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Phytoremediation is the technology based on plants for extraction, sequestration, and/or degradation of environmental contaminants. The process of phytoremediation is a green and nondestructive suitable alternative to widely practiced physicochemical approaches. Plant-based contaminant removal could be directly inside the plant or outside the plant body (explanta). The process of phytoremediation involves different biochemical and physiological mechanisms facilitated by absorption, accumulation, sequestration, transport, and degradation. Furthermore, plants are equipped with the property of metabolizing hazardous organic contaminants into nontoxic or comparatively less toxic forms. Numbers of organic contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and halogenated hydrocarbons have been targeted for effective remediation by utilization of diverse plant groups. Currently, many experimental investigations have been conducted to develop genetically modified plants and endophytic bacterial strains harboring genes of interest displaying efficient contaminant degradation ability. Although the phytoremediation strategy for cleaning the organic contaminant seems promising with reference to the process cost, assessment, maintenance of soil biological activity, and carbon capture efficiency, the field-scale application has limited success because of changing environmental conditions, slow growth rate, and adaptability under given natural environment. Some of the limitations associated with phytoremediation could be managed through genetic engineering approaches; however, regulatory issues regarding their release under field conditions and very low public acceptance make the process unsuccessful at field scale. Essentially, extensive laboratory investigations are still needed to deploy the phytoremediation strategies for effective contaminant removal. The successful utilization of recombinant DNA technology together with the existing information on plant physiology, rhizosphere microbiology, and root exudates chemistry could be instrumental in gaining deep insights into the process of environmental contaminant

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The emerging organic pollutants, including organochlorine pesticide, halohydrocarbon, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dyes, petrochemical products, etc., are of increasing environmental concern because of their devastating health effects. They are generally originated from intentional and unintentional industrial activities despite global ban on certain class of organic pollutants. Their chronic impact necessitates their prior monitoring and remediation. This chapter summarizes the status of method of detection and degradation of organic pollutants from water and soil. In particular, biological, physical, chemical, and advance oxidation processes for organic pollutants treatment are covered. An emphasis has been given on understanding the physiochemical properties of these organic pollutants in presented matrix so as better solution can be opted out for their removal. Besides, sampling, extraction, storage methods, etc., are also discussed, which have key role in quantification and removal technique performance.

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To sustain the quantity and quantity to fulfill the increased food demand of the rapidly growing population, agricultural industry plays an important role in the survival of nations. The agricultural industry has undertaken numerous scientific innovations to make it highly efficient and sustainable. However, if such improvements have resulted in enhanced yields, they have concurrently also triggered the degradation of the environment. One such problem is posed by organophosphate pesticides that are being extensively utilized in agricultural practices and other activities because of their greater efficiency and lesser environmental persistence. But utilization of these pesticides poses a threat to the environment because of their toxic nature and persistence in the food chain. Residues of these pesticides usually get build up in the upper surface of the soil and ultimately find their way into the food products. Once consumed by the humans and other living organisms, these pesticides affect not only them but also the population of various groups of soil microbes and their biochemical activities in the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and plants have demonstrated the capability to degrade these pesticides from the environment. Hence, bioremediation has been considered as an attractive, potentially appropriate, efficient, cost-effective, and an eco-friendly method for decontamination of pesticide-contaminated sites. Therefore, in this chapter, an attempt has been made to provide an overview of various types of pesticides, followed by analyzing the impacts of organophosphates, their toxicological mechanism, pollution status, and biodegradation in the environment.

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The release of various inorganic and organic chemicals from various industries such as petrochemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals, agro-based industries, and tanneries is highly toxic to the environment and human health. Several processes and technologies such as physical, chemical, and advanced oxidation processes are available for treatment of these pollutants. However, these processes and technologies have their own limitations and the end products are also of toxic nature. Therefore, there is a need for identifying and exploring sustainable and eco-friendly methods which require a lesser amount of chemicals, are economically feasible, and produce nontoxic end products. The bioremediation approaches to clean up environmental pollutants are considered as emerging and sustainable methods recently. Bioremediation process is based on an integrated approach employing microbial communities such as actinomycetes, bacteria, fungi, and earthworms. It is considered as a sustainable process for management of organic pollutants-rich solid wastes and wastewater. Many microorganisms metabolize toxic chemicals to produce CO₂ or CH₄, water, and biomass. These pollutants may be enzymatically altered to metabolites that are less noxious or innocuous. Moreover, the solid residue generated in this process has been found to have a potential influence on soil macro- and micronutrients, indicating its application as organic manure. However, bioremediation technique required more research for its establishment at a larger scale with an emphasis on the environmental consequences of the end products. In this chapter, we have performed a literature survey based on biological methods for the management of organic pollutants. Microbes responsible for degradation processes have also been presented in the later part of the chapter. In this chapter, a thorough understanding of the bioremediation processes and methods applied for abatement and remediation of organic pollutants has been described in detail.

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The soil stratigraphy of a 1.5 m section in the distal portion of a paraglacial alluvial fan in Sunwapta Pass, Jasper National Park, has been examined as part of a long-term investigation into Holocene palaeoenvironments of the area. The section is complex and its characteristics are a result of both episodic sediment inputs and pedogenesis. A series of sediments comprising debris-flows and aeolian material including three discrete tephra layers (Mazama, St. Helens Yn, Bridge River) underlie the present day soil. Multiple criteria, including stratigraphy, radiocarbon dates, glass shard morphology, and electron microprobe analysis of glass and titanomagnetite composition, confirmed the identity of the tephras. Most fan development occurred before deposition of Mazama tephra. Pedogenesis has been active on the fan throughout the Holocene. Soils have formed between phases of sediment deposition during periods of greater relative site stability. Soil horizonation is best developed where tephric material has influenced soil chemistry and clay mineralogy leading to the formation of Brunisols. The sequence of events inferred from the Icefield Fan’s stratigraphy accord well with the Holocene palaeoenvironmental history inferred from other sites in the Canadian Rockies.

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Simultaneous measurements of rainsplash (as a surrogate for total raindrop detachment) and erosion were made during two rainfall simulation experiments on an 18 by 29 m runoff plot located in an interrill area on a semi-arid, grassland hillslope in southern Arizona. The temporal variation in splash was found to be more complex than hitherto reported. In the first experiment maximum splash occurred 15–20 minutes after the onset of rain and well after runoff began, whereas in the second experiment splash declined throughout the period of observation. The erosion rate, both within and between storms, was not closely related to the splash rate. Higher and increasing erosion rates were identified at times of lower and decreasing splash rates. Whereas splash (raindrop detachment) is controlled by surface-soil moisture and the availability of loose, detachable sediment, erosion is controlled not only by raindrop detachment but also by the areal extent of overland flow. Prediction of interrill soil erosion should not be based upon the assumption that the rate of sediment detachment by raindrops determines the rate of erosion, but upon the interactions among raindrop detachment, overland-flow distribution and ground-surface characteristics.

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Determination of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in rain-water, stream-water, soils and rocks in two Scottish catchments has provided useful information on mineral weathering. Over a period of 26 months, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in rain-water had mean values of 0.7095 and 0.7098 (n = 12) whereas stream-water had mean values of 0.7080 (n = 16, in catchment in Devonian andesites with strontium isotope ratios of 0.7117–0.7232 in the rocks and soils) and 0.7184 (n = 16, in catchment of Cambrian metamorphic rocks with strontium isotope ratios of 0.7360–0.8218 in the rocks and soils), respectively. The mineralogy consists predominantly of varying proportions of quartz, plagioclase feldspar and K-feldspar with some mica and chlorite. The fact that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in the stream in the andesitic catchment are lower than for the rain-water probably indicates preferential weathering of plagioclase feldspar releasing ⁸⁶Sr, rather than K-feldspar and mica which contain greater amounts of ⁸⁷Sr. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio acts as a tracer for the origin of the solutes in the stream-water. Long-term monitoring of the strontium isotope ratio in stream-water could be a potential means of detecting relative changes in soil weathering rates due to environmental change.

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A classification system for natural rivers is presented in which a morphological arrangement of stream characteristics is organized into relatively homogeneous stream types. This paper describes morphologically similar stream reaches that are divided into 7 major stream type categories that differ in entrenchment, gradient, width/depth ratio, and sinuosity in various landforms. Within each major category are six additional types delineated by dominate channel materials from bedrock to silt/clay along a continuum of gradient ranges. Recent stream type data used to further define classification interrelationships were derived from 450 rivers throughout the U.S, Canada, and New Zealand. Data used in the development of this classification involved a great diversity of hydro-physiographic/geomorphic provinces from small to large rivers and in catchments from headwater streams in the mountains to the coastal plains. A stream hierarchical inventory system is presented which utilizes the stream classification system. Examples for use of this stream classification system for engineering, fish habitat enhancement, restoration and water resource management applications are presented. Specific examples of these applications include hydraulic geometry relations, sediment supply/availability, fish habitat structure evaluation, flow resistance, critical shear stress estimates, shear stress/velocity relations, streambank erodibility potential, management interpretations, sequences of morphological evolution, and river restoration principles.

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There are four different types of earthquakes: Tectonic, volcanic, collapse and explosion. A tectonic earthquake is one that occurs when the earth’s crust breaks due to geological forces on rocks and adjoining plates that cause physical and chemical changes.A volcanic earthquake is any earthquake that results from tectonic forces which occur in conjunction with volcanic activity. A collapse earthquake are small earthquakes in underground caverns and mines that are caused by seismic waves produced from the explosion of rock on the surface. An explosion earthquake is an earthquake that is the result of the detonation of a nuclear and/or chemical device. There are three different types of faults: Normal, Reverse, and Transcurrent (Strike-Slip). Normal faults form when the hanging wall drops down. The forces that create normal faults are pulling the sides apart, or extensional. Reverse faults form when the hanging wall moves up. The forces creating reverse faults are compressional, pushing the sides together. Transcurrent or Strike-slip faults have walls that move sideways, not up or down.

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A mantle is a layer inside a planetary body bounded below by a core and above by a crust. Mantles are made of rock or ices, and are generally the largest and most massive layer of the planetary body. Mantles are characteristic of planetary bodies that have undergone differentiation by density. All terrestrial planets (including Earth), a number of asteroids, and some planetary moons have mantles. Mercury has a silicate mantle approximately 490 km thick, constituting only 28% of its mass.Venus’s silicate mantle is approximately 2800 km thick, constituting around 70% of its mass. Mars’s silicate mantle is approximately 1600 km thick, constituting ~74–88% of its mass, and may be represented by chassignite meteorites. Jupiter’s moons Io, Europa, and Ganymede have silicate mantles; Io’s ~1100 km silicate mantle is overlain by a volcanic crust, Ganymede’s ~1315 km thick silicate mantle is overlain by ~835 km of ice, and Europa’s ~1165 km silicate mantle is overlain by ~85 km of ice and possibly liquid water. The silicate mantle of the Earth’s moon is approximately 1300–1400 km thick, and is the source of mare basalts. The lunar mantle might possibly be exposed in the South Pole-Aitken basin and/or the Crisium basin. The lunar mantle contains a seismic discontinuity at ~500 km depth, most likely related to a change in composition. Titan and Triton each have a mantle made of ice or other solid volatile substances.

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