Abstract
Many problems in environmental and soil research require techniques that quantify the soil microenvironment.
It has become increasingly apparent that we need novel micro-analytical techniques to
compliment well established methods that study soils at macro-spatial scales. Despite tremendous progress in
this field over the last decade, quantitative methods have developed within separate disciplines and operate at
different spatial scales hampering their integration. Moreover, it means that opportunities to integrate these
methods may be overlooked. In this paper we develop methods that enable integration of a 3-D non-invasive
technique to characterise soil structure (X-ray CT) with a 2-D spectroscopic method that characterises the
spatial distribution of chemical elements on surfaces (SEM-EDX). First we developed statistical software to
locate the 2-D plane in which SEM-EDX analyses were performed within the 3-D volume. Then we
demonstrate that selected compounds, including particulate sources of C and CaCO3, can be quantified with
SEM-EDX and subsequently visualized within the 3-D soil environment. Finally, we demonstrated that when
we characterized sequential slices with SEM-EDX we could use co-kriging methods to predict the 3-D
spatial distribution of chemical elements. We discuss the possibilities and problems that need to be resolved
to combine these methods.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science |
Subtitle of host publication | Soil Solutions for a Changing World, Brisbane, Australia 1-6 August 2010 |
Place of Publication | Brisbane |
Publisher | International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) |
Pages | 60-63 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780646537832, 9781618391025 |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2010 |
Event | 19th World Congress of Soil Science 2010: Soil Solutions for a Changing World - Brisbane, Australia Duration: 1 Aug 2010 → 6 Aug 2010 Conference number: 19 |
Other
Other | 19th World Congress of Soil Science 2010 |
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Country | Australia |
City | Brisbane |
Period | 1/08/10 → 6/08/10 |