakers include: Kathy Acker, Hakim Bey, Richard Kadrey, Manuel
>> DeLanda, Alan Sondheim and many more. Deadline for proposals:
>> Mar. 1 '95.
>> Contact: +44 0203 523523 x2582 (voice), +44 0203 523019 (fax)
>> Email: virtual-futures@warwick.ac.uk
>>
>>May 31 - Deadline for paper submissions, 11th Ann. Computer Security
>> Applications Conference (see Dec. 11, below).
>>
>>June 4-
>> 6 - Cyber.Xpo.95; Sahara Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada; sponsored by
>> _Sysop_News_. Seminar sessions & tradeshow.
>> Contact: +1 614 452 4541 (voice)
>>
>>June 5-
>> 6 ! 5th Annual "U.S. Copyright Office Speaks" Seminar (West Coast);
>> the Beverly Hilton, Los Angeles, Calif. Topics include: inside
>> look at New Register's agenda, analysis of NII legislation,
>> ACCORD update, & international developments. (See May 1-2 for
>> East Coast event.)
>> Contact: +1 201 894 8260 (voice)
>>
>>June 7-
>> 9 - Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence
>> Applications on Wall Street; Pace University, New York City, NY.
>> Contact: +1 914 763 8820 (voice), +1 914 763 9324 (fax)
>> Email: satwell@mcimail.com
>>
>>June 8-
>> 10 - Exploring the VideoClass Alternative; Raleigh, N. Carolina.
>> Email: tom_russell@nsu.edu
>>
>>June 11-
>> 14 - Society & the Future of Computing (SFC'95); Tamarron Lodge,
>> Durango, Colorado. Sponsored by the Assoc. for Computing
>> Machinery, LANL, U. of Md., IEEE. Speakers will include Phil Agre
>> (UCSD), Leslie Sandberg (Institute for Telemedicine), Wm.
>> Halverson (PacBell), Don Norman (Apple), Linda Garcia
>> (Congressional Office of Technology Assessment), John
>> Cherniavsky (Natl. Science Found.) and several others.
>> Email: sfc95@lanl.gov
>> WWW: http://www.lanl.gov/LANLNews/Conferences/.sfc95/sfcHome.html/
>>
>>June 13-
>> 15 - IDT 95 - 12th Congress on Information Markets and Industries;
>> Paris, France. Organized by ADBS (a society of information
>> professionals), ANRT (National Association of Technological
>> Research), and GFII (French association of information industries).
>> Contact: +33 1 43 72 25 25 (voice), +33 1 43 72 30 41 (fax)
>>
>>June 17-
>> 19 - NECC'95: Emerging Technologies and Lifelong Learning: 16th Annual
>> National Educational Computing Conf., sponsored by International
>> Society for Technology in Education; Baltimore, Maryland.
>> VP Gore and Sec'y. of Labor Robert Reich invited as keynote
>> speakers. Other speakers include: John Phillipo (CELT), Frank
>> Knott (MGITB)
>> Contact: +1 503 346 2834 (voice), +1 503 346 5890 (fax)
>> Email: necc95@ccmail.uoregon.edu
>>
>>June 18-
>> 21 - ED-MEDIA'95; Graz, Austria. A world conference on educational
>> multimedia and hypermedia. Sponsor: The Association for the
>> Advancement of Computing.
>> Contact: +1 804 973 3987 (voice)
>> Email: aace@virginia.edu.
>>
>>June 24-
>> 28 - Workshop on Ethical & Professional Issues in Computing;
>> Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY. Deadline for submissions:
>> Apr. 15.
>> Contact: +1 518 276 8503 (voice), +1 518 276 2659 (fax)
>> Email: cherkt@rpi.edu
>>
>>June 27-
>> 29 - Women in Technology Conference: Channels for Change; Santa Clara
>> Conv. Ctr., Santa Clara, Calif. Speakers include: Gloria Steinem.
>> Sponsored by Int'l. Network of Women in Technology (WITI).
>> Contact: +1 818 990 1987 (voice), +1 818 906 3299 (fax)
>> Email: witi@crl.com
>>
>>June 28-
>> 30 - INET '95 Internet Society 5th Ann. International Networking
>> Conf.; Honolulu, Hawaii. Sponsored by Internet Society (ISoc).
>> See Jan. 13 for proposal deadline
>> Contact: +1 703 648 9888 (voice)
>> FTP: ftp.isoc.org, /isoc/inet95/
>> Gopher: gopher.isoc.org, 1/isoc/inet95
>> WWW: http://www.isoc.org/inet95.html
>> Email: inet95@isoc.org
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>
>>Subject: Quote of the Week
>>--------------------------
>>
>>"It is no solution to define words as violence or prejudice as
>>oppression, and then by cracking down on words or thoughts pretend that
>>we are doing something about violence and oppression. No doubt it is
>>easier to pass a speech code or hate-crimes law and proclaim the streets
>>safer than actually to make the streets safer, but the one must never be
>>confused with the other...Indeed, equating "verbal violence" with
>>physical violence is a treacherous, mischievous business."
>> - Jonathon Rauch, in an essay in _Harper's_Magazine_, May 1995
>>
>>Find yourself wondering if your privacy and freedom of speech are safe
>>when bills to censor the Internet are swimming about in a sea of of
>>surveillance legislation and anti-terrorism hysteria? Worried that in
>>the rush to protect us from ourselves that our government representatives
>>may deprive us of our essential civil liberties?
>>
>>Join EFF!
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>
>>Subject: What YOU Can Do
>>------------------------
>>
>>* The Exon Bill (Communications Decency Act)
>
>

----------------------------------End of Forwarded
Message-----------------------------------------------------

%%% overflow headers %%%
To: cbsl@unity.ncsu.edu, dwaho@unity.ncsu.edu, maarmstr@unity.ncsu.edu,
rmcoelho@unity.ncsu.edu, COLBERT@cfr.cfr.ncsu.edu,
mjyoung@unity.ncsu.edu, scweitze@unity.ncsu.edu,
gkschaff@unity.ncsu.edu, ash@unity.ncsu.edu, nnranell@unity.ncsu.edu,
ramirez@unity.ncsu.edu, ytli@unity.ncsu.edu, kli@eos.ncsu.edu,
sscjak@unity.ncsu.edu, vaughan@unity.ncsu.edu, seh@unity.ncsu.edu,
mdgaroma@unity.ncsu.edu, acferruf@unity.ncsu.edu,
aspen7@unity.ncsu.edu, SJTeets@unity.ncsu.edu, ajhorowi@unity.ncsu.edu,
DACrouse@ncsu.edu, jlpadgha@unity.ncsu.edu, wemulvey@unity.ncsu.edu,
krbaldwi@unity.ncsu.edu, mbeck@unity.ncsu.edu, raclark2@unity.ncsu.edu,
hsdillon@unity.ncsu.edu, tdisy@wolf.ces.ncsu.edu,
edurona@unity.ncsu.edu, trefoil@unity.ncsu.edu, dhhardy@unity.ncsu.edu,
zli1@unity.ncsu.edu, pluna-o@unity.ncsu.edu, krmarkla@unity.ncsu.edu,
rcreich@unity.ncsu.edu, rdsterli@unity.ncsu.edu,
birthapa@unity.ncsu.edu, wevasser@unity.ncsu.edu,
frwalker@unity.ncsu.edu, mzagors@unity.ncsu.edu,
cdwitana@unity.ncsu.edu, rowhiteh@unity.ncsu.edu,
ewwest@unity.ncsu.edu, fmgay@unity.ncsu.edu, bmsmith1@unity.ncsu.edu
%%% end overflow headers %%%

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
/ \ Stephen R. Colbert
+ // \\ NCS Forest Nutrition Cooperative +
/// \\\ Box 8008
+ //// \\\\ North Carolina State University +
///// \\\\\ Raleigh, NC 27695-8008
+_____ ______ +
/\/ \/\ Phone: 919-515-3500
+ /\/\ /\/\ Fax: 919-515-6193 +
/\/\/ \/\/\ Email: steve_colbert@ncsu.edu
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Hello my name is Melissa Sturgeon. I am an environmental science
student. My class is studying various topics about soil. I live on the
southside of Columbus, Ohio. We have determined that the soil type around
this area is CsB. We found this out by using the Franklin county soil
survey for 1970. We are interested in knowing if there has been any
change in this soil type since that time? We want to know what types of
trees grow in this area? We would also like to know what type of study do
you do with soil? Our area is heavily populated with industry and would
like to know how much of an effect this has on the soil? Are there any
tests that can be done to indicate the amount of water below the soil
level, and tests that would help us analyze our soil?

Please contact us at :lcooper@freenet.columbus.ohio.us.

Lois E. Cooper
Marion-Franklin High School
1265 Koebel Road
Columbus, Ohio 43207
(614) 444-7403

> Subject: Fulbright Deadline Reminder
>
> FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES FOR FACULTY AND PROFESSIONALS IN
> AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL SCIENCE, VETERINARY SCIENCE, AND ZOOLOGY
>
> August 1 Deadline Approaching for the 1996-97 Competition
>
> What follows is a description of Fulbright grants for lecturing and advanced
> research worldwide. These grants are excellent professional development
> opportunities and provide funding to pursue professional interests abroad.
>
> Fulbright Grants for Faculty and Professionals
>
> Description: 1,000 awards for college and university faculty and nonacademic
> professionals to lecture or pursue advanced research and/or related
> professional activity abroad. For U.S. candidates, grants are available to
> nearly 148 countries.
>
> Application: U.S. candidates have an August 1 deadline for lecturing or
> research awards. Non-U.S. candidates apply in their home country for awards
> to come to the United States.
>
> Areas of Interest: Opportunities exist in every area of the social sciences,
> arts and humanities, sciences, and many professional fields.
>
> Range of Consideration: Undergraduate and graduate teaching; individual
> research; professional collaboration; joint research collaboration; and much
> more.
>
> Eligibility: Ph.D. or DVM in hand is the standard requirement for traditional
> academic fields, along with U.S. citizenship. The appropriate terminal degree
> and comparable professional experience are expected for those outside academe.
>
> Grant Duration: Awards range in duration from two months to a full academic
> year.
>
> Language: The majority of teaching assignments are in English. Required in
> certain countries for certain areas of activity.
>
> Action: U.S. candidates may receive detailed descriptions of award
> opportunities and application materials via cies1@ciesnet.cies.org
> (REQUESTS FOR MAILING OF MATERIALS ONLY!).
>
> Non-U.S. candidates must contact the Fulbright Commission or U.S. embassy in
> their home country.
--
Sincerely,

Jerome Pier
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant
Biological Systems Engineering, Univ. Nebraska - Lincoln
jp@unl.edu

unsubscribe

Does anyone have any references for decent 32P uptake methodologies for
either excised roots or whole seedlings. I have some earlier ones (eg.
Epstein, Schmid and Rains (1963), Lauchli (1969...), but I was wondering if
there were more recent ones which accounted for mycorrhizae and other
rhizosphere microorganisms, or improved methods generally.

Thanking you in advance
Daniel Mendham
CRC Temperate Hardwood Forestry
Tasmania, Australia
Telephone (international) + 61 02 207967
Fax (international) + 61 02 207942
E-mail D.Mendham@tas.for.csiro.au

Dear Danial,

The following publication may be of
some help.
Pearson J N and Jakobson I 1993

The relative contribution of hyphae and
roots, ...... , measured by dual labelling
with P32 and P33.
New Phytol. 124, 489-494.

Dr. Tara S Gahoonia
The Royal Vet. og Agri. Univ.
Dept. of Agri. Sciences
Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition
Thorvalsensvej 40
Dk-1871 Frederiksberg C,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Tel. +45 35 28 34 97
Fax +45 35 28 34 60

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