Acid sulfate soilAcid sulfate soils are naturally occurring soils, sediments or organic substrates (e.g. peat) that are formed under waterlogged conditions. These soils contain iron sulfide minerals (predominantly as the mineral pyrite) and/or their oxidation products. In an undisturbed state below the water table, acid sulfate soils are benign. However, if the soils are drained, excavated or otherwise exposed to air, the sulfides react with oxygen to form sulfuric acid.
Fracture mechanicsFracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics to characterize the material's resistance to fracture. Theoretically, the stress ahead of a sharp crack tip becomes infinite and cannot be used to describe the state around a crack. Fracture mechanics is used to characterise the loads on a crack, typically using a single parameter to describe the complete loading state at the crack tip.
Stochastic geometryIn mathematics, stochastic geometry is the study of random spatial patterns. At the heart of the subject lies the study of random point patterns. This leads to the theory of spatial point processes, hence notions of Palm conditioning, which extend to the more abstract setting of random measures. There are various models for point processes, typically based on but going beyond the classic homogeneous Poisson point process (the basic model for complete spatial randomness) to find expressive models which allow effective statistical methods.
Drainage researchDrainage research is the study of agricultural drainage systems and their effects to arrive at optimal system design. Agricultural land drainage has agricultural, environmental, hydrological, engineering, economical, social and socio-political aspects (Figure 1). All these aspects can be subject of drainage research. The aim (objective, target) of agricultural land drainage is the optimized agricultural production related to: reclamation of agricultural land conservation of agricultural land optimization of crop yield crop diversification cropping intensification optimization of farm operations.
