Zoltán Szalai

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• PhD, dr. habil
• Deputy Director at Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences

Asteroids with the potential to impact Earth have become a significant focus of scientific research and applied space technology. These bodies are expected to be key targets for mitigation actions and space mining activities in the coming decades. Understanding their material characteristics is challenging due to the effects of space weathering, wh...

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a crucial property affecting most soil functions; thus, sampling and investigation are essential. However, the SOM composition and content may be less constant than assumed, even in crop fields. This study investigated whether fertilization and crop type affect the effect of sampling time on soil organic carbon (SOC) co...

Purpose The two main challenges in providing good quality granulometric data are the limitations of laser diffraction method and the insufficient chemical pretreatments. The present study aims to determine the combined effect of these two sources of error and to find optimized procedures to fit the physical and chemical parameters of the soil and s...

Background and aims To provide insight into the patterns of soil organic matter decomposition, changes in the quantity of biopolymers and the correlation between them were followed using 2D correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) FTIR. Methods Soil organic matter fractions with different vegetation/land use (grass, spruce, oak and arable) were examined i...

Urbanization has resulted in the widespread development of built-up areas, often without considering the local geology and geomorphology. To improve risk assessments related to landslides, it is essential to determine the physical and chemical properties of sediments. The aim of this study is to exemplify an already mobilized and reworked layer bas...

A medium‐grade, poorly weathered CO3‐type meteorite was subjected to artificial space weathering by 1 keV protons in three subsequent steps, with gradually increasing doses from 10 ¹¹ to 10 ¹⁷ protons per cm ² . The resulting mineral modifications were identified by Raman spectroscopy, with specific emphasis on main minerals such as olivine (bands:...

Soil organic matter (SOM) concentration and composition are essential properties that affect most functions and ecosystem services. The relationship between soil and environmental covariates regarding SOM concentration and composition in various pools is not completely understood. This study aimed to identify the most influential drivers of SOM sta...

Rare earth elements (REEs) have been successfully used as tracers in field-scale erosion experiments to provide spatially distributed erosion data for process-based soil erosion models. This study aimed to demonstrate how differences in the erodibility of individual REEs naturally present in the soil affect the evaluation of data from such experime...

A Pátkai-tározót 1975-ben alakították ki a Velencei-tó vízellátásának szabályozására, de másodlagosan horgász-, illetve jóléti tóként is hasznosítják. A vízminőség a 90-es évektől drasztikusan leromlott valószínűsíthetően a mederkotrások elmaradása és a horgászok által vízbe szórt etetőanyag miatt, ezért a tározó csak korlátozottan alkalmas a Velen...

Background and aims This work aimed to determine how the soil parameters affect the magnitude and direction of priming effect (accelerated or decreased decomposition of native SOM under addition of new organic substrates, PE) in temperate acidic forest soils. Methods Thirteen topsoil samples were incubated for 163 days with the addition of maize r...

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are widely used in animal husbandry and human medicine and are therefore released into environmental systems in significant quantities. Because of its targeted antibacterial action, it directly disrupts the soil microbial ecosystem and alters soil carbon fixation. In order to maintain soil microbial communities and preve...

Loess-paleosol layers are prevalent globally. One result of the urbanization, these layers often collapse on the buildings or if the buildings are the top of the bluff, houses can damage as a result of mass movements. Therefore, it is crucial to identify key parameters to predict the changes in the loess-paleosol layers stability. This study focuse...

Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTIR DRIFT) is a widely used method for investigating soil organic materials. The existing literature suggests variations in sample preparation techniques for soil analysis. Notably, the powdering and drying method may influence the presence of organic materials, clay minerals, and carbon...

Raman and infrared measurements of the same locations were conducted on a northwest African (NWA) 10580 CO3 meteorite sample, before and after three proton irradiations (1 keV ion energy using 10¹¹, 10¹⁴, and 10¹⁷ ion/cm² fluent values), to simulate space weathering effects. In the case of Raman spectroscopy, both FWHM and peak positions of the maj...

Conservation tillage (CT) is a ploughless tillage with a reduced number of operations, and its positive effect on soil functions and health is widely known. Multivariate analyses are required to choose indicators that adequately characterize the changes in soil health. However, there is little research on the comprehensive analysis of the full spec...

Context . Identifying minerals on asteroid surfaces is difficult as space weathering modifies the minerals’ infrared spectra. This should be better understood for proper interpretation. Aims . We simulated the space weathering effects on a meteorite and recorded the alterations of the crystalline structure, such as the change in peak positions and...

Sheet erosion is a complex multi-factor-dependent process with high spatial heterogeneity on hillslopes. Although the individual factors have been well studied, their aggregated effect on size-selective erosional processes is highly uncertain. Therefore, this study concentrates on the aggregate size distribution and effective particle size distribu...

The main objective of the research was to study the environmental “price” of the large-scale, milk production from a rarely known perspective, from the mapping of the estrogenic footprint (the amount of oestrus-inducer hormonal products, and the generated endoestrogens) in the resulting slurry in a dairy cow farm. These micropollutants are endocrin...

The properties of sediment grain shape provide valuable information about the transport mechanisms in different sedimentary and geomorphological environments. With the emergence of new, high-resolution analytical tech- niques, it has become possible to quickly examine the grain shape properties of a large number of individual mineral grains. In thi...

Stakeholders and policymakers have been becoming more and more interested not just in the potential organic carbon (SOC) saturation level of soils but also in spatially explicit information on the degree of SOC deficit, which can support future policy and sustainable management strategies, and carbon sequestration-associated spatial planning. Thus...

Loess-paleosol bluffs can become unstable as a result of urbanization when houses are being built on them because of the panorama. The general effect of water in landslides is well known but still a hot topic. In this study, we explore the connection of landslides to weather conditions, such as the amount of rainfall or water level changes of the R...

Loess-paleosol bluffs can be unstable, but in the course of urbanization, houses may be built in such locations to take advantage of the view. One factor affecting the stability of such bluffs is water, the role of which in mass movements is well established. In this study, the connection of mass movements to meteorological conditions, such as rain...

Soil organic matter (SOM) loss due to intensive cultivation is the focus of studies on climate change and food security. Dropping tillage intensity has been widely reported as a potential tool for SOM increase; however, the chemical composition, storage mechanisms, and vertical distribution of SOM gain are not fully understood, especially in calcar...

The analysis of the Csatalja H4 chondrite (which was found in August 2012) suggests shock‐related textures and spatial inhomogeneities, indicating a complex geological history. In the most heavily fractured and sheared units, small opaque grains and older fractures have locally enhanced the shock effect, producing melt. While the impact textures we...

Purpose The aim of this work was to determine the characteristics of SOM decomposition under forest vegetation and to investigate the influence of soil mineralogy on SOM turnover. Methods Thirteen Hungarian forest topsoil samples amended with maize residues were incubated at 20 °C for 163 days. The CO 2 evolved was measured and the fast and slow d...

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a key soil quality property, indicative of the organic matter stored in the soil, which may also be a function of temporal variation. This study examines whether DOM is a robust property of the soil, controlling fertility, or if it may change with time. Altogether eight sets of soil samples were collected in 2018 a...

Understanding how the chemical composition of dissolved and particulate organic matter (DOM and POM) is affected by environment factors is critical because these labile pools of carbon are involved in an array of biological, chemical and physical processes. In this study, the chemical composition of DOM and POM was measured in 13 forest soils using...

Small streams are crucial but vulnerable elements of ecological networks. To better understand the occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in streams, this study focused on the occurrence, distribution, and environmental risk of 111 PhACs and 7 trace elements based on a total of 141 water and sediment samples from small streams loca...

We describe the general characteristics and interactions happening at a unique, potential new Mars analogue site, located in the Altiplano and Atacama Desert region: the Ojos del Salado inactive volcano. The interaction between rare snowing events and strong winds transported large masses of porous volcanic grains there could produce decimeter - me...

The research area is located in the Eastern Carpathians, Romania. This region is rich in various formations and indicates significant potential for paleo-environmental reconstruction. The present research was carried out on sediment cores collected at lake Bolătău-Feredeu, Feredeului Mountains (Eastern Carpathians, Romania). Preliminary examination...

This paper focuses on the vertical distribution and characterisation of pedogenic iron forms in a Gleysol- Histosol transect developed in a marshy area in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve, Hungary. Four soil profiles were investigated along a series of increasing waterlogging and spatial and temporal patterns of hydromorphic pedofeatures (characteristic...

Climate change induces more extreme precipitation events, which increase the amount of soil loss. There are continuous requests from the decision-makers in the European Union to provide data on soil loss; the question is, which ones should we use? The paper presents the results of USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation), RUSLE (Revised USLE), USLE-M (U...

The optical and fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter are widely used to estimate the soil organic matter composition. To do so, various absorbance and fluorescence properties of soil extracts are investigated using various indicators such as the alkali-extracted fulvic acid (FA) fraction and the water-extractable organic matter (WEOM...

Pedogenesis is considered a long-term environmental process; however, it can be accelerated by periodic water saturation (hydric conditions). The exact nature and effectiveness of hydric conditions in the intensification of soil development are not clear yet. Our understanding of the timescales of the mineralogical changes occurring in soils is lim...

Analysing the microtextures of grains from different sediments helps to determine their transport medium. This method is well developed in the case of quartz grains, because quartz is usually dominant in sediments on Earth. In this study, basaltic sands from aeolian and fluvial environments from Iceland and from the Azores Islands were analysed, si...

Understanding how the chemical composition of dissolved and particulate organic matter (DOM and POM) is affected by environment factors is critical because these labile pools of carbon are involved in an array of biological, chemical and physical processes. In this study, the chemical composition of DOM and POM was measured in 13 forest soils using...

The role of the chemical properties of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds (PhACs) in their sorption behaviour and consequently in their fate and mobility is of major environmental interest, but a comprehensive evaluation is still lacking. The sorption of nine PhAC molecules with distinct physico-chemical properties on soils and goethite was describe...

The presence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in drinking waters might pose a serious threat to human health worldwide. Therefore, this study sought to measure PhACs in Danube-derived tap water from the Budapest metropolitan region (Hungary), and to compare the results of those measured in the bank filtrate after which a human health ri...

Conservation tillage (CT) is of primary importance in food security, soil conservation, and sustainable development , even though its comprehensive effects on runoff (RO) and soil loss (SL) are still not fully understood. In 2004, a field-scale study was launched in southwest Hungary to investigate the long-term (16 years) effects of CT on RO, SL a...

Background In recent years, there are growing concerns about pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in natural ecosystems. These compounds have been found in natural waters and in fish tissues worldwide. Regarding their growing distribution and abundance, it is becoming clear that traditionally used risk assessment methodologies and ecotoxicolog...

The catchment (bedrock and soil) and sediments of lake Bolătău, Romania were studied by high resolution multi-methodological investigations to characterize paleoenvironmental and formation conditions. Particle size analyses, optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy, FTIR-ATR and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and XRF were applied f...

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a combination of materials having different origin and with different stabilization and decomposition processes. To determine the different SOM pools and their turnover rates, a silt loam-textured Luvisol from West Hungary was taken from the 0–20 cm soil depth and incubated for 163 days. Maize residues were added to the...

Soil erosion is a complex, destructive process that endangers food security in many parts of the world; thus, its investigation is a key issue. While the measurement of interrill erosion is a necessity, the methods used to carry it out vary greatly, and the comparison of the results is often difficult. The present study aimed to examine the results...

The present dataset provides data on the pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) concentrations measured in the Danube and the drinking water abstraction wells (DWAW) in the Budapest region. Grab samples were collected during five periods. One hundred and seven water samples from the Danube and ninety water samples from the relevant DWAWs were an...

A löszszelvényeket tagoló paleotalajok értékes információt hordoznak az őskörnyezetben bekövetkezett változásokról és a paleoklimatikus viszonyokról. Egyes áthalmozó hatások (lejtős tömegmozgások, erózió-szedimentáció) jelentősen megváltoztathatják az in situ talaj eredeti szelvényezettségét, megnehezítve ezzel az eredeti körülmények rekonstruálásá...

Surface waters are becoming increasingly contaminated by pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), which is a potential risk factor for drinking water quality owing to incomplete riverbank filtration. This study examined the efficiency of riverbank filtration with regard to 111 PhACs in a highly urbanized section of the river Danube. One hundred s...

A Middle Miocene, ~8 m thick pyroclastic succession, reported from the Bükk Foreland Volcanic Area (BFVA) in Northern Hungary (Central Europe) specified here as the Jató Member, was produced by silicic phreatomagmatism (Phreatoplinian sensu lato). Two well-preserved outcrops ~8 km apart and inferred to be within ~10–50 km from source represent the...

The Special Collection of papers in this issue of Astrobiology provide an overview of the characteristics and potential for future exploration of the Ojos del Salado volcano, located in the Andes Mountains in front of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The main benefits of this site compared with others are the combination of strong UV radiation...

Purpose Small-scale runoff and soil redistribution processes are important factors in rainfall simulation studies. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine the feasibility of rare earth oxide (REO) tracking combined with 3D surface modelling and soil crust analysis by scanning electron microscopy. Materials and methods Four 40 mmh...

There is increasing demand for up-to-date spatial information on soil organic carbon (SOC). Meanwhile, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) provide flexible technology for monitoring land surface features with high spatial resolution at plot scale. Suitably performed, airborne imagery simultaneously provides spectral and terrain based spatial auxiliary d...

Nowadays, one of the most important challenges is to ensure sustainable agricultural management of crops such as maize (Zea mays L.). Long-term crop production, however, may influence the soil properties, the composition and activity of microbial communities. The aim of this study was to compare the catabolic activity and taxonomic diversity of bac...

Remote sensing data are abundant, whereas surface in situ verification of atmospheric conditions is rare on Mars. Earth-based analogues could help gain an understanding of soil and atmospheric processes on Mars and refine existing models. In this work, we evaluate the applicability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model against measure...

Despite the fact that there are tens of thousands of thermal baths in existence, knowledge about the occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in untreated thermal wastewater is very limited. Because used thermal water is typically legally discharged into surface waters without any treatment, the effluent poses environmental risks for...

Particle size and shape are among the most important properties of sedimentary deposits. Objective and robust determination of granulometric features of sediments is a challenging problem, and has been standingin the focal point of sedimentary studies for many decades. In this study, we provide an overview of a new analytical approach to characteri...

The volume of soil organic matter (SOM) changes, owing to variations in tillage systems. Conservation tillage (CT) is a useful method for recovering the SOM content of crop fields. However, little is known about the SOM composition of silt- and clay-associated and aggregate-occluded organic matter (OM). The present study aimed at determining the SO...

Extreme precipitation events can trigger flash flood, mass movements, pluvial flood and accelerated soil erosion. As soil structures are highly degraded due to intensive improper cultivation water infiltration can considerably decrease during the vegetation period. Additional changes in canopy coverage on the soil surface cause relevant variability...

A study was conducted on the sorption of 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) on five soils formed under different redox conditions: an Arenosol (A_20) with fully aerobic conditions, two Gleysol samples (G_20 and G_40) with suboxic and anoxic conditions and two Histosols (H_20 and H_80) with mostly anoxic conditions. The soils were characterized on the basis...

Long-term observations of Saharan dust events in the Carpathian Basin (Central Europe) revealed a clear seasonal pattern of dusty episodes. Multivariate analysis of different aerosol products from 1979 to 2018 indicated clear springand summertime maxima of these events. Several unusual, out-of-season dust episodes with significant depositional even...

Up to 80% of fine roots can be contained in the forest floor (FF); therefore, the composition and pools of organogenic horizons largely determine the productivity of the trees. The stages of litter transformation in FF are poorly studied. We tested the hypothesis of the influence of R2O3 on the quality as of the whole FF as humic substances in FF....

Laser diffraction grain size data and size distributions of paleosols are widely used in paleoenvironmental reconstructions as physicochemical alteration-related proxies of past changes of the sedimentary environment. Different laser diffraction devices, optical theories, and optical settings are being applied nowadays, and ignorance of several unc...

Climate change is increasing the occurrence of extreme precipitation events and causing irregular precipitation patterns. This occurs in parallel with the degradation of crop fields, and triggers the occurrence of pluvial floods and droughts on the same field. Consequently, irrigation must be adapted to the changing soil properties. Detailed spatia...

Jelen munkában homokkőből készült vékonycsiszolatokat elemeztünk 2D képanalízissel (Morphologi G3ID), azért, hogy a szemcseméret-eloszlás mellett az egyes szemcsék alakját is meghatározzuk. A zagyvarékasi (Za-1) kutatófúrás pannóniai turbidites homokkövet vizsgáltuk. Ezekben törmelékes szemcseként van jelen a kvarc, a muszkovit, a dolomit, a K-föld...

Pore water-rock interaction may cause dissolution and precipitation of different minerals. These processes influence the particle/pore shapes, grain/pore size. In this study we analyzed thin sections of sandstones with 2D image analysis (Morphologi G3SE ID) to specify the most characteristic shapes of the different minerals and pores. The studied s...

Formation mechanism of landslides along the west bank of the Danube is still unclear. In this study we examine red clay samples from the 2014 landslide, Kulcs, Hungary. The main aim of our study is to determine if there are differences in the grain size and morphology among the samples from the recently moved sliding surface, the nearby area (sampl...

The soil organic matter (SOM) has important functions in the ecosystems of the soils. It is a key element in the carbon storage, the adsorption of pollutants, and in the soil fertility. Although the organic molecules of soils have no definable structure several analyses are able to characterize the structural property of these substances. Different...

Particle size and shape analyses are fundamental measurement in several fields of geosciences. While particle sizing is based on laser diffraction since second half of 90's, shape characterization is mostly based on optical microscopy. (Some of studies apply scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well). Both techniques for particle shape characteri...

Water dissolved organic matter (DOM) takes only a minor part (<1%) of soil organic matter (SOM), therefore its investigation to estimate SOM properties as a whole is rare. Most studies focus on isolated fulvic or humic acids those take only a minor fraction of SOM and are regarded as highly artificial (alkali solubility) categories. Contrarily, DOM...

Adaptation is the most important strategy to reduce the effect of climate change and soil erosion. During this process adequate, rational land use is necessary to ensure climate resilience. Therefore, the main objective in this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of different land use intensities (arable land and grassland) to soil erosion. Th...

The Mt. Ojos del Salado (6893 m a.s.l.) is situated within the Andean Arid Diagonal, on the Chilean-Argentinean border. Due to the extremely arid climate, surface ice is not widespread on the Mt. Ojos del Salado and at similar high altitude massifs in the region, though ice-bearing permafrost might be present. However, the thermal regime of the gro...

Formation mechanism of landslides along the west bank of the Danube is still unclear. In this study we examined red clay samples from the 2014 landslide, Kulcs, Hungary. The main aim of our study is to determine if there is differences in the grain size and morphology between the samples from the recently moved sliding surface, the nearby area (sam...