Background and Objectives: Soil is the thin layer of materials covering the Earth’ s surface and forms from the interaction of the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. Soil formation, development and functions influence the sustainability of ecosystem. The unique characteristics of soil have made it one of the key subjects of the Earth Science. Minerals are important components of the soil environment. They influence on the water-holding capacity of soils and affect their cation exchange capacity. Mineral weathering is an important process in soils, during which available forms of important nutrient elements are released from minerals structure into the soil system for root uptake. Micaceous minerals are common components of soils, sediments and minerals. Several studies have examined the characteristics of compost Enriched with mineral compounds. While the mineralogical changes during the process of compost production have not yet been investigated. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the rate of biological weathering of phlogopite with time in phlogopite-Enriched compost. Materials and methods: An experiment was run in petri dishes under laboratory conditions using 2 levels of phlogopite mineral (0 and 20% by weight) and four time periods (45, 90, 135 and 180 days) in 3 replications. Each petri dish contained 20 g of a mixture of cow manure and phlogopite mineral. In each period, 6 petri dishes were separated and their contents were oven dried at 30 ° C, powdered and passed through a 2 mm sieve. After preparing the contents of petri dishes, organic carbon content of the samples was measured by wet oxidation method and their total nitrogen by Kjeldahl method. The mineralogical changes were evaluated using X-ray diffraction analysis. Results: XRD patterns showed that during the composting process, phlogopite was partially weathered to vermiculite and smectite. The rate of weathering was higher at the early stages. The weathering of phlogopite was influenced considerably by the activity of microbial communities during organic matter decomposition process. At the end of the composting process, the weathering rate decreased and continued at a stable rate. Mineralogical changes occurred in phologopite during the composting were in line with the reduction of C/N ratio with time. The C/N ratio rapidly changes at the early stages of the composting process and gradually becomes constant. Conclusions: In general, the results indicate that the increase of availability of elements such as potassium in mica-Enriched compost is in fact due to the weathering of micaceous minerals added. The weathering rate was influenced by the activities of microbial communities.

Background and Objective: Polltion of food chain components such as vegetables to heavy metals is one of the important environmental problems.Remediation management of these metals especially Cd is very important. Thus, this research was done to investigate the effect of Arak municipal waste compost Enriched with tire rubber ash on decreasing spinach Cd concentration in a Cd polluted soil.Materials and Methods: Treatments consisted of applying (0, 200 kg/ha) Arak municipal waste compost Enriched with tire rubber ash and Cd pollution at the rates of 0, 10, 20 and 30 mg Cd (kg soil)-1. The plant used in this experiments was spinach.Results: Increasing application rate Arak municipal waste compost from 0 to 20 and 40 ton/ha in a Cd polluted soil (mg Cd (kg soil)-1) caused a significant reduction in DTPA extractable-Cd by16 and 45 %, respectively. Similar to this result, shoot Cd concentration was decreased. Applying tire rubber ash also had an important role on decreasing Cd concentration.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that applying Arak municipal waste compost had an important role on decreasing Cd concentration. This was due to the application of the organic amendment on increasing soil sorption properties that it in turn decreased soil and plant Cd concentration. However, the role of plant type and soil physico-chemical properties on changes in Cd availability cannot be ignored.

Introduction: Due to the inefficiency of some chemical fertilizers of trace elements, the high cost of import organic fertilizers containing these elements and also the lack of proper uptake of phosphorus in soils in arid and semi-arid regions, and the desire to produce better quality products, the use of organic matter Enriched with nutrients such as phosphorus and iron seems essential. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effect of different levels of iron refuse and phosphate soil as an enrichment and investigating the interaction effects of enrichment on the growth components of tomato plants. Materials and Methods To study the effect of compost Enriched with iron refuse and phosphate soil on tomato plant, pot experimen was conducted with experimental treatments including compost Enriched with iron refuse at three levels of 0, 5 and 20%, compost Enriched with phosphate soil at three levels 0, 5% and 10%. To prepare the potting soil before applying the treatments, 10% by weight of sand was added to the soil. Iron refuse were prepared from the factory of National Iranian Steel Industrial Group and phosphate soil from Esfordi phosphate company and after air drying, the percentage of iron and total phosphorus were measured using standard methods (wet digestion). compost prepared from green space wastes was also digest to investigate some chemical properties. Obtained data were performed analysed in factoriall in completely randomized design with three replications. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software and mean comparisons were performed by Duncan's multiple range test. Charts were drawn using Excel software. Results and Discussion: The results showed the highest plant height was observed in the treatment of 20% iron enrichment with 10% phosphorus enrichment at the rate of 57. 9 cm. Comparisons of the mean effect of iron enrichment on total chlorophyll in tomato leaves showed that in general, with increasing the percentage of iron, total chlorophyll increased by 17. 6 and 18. 2%, respectively, compared to the control treatment. In other words, enrichment of compost with iron refuse increases the plant chlorophyll content by 39%, which is 34% for phosphorus enrichment. The maximum chlorophyll content of the plant was observed in the treatment of 20% iron enrichment with 10% phosphorus, which was not significantly different from the 20% iron enrichment treatment and 5% phosphorus enrichment treatment. Therefore, simultaneous enrichment of compost with iron and phosphorus can increase the quality of crops, especially leafy vegetables. According to the results, increasing the level of iron enrichment from zero to 20% caused 42. 4% increase in plant dry weight, which is reported to be 24. 9% for phosphorus enrichment. In general, as expected, with increasing the percentage of phosphorus in compost, the concentration of phosphorus in the shoot of tomato plant increased. Iron concentration in the plant increases by 10. 9% with increasing phosphorus enrichment level from zero to 5%; In contrast, the use of phosphate soil at the level of 5% caused a decrease in zinc and copper concentrations of the plant by 21. 5% and 15. 2%, respectively. In many cases, the phosphorus and iron have reducing effects on each other due to the deposition of soluble iron in the form of insoluble phosphate compounds. According to the results of the present study, when an organic medium such as compost is used to add these two elements to the soil, the effect of organic matter on the formation of soluble chelates can increase the amount of avalable iron. Organic matter also has an undeniable effect on preventing the stabilization of phosphorus, which causes its release due to the direct decomposition of organic matter or the production of organic acids. Cupper was found to be more sensitive to increasing the amount of phosphorus in soil. Conclusion The use of enriching compounds by improving plant nutritional conditions can lead to improve effects of organic amendments such as compost. The use of phosphate-Enriched compost and iron refuse, increased the yield of tomato plants. According to the results, high levels of enrichment to some extent limit the uptake of zinc and copper, which is related to the interaction of elements with each other and changes in concentration ratios. Due to the lack of micronutrients in most crops and horticulture and the competition of elements in the soil, in many cases there is a decline in product quality, so it is suggested that following the present study, some studies to be conducted to investigate the simultaneous enrichment of other micronutrients such as zinc and copper and balance dose of enrichment so that maximum absorption is achieved simultaneously for all target elements. The use of waste from different sources to balance the enrichment of organic materials, in addition to reducing costs, will lead to the recycling of large volumes of waste.

The production of compost and vermicompost from manure and different organic residues and also, their enrichment with some fertilizers and other treatments have been extensively investigated. However, no study has yet been conducted on the enrichment of composted and vermicomposted manure with clay minerals. This research was, therefore, carried out to investigate the selected properties of phlogopite Enriched manure during the composting process with and without earthworm activity. The experiment was conducted in plastic containers with the lid under an average temperature of 27. 5° C and the humidity of 42. 5% using a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. Factors included levels of phlogopite addition (0%, 20% and 40% by weight), with or without the earthworm Eisenia fetida for different time periods of 1. 5, 3, 4. 5 and 6 months. At the end of the experiment, the total of organic carbon, nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and iron, as well as the contraction the available magnesium, potassium and iron, was determined. The results showed that the percent of organic carbon was decreased while the total nitrogen, the total and available potassium, iron and magnesium were increased with time. The results also indicated that a significant percentage of the total content of the elements in all treatments without phlogopite was available. However, in treatments containing phlogopite, the amount of the available elements was increased slowly with time. This was Due to the weathering of phlogopite mineral and the decomposition of manure. In general, it seems that the enrichment of composted and vermicomposed manure with phlogopite can guarantee the supply of nutrients such as potassium, iron and magnesium in a longer period, as compared with the ordinary composts.

This research was performed to investigate the effect of tire ash Enriched Arak municipal waste compost on the changes in Zn availability in a Cd polluted soil. Treatments were consisting of applying Arak municipal waste compost (0, 15 and 30 t ha-1) Enriched with 0 and 200 kg ha-1 tire ash in a polluted soil (0, 5, 10 and 15 mg Cd kg-1 soil) and plant in this experiment was sorghum (Kimya CV. ). Increasing the loading rate of Arak municipal waste compost from 0 to 15 t ha-1 in a Cd polluted soil (10 mg Cd soil-1) caused an increasing in DTPA extractable-Zn by 80 percentage. Similar to this result, after 60th from the experiment, the root and shoot Zn concentration were increased by 40 and 60 percentage, respectively. Applying tire waste had an effectiveness role on increasing Zn availability, as, applying 15 and 30 t ha-1 tire ash Enriched Arak municipal waste compost in a Cd polluted soil (10 mg Cd kg soil-1) caused an increasing in DTPA extractable-Zn by 22 and 26 percentage, respectively. While the shoot Zn concentration was increased by 13 and 20 percentage, respectively. The result of this study showed that greatest shoot Zn concentration was to the treatment with applying 30 t ha-1 Arak municipal waste compost Enriched with tire ash in a non-polluted soil. However, the type and physiological effect on the changes in Zn availability cannot be ignored.

Introduction: Vermicomposting could increase nutrients availability including phosphorus. During vermicomposting, a decomposition of organic substrates leads to the production of several organic acids, such as malonic, fumaric, succinic acids. Microorganisms both in the intestinal organ of the worms and the organic waste have the ability to convert insoluble P into soluble forms. Little information exists about the effects of vermicomposting on rock phosphate (RP) solubilization. Present study was conducted to evaluate the solubilization of powdered RP during vermicomposting.Results: Vermicomposting and RP application increased NaHCO3-Pi. Rock phosphate application in vermicomposting significantly increased NaHCO3-Po. Vermicomposting significantly increased NaOH-Pi in all of the treatments. RP application and vermicomposting increased HCl-Pi in both organic sources. Generally, vermicomposting increased HCl-Po. Vermicomposting decreased pH but its effect was more evident in the presence of RP.Vermicomposting increased EC in both organic sources.Conclusion: Present study showed that vermicomposting helps to enhance the transformation of P from RP into various organic or inorganic P forms, which would be readily or moderately available, thus, increase the availability of P from both RPs.

In our previous studies the positive effects of organic fertilizers such as municipal solid waste compost either alone or plus with inorganic fertilizer on growth and yield of soybean (one year application) and corn (one and two year applications) were reported. According to our previous studies, a field experiment arranged in split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications on corn cv. SC704 during 2008. Main plots were considered six fertilizer levels (consisting of control, recommended chemical fertilizer, 20 and 40 tons per hectar municipal solid waste compost alone or plus half recommended chemical fertilizers and sub plots were considered one, two and three years application of those fertilizers. According to results, type of fertilizer and application period had significant effect on grain yield and yield components. Also, interaction effect of two factors was significant for all studied traits except for row number. Increasing of application period from one to three years significantly increased total dry matter and grain yield in which the maximum grain yield recorded when 20 tons per hectare MWC CF, 40 tons per hectare MWC or 20 and 40 tons per hectare MWC plus chemical for three continuous years were applied. These results not only confirmed our pervious studies but also indicated that long-term application of MWC plus reduced amount of inorganic fertilizer could improve grain yield and yield components as well as reduction of over application of chemical inputs.