Short-term changes in delta(13)C and delta(15)N signatures of water discharged from grazed grasslands

The composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a soil is the product of a variety of soil processes. Changes in the composition of DOM in water discharged from soil should, therefore, give an important insight into modifications in these soil processes. We hypothesise that these processes in soils, under different grassland management regimes, would be affected to different extents by the short-term disturbance of a storm event and that evidence of this could be detected in delta(13)C and delta(15)N signatures in drainage and surface runoff waters. During a storm event we collected discharge waters from 1 ha grassland lysimeters, with or without artificial drainage, which received contrasting fertiliser inputs, and delta(13)C and delta(15)N signatures were determined. Changes in (13)C enrichment during the storm event were clearly identifiable, as were differences between plots for (13)C and (15)N, illustrating that this technique has potential to be a useful tool for identifying and investigating short- and long-term changes in soil organic matter dynamics. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic behavior of the oxide spinels: Li0.5Fe2.5−2x Al x Cr x O4

In order to study the effect of substitution of Fe³⁺ by Al³⁺ and Cr³⁺ in Li_0.5Fe_2.5O₄ on its structural and magnetic properties, the spinel system Li_0.5Al _x Cr _x Fe_2.5?2x O₄ (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.8) has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, high field magnetization, low field ac susceptibility and ⁵⁷Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy. Contrary to the earlier reports, about 50% of Al³⁺ is found to occupy the tetrahedral sites. The system exhibits canted spin structure and a central paramagnetic doublet was found superimposed on magnetic sextet in the Mössbauer spectra (x>0.5).