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In classical [1] soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Latin word for "earth" or "ground". [2]
The term comes from humus, which in turn comes from the Latin word humus, meaning "soil, earth". [1] Humic substances represent the major part of organic matter in soil , peat , coal , and sediments , and are important components of dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) in lakes (especially dystrophic lakes ), rivers, and sea water .
They can absorb and retain more water and are able to accumulate more dust particles. Their dead remains are decomposed to humus which mixes with soil particles and help building substratum and improving soil moisture contents further. The shallow depressions in the rocks and crevices become filled with soil and topsoil layer increases further ...
Its humus is black in colour and porous, with a spongy texture. Only 20% of a phumdi's thickness floats above the water surface; the other 80% remains submerged. [ 15 ] Before the construction of the Loktak Hydroelectric Project, the park area containing phumdis was merely marshy land, but since the commissioning of the project, two ecosystems ...
Humins make up about 50% of the organic matter in soil. [ 1 ] Due to their very complex molecular structure, humic substances, including humin, do not correspond to pure substances but consist of a mixture of many compounds that remain very difficult to characterize even using modern analytical techniques.
Chernozem (/ ˈ tʃ ɜːr n ə z ɛ m / CHUR-nə-zem), [a] also called black soil, regur soil or black cotton soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus [3] (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds. [4] Chernozem is very fertile soil and can produce high agricultural yields with its high ...
Soil has a crucial function in the global carbon cycle, with the global soil carbon pool estimated to be 2,500 gigatons. This is 3.3 times the amount of the atmospheric pool at 750 gigatons and 4.5 times the biotic pool at 560 gigatons.
Humus also absorbs water, and expands and shrinks between dry and wet states to a higher extent than clay, increasing soil porosity. [174] Humus is less stable than the soil's mineral constituents, as it is reduced by microbial decomposition, and over time its concentration diminishes without the addition of new organic matter.