Chlorinated solvent are volatile organic substances that can be harmful for humans and for the environment. Examples of common chlorinated solvents are perchloroethene, PCE, and trichloroethene, TCE. Chlorinated solvents appear as contaminants in soils primarily where they have been used as washing fluids in dry-cleaning facilities or as degreasers in metal industries. Chlorinated solvents are DNAPLs (dense non-aqueous phase liquids), which means that they are not easily dissolved in water and that they sink to the bottom of the aquifer. Adsorption to soils is low so chlorinated solvents are mobile in soils.

Resin-top disease is a rust fungi that occurs both as a host alternating form, Cronartium flaccidum G. Winter., and as a non-host alternating form, Peridermium pini Pers. The host alternating form can use a variety of hosts but the most commonly used species in the boreal forest is Melampyrum sylvaticum. In Scandinavia the Resin-top disease infect Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L. The fungus infects the needles through the stomata and then grows through the branch to the stem where it strangulates the vessels transporting water and nutrition to the treetop, which kills the top.

Mounds of fire-cracked stones is a typical Bronze Age monument for the region around lake Mälaren. They are usually, because of their content, interpreted as piles of rubbish. But as they often have kerbs, are situated on cemeteries and sometimes contain human bones, the traditional interpretation is not fully satisfactory.The main focus of this essay is on the mounds of fire-cracked stones which contain human bones in the region north of lake Mälaren. With a detailed study of these, and a comparison with those without human bones, my aim is to get closer to an explanation why the human bones were deposited. The essay consist of a comp­ilation  of 98 excavated mounds and a database with various information gathered from excavation reports and archive documents.With different kinds of osteological aspects taken in consideration, the study shows that human bones have been found in about a third of the mounds.

This study is a degree project in environmental engineering at Mälardalens university. Its purpose has been to perform a risk assessment on whether or not any contaminations are present in the soil at two properties in Köping. The assessment was to be done accordingly to a method that has been set up by The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket). The method for investigation of contaminated sites is called MIFO. MIFO consists of two stages.

The aim of this essay was to study the nitrogen flow in two willowplantations, at different locations in the south of Sweden, that wereirrigated with sewage. The study was also performed to compare thedifferences in nitrogen flows between two years, 1998 and 1999. The studywas made in three parts. First, the denitrification activity was measuredusing the acetylen inhibition method. Second the nitrogen flow, as well asthe water- and heat flows, were modeled through the SOIL-SOILN-modelThird; the nitrogen flow was calculated to compare with the results fromthe model.The results from the measurements were then compared with the resultsfrom the SOILN-simulations to detect differences in the denitrificationrate.

Inside the south Swedish national park Dalby Söderskog, wild boars (Sus scrofa L.) have been visiting since 2010. The presence of wild boars has earlier been proven to impact both soil and vegetation characteristics, both positively and negatively. Still, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the rooting effect on the vegetation in deciduous forest within the native range. In this study, I have compared the field vegetation collected before and after the invasion of wild boars in 74 permanent experimental plots. More specifically, the study aimed to qualify the effect of wild boar rooting on cover ratio, species richness and species composition in a temperate deciduous forest.

Åfors glasswork was a company which started in 1876 and closed in 2012 due to the bad economical situation in the company. After its closure, the glasswork left behind contaminated soil with different concentrations of heavy metals such as, arsenic from arsenic trioxide, a chemical used to remove bubbles during the melting of glass, and lead oxide, a chemical used in the production of crystal glass. Crystal glass?s production occurred under 1921-1971, but emissions of lead into the air from Åfors glasswork continued until 2011, because of the artist Bertil Valliens? artglas was made in Åfors glasswork from 1970?s and onwards.The aim of this study was to estimate how much lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) that were released by Åfors Glasswork into the atmosphere during the operational period of the glasswork in comparison with how much of lead and arsenic were purchased for the company. Added to the assistance of the data from National Archives the variations in the activities of Åfors glasswork could be shown.

Quality assurance means to systematically work for better understanding of the customers needs, demands and expectations. The goal for this study was to investigate how quality can be assured in the job follow up that is made by forestry contractors after soil scarification and planting. The study consisted of a description over the current follow up process at SCA forest AB Jämtlands forest administration, analysis of current follow up situation and an investigation of follow up process made by contractors in other line of business. The first step was a statistical comparison where the own follow up made by contractors were compared with follow up made by SCA them selves over 100 stands. Two soil scarification contractors and two planting contractors carried out the silvicultural measures. The results showed that significant differences between a number of quality factors measured, for example number of approved plants or approved scarification points, average score on stand and number of totally planted plants.

Two field experiments were conducted in central Sweden in order to: 1) Determine a relationship between the number of approaching pine weevils (Hylobius sp.) and the number of attacks by pine weevils, in relation to the size of seedlings of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). 2) Determine if application of methyljasmonate (MJ) on seedlings of Scots pine will result in higher resistance towards attacks by pine weevils and/or have any effect on the number of approaching pine weevils. The field experiments were designed with two separate parts in close vicinity on the same clear cuttings: a) pitfall traps placed in patches of scarified soil that caught approaching pine weevils at 2.5 cm from the bait, which consisted of different sized seedlings of Scots pine some of which were subjected to application of MJ and b) the same type of seedlings planted out in patches of scarified soil. The first field experiment was conducted on a 1-year old clear cutting outside Uppsala in east central Sweden and the trapping part of the experiment consisted of 8 blocks with 6 treatments: 1) control, 2) small over-wintered seedling, 3) medium sized seedling, 4) medium sized seedling treated with 0.5 ml 100 mmol MJ 4 days prior to start of experiment, 5) large seedling, 6) vial with 9.5 ml of ?-pinene. The trapping experiment lasted for 6 weeks in the early summer.

This thesis compares different methods for risk assessment of a creosote contaminated site in Vansbro, Dalarna. In a complementary study the importance of using representative data for calibration and validation of stationary groundwater models is discussed. The time dependency between surface water levels and groundwater levels on the site in Vansbro is evaluated by step response analysis. The results show that the groundwater levels reflect only long-term variation in the surface water levels. Hence the use of such long-term means for calibration and validation of the stationary groundwater models is the only theoretically defendable alternative.As a first step in the comparison of risk assessment methods the degree of contamination is evaluated on the basis of generic guideline values for contaminated soils, developed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

From the pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age, a number of different fossil agrarian landscapes can be found in southern Sweden - clearance cairn areas, celtic fields, stone-wall complexes and geometrically laid-out strip fields. With two different comparative analyses, this paper tries to explain some of the differences between clearance cairn systems and the other fossil field systemsThe shape of the early Iron Age agrarian landscape varies between different provinces of southern Sweden. At Gotland, celtic field systems were laid-out before 500 BC. In Småland at the same time, areas with clearance cairns were created. How can the difference be explained? The different physical appearance of clearance cairn areas and celtic fields can be explained by the different ways to handle the ard in till and in sandy soil.

This paper is the result of an osteological study of the skeletal remains uncovered during an archaeological excavation of the medieval cemetery in Norra Nöbbelöv. The purpose of the study is to compare the material from the rural site (Norra Nöbbelöv) with materials excavated from the old medieval graveyards in the city of Lund. The aim is to try and shedsome light on the question of whether there is any difference in the occurrence and frequency of fractures and osteoarthritis in the materials compared. The first section of the paper consists of a short historical background of Norra Nöbbelöv and Lund, a chapter on ethics, general results of the analysis and the methods used. Thissection was co-authored by Ulla Zagal-Mach and Åsa Strandh.

This thesis deals with numerical simulation of earth pressure against tubular bridges in the software Plaxis. Plaxis is a FEM (Finite Element Method) software based on numerical calculations for which approximate solutions are developed through an iterative process. The program is specifically designed for soil and rock mechanical tests, such as voltage and deformation calculations in soil.The Royal Institute of Technology conducted in 2005, field tests on tubular bridges of corrugated steel, which was part of Ersa Bayoglu Fleners PhD (Bayoglu Flener, 2009). She studied how two different tubular bridges deformed during installation and filling. Tests and measurements were made during filling.

This literature review describes organic pig production in Sweden, its advantages and disadvantages, but also how its problems can be reduced or solved. Organic pigs have the possibility to a more natural behaviour than conventional pigs. With outdoor pigs comes problems, especially during wintertime, concerning water and feed supply, thermal environment and supervision. Parasites and leakage of plant nutrients are other difficulties that comes with outdoor pigs. All problems and difficulties can be reduced or put right through correct management.

Rapid population growth and the fact that phosphorous is a limited resource implies that the question regarding an efficient use of phosphorus is of great importance, and consequently,that the phosphorous use efficiency should be as high as possible. The view on phosphorous use efficiency, and how this is calculated, has varied over time. This has had great implications on what type of research that has been conducted, which have resulted in an inconsistency between the academic?s view on the subject and recommendations received by farmers. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the phosphorus use efficiency in the Swedish long term fertility experiments.