Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The rows formed slow surface water run-off during rainstorms to prevent soil erosion and allow the water time to infiltrate into the soil. Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination
Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order ( anisotropy ) within soils.
The Soil Conservation Service worked with state governments and universities with established agriculture programs, such as the University of Nebraska, to promote the method to farmers. By 1938, the introduction of new agricultural techniques, such as contour plowing, had reduced soil loss by 65% despite the continuation of the drought.
Soil texture is the analysis and classification of the particle size distribution in soil. The relative amounts of sand, silt, and clay particles determine a soil's texture, which affects the appearance, feel and chemical properties of the soil. [12] Soil texture-by-feel method
The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is a widely used mathematical model that describes soil erosion processes. [1]Erosion models play critical roles in soil and water resource conservation and nonpoint source pollution assessments, including: sediment load assessment and inventory, conservation planning and design for sediment control, and for the advancement of scientific understanding.
Biological soil crusts are most often [3] composed of fungi, lichens, cyanobacteria, bryophytes, and algae in varying proportions. These organisms live in intimate association in the uppermost few millimeters of the soil surface, and are the biological basis for the formation of soil crusts.
The benefits of improving soil structure for the growth of plants, particularly in an agricultural setting, include: reduced erosion due to greater soil aggregate strength and decreased overland flow; improved root penetration and access to soil moisture and nutrients; improved emergence of seedlings due to reduced crusting of the surface; and ...
This archetypal form of swale is a dug-out, sloped, often grassed or reeded "ditch" or "lull" in the landform. One option involves piling the soil onto a new bank on the still lower slope, in which case a bund or berm is formed, mitigating the natural (and often hardscape-increased ) risks to slopes below and to any linked watercourse from ...