Description
Soil - its nature and origin; the origin of soil: physical or mechanical weathering, chemical weathering, weathering by bibological agents, factors controlling soil formation, morphology of soil; soil constituents: the mineral solid phase, the orthosilicates, chain silicates or inosilicates, sheet silicates or phyllosilicates, framework silicates or tectosilicates; organic matter and soil organisms: the liquid phase - soil water composition of soil waters, the gaseous phase - soil air, origin, composition and properties; soil properties: physical properties, chemical properties; soil classification and soil types: soil classification, description of the soil orders of soil Taxonomy; soil degradation: physical degradation: erosion, compaction, soil crusting, chemical degradation, acidification, salinisation and sodification; soil pollution - na overview: macropollutants, micropollutants; major types of soil pollutants: heavy metals and their salts, other inorganic pollutants, radionuclides, weapon tests and belligerent activities, major nuclear accidents; sources of soil pollution: pollutants of agrochemical sources: inseticides, herbicides, fungicides, fuel spills in farms; soil pollutants of urban sources: power generation emissions, soil pollution through transport activities, soil pollution through chemical warfare; pollution mechanisms and soil - pollutants interaction:: physical processes and mechanisms of pollution, adsorptive retention, nonadsorptive redention, contaminants transport: microscopic dispersion: molecular diffusion, macroscopic dispersion, behaviour of Nom-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL's) in soils; pollutants' alternation, transformation, and initiation of chemical changes within the soil: processes related to chemical mobility, chemical transformation processes, biodegradation and biologically supported transformations, enzymatic transformations - a primer on enzymes, their types and mode of action: the hydrolases, the transferases, the oxidoreductases, the lyases, the ligases the isomerases, transformations assisted by bacterial action; monitoring of soil pollution; monitoring and monitoring plans: site characterisation, data acquisition, sampling - planning and realisation: sampling procedures: sampling solid soil matter, smpling soil solution, sampling soil air, field and laboratory investigations, monitoring of grou water flows; biological monitoring: planning and implementation of biological monitoring, foliage sampling and investigation of foliage; modelling of soil pollution; models and their construction: types of models; soil remediation; planning and realization of soil remediation, chemical and physical remedial techniques, biological treatment (Bioremediation), solidification/ stabilisation methods, thermal treatment.