The soils, tropical climate, and network of canals and rivers of southern Vietnam have created one of the most diverse tropical jungles and intensely cultivated landscapes of Southeast Asia. This paradise has a long h...The soils, tropical climate, and network of canals and rivers of southern Vietnam have created one of the most diverse tropical jungles and intensely cultivated landscapes of Southeast Asia. This paradise has a long history of numerous wars, foreign occupations, and most recently the Second Indochina War (aka the Vietnam War 1965-1972) which defoliated rain forests and ancient wetland mangroves and left behind contaminated soil and sediment hotspots. During this war, the United States (US) military sprayed 80 million liters of Agent Orange contaminated with the dioxin TCDD in a guerrilla war against communist insurgents. Agent Orange was a synthetic plant growth regulator comprised of equal amounts of two herbicides 2,4-dichloro phenoxyacetic acid C8H6Cl2O3 (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid C8H5Cl3O3 (2,4,5-T). TCDD, the dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (C12H4Cl4O2) was an unintended byproduct of the accelerated combustion process used in the manufacture of herbicides containing 2,4,5-T. Agent Orange has frequently been blamed for soil and sediment contamination and long-term human health problems;however, the true source of harm is the dioxin TCDD. Agent Orange has a short half-life of days and weeks after application to vegetation, and has not been found to persist, after 50 years, in the water or soils of southern Vietnam. However, the half-life of dioxin TCDD depends on where it is deposited and varies from 1 to 3 years on soil surfaces that have been fully exposed to sunlight, to as long as 20 to 50 years or more when buried in tropical subsoils, and more than 100 years in river and sea sediments. Dioxin TCDD was heavily concentrated in the US Air Force bases in Vietnam where the herbicides were stored, loaded on planes and helicopters for aerial spraying, and used extensively around military base perimeter fences as a security measure to prevent surprise attacks. Bien Hoa Air Force base, 40 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, continues to be one of the mega-hotspots where after 48 years the dioxin TCDD levels in fish and shrimp are still high and fishing is banned in ponds and lakes adjacent to the airbase. Although expensive, one of the most effective remediation to dioxin TCDD contaminated soils is incineration which is the recommended method of dioxin TCDD disposal.展开更多
As a requisite to determining management practice effects on stored soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in a landscape unit, the baseline SOC stock with depth must be determined and the land use, management practices and ...As a requisite to determining management practice effects on stored soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in a landscape unit, the baseline SOC stock with depth must be determined and the land use, management practices and erosion-induced changes measured periodically or over a period of time. The SOC loss and additions due to soil erosion, transport and deposition must be accounted for or be quantified when determining the real impact of the management practices on net SOC stock over time. Quantifying the SOC loss due to erosion will help avoid over estimation of the management practice performances. Appropriate soil sampling designs and sampling procedures are needed to establish a SOC stock baseline and to monitor and verify new SOC storage or sequestration as a result of a management practice. The Dinesen Prairie landscape in western Iowa, USA was sampled to provide a SOC stock baseline and then the adjacent cropland was sampled to determine the past impact of land use change, management practices and erosion on SOC stock retention. After 100 to 150 years of farming, the entire cropland landscape retained only 49% of the baseline prairie SOC stock. Only the cropland toe-slope (TS) retained more SOC stock than the prairie TS as a result of the erosion, transport and deposition of SOC rich sediment on the TS.展开更多
文摘The soils, tropical climate, and network of canals and rivers of southern Vietnam have created one of the most diverse tropical jungles and intensely cultivated landscapes of Southeast Asia. This paradise has a long history of numerous wars, foreign occupations, and most recently the Second Indochina War (aka the Vietnam War 1965-1972) which defoliated rain forests and ancient wetland mangroves and left behind contaminated soil and sediment hotspots. During this war, the United States (US) military sprayed 80 million liters of Agent Orange contaminated with the dioxin TCDD in a guerrilla war against communist insurgents. Agent Orange was a synthetic plant growth regulator comprised of equal amounts of two herbicides 2,4-dichloro phenoxyacetic acid C8H6Cl2O3 (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid C8H5Cl3O3 (2,4,5-T). TCDD, the dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (C12H4Cl4O2) was an unintended byproduct of the accelerated combustion process used in the manufacture of herbicides containing 2,4,5-T. Agent Orange has frequently been blamed for soil and sediment contamination and long-term human health problems;however, the true source of harm is the dioxin TCDD. Agent Orange has a short half-life of days and weeks after application to vegetation, and has not been found to persist, after 50 years, in the water or soils of southern Vietnam. However, the half-life of dioxin TCDD depends on where it is deposited and varies from 1 to 3 years on soil surfaces that have been fully exposed to sunlight, to as long as 20 to 50 years or more when buried in tropical subsoils, and more than 100 years in river and sea sediments. Dioxin TCDD was heavily concentrated in the US Air Force bases in Vietnam where the herbicides were stored, loaded on planes and helicopters for aerial spraying, and used extensively around military base perimeter fences as a security measure to prevent surprise attacks. Bien Hoa Air Force base, 40 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, continues to be one of the mega-hotspots where after 48 years the dioxin TCDD levels in fish and shrimp are still high and fishing is banned in ponds and lakes adjacent to the airbase. Although expensive, one of the most effective remediation to dioxin TCDD contaminated soils is incineration which is the recommended method of dioxin TCDD disposal.
文摘As a requisite to determining management practice effects on stored soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in a landscape unit, the baseline SOC stock with depth must be determined and the land use, management practices and erosion-induced changes measured periodically or over a period of time. The SOC loss and additions due to soil erosion, transport and deposition must be accounted for or be quantified when determining the real impact of the management practices on net SOC stock over time. Quantifying the SOC loss due to erosion will help avoid over estimation of the management practice performances. Appropriate soil sampling designs and sampling procedures are needed to establish a SOC stock baseline and to monitor and verify new SOC storage or sequestration as a result of a management practice. The Dinesen Prairie landscape in western Iowa, USA was sampled to provide a SOC stock baseline and then the adjacent cropland was sampled to determine the past impact of land use change, management practices and erosion on SOC stock retention. After 100 to 150 years of farming, the entire cropland landscape retained only 49% of the baseline prairie SOC stock. Only the cropland toe-slope (TS) retained more SOC stock than the prairie TS as a result of the erosion, transport and deposition of SOC rich sediment on the TS.
