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A soil layer is a zone in the soil, approximately parallel to the soil surface, with properties different from layers above and/or below it. If at least one of these properties is the result of soil-forming processes, the layer is called a soil horizon. In the following, the term layer is used to indicate the possibility that soil-forming ...
A further consequence of continued cultivation and traffic is the development of compacted, impermeable layers or 'pans' within the profile. The decline of soil structure under irrigation is usually related to the breakdown of aggregates and dispersion of clay material as a result of rapid wetting.
These horizons are distinguishable from adjacent layers by their changes in morphological properties as the soil naturally forms. The same soil horizons may be named and labeled differently in various soil classification systems around the world, though most systems contain the following: Diagram of soil horizons
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 within soils.
A phase diagram of soil indicating the masses and volumes of air, solid, water, and voids. There are a variety of parameters used to describe the relative proportions of air, water and solid in a soil. This section defines these parameters and some of their interrelationships. [2] [6] The basic notation is as follows:
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil. Soil measuring and surveying device
The soil forming process (pedogenesis) can begin without the aid of biology but is significantly quickened in the presence of biologic reactions, where it forms a soil carbon sponge. [2] Soil formation begins with the chemical and/or physical breakdown of minerals to form the initial material that overlies the bedrock substrate.
The red dotted-to-solid line depicts the average temperature profile with depth of soil in a permafrost region. The trumpet-shaped lines at the top show seasonal maximum and minimum temperatures in the "active layer", which commences at the depth where the maximum annual temperature intersects 0 °C. The active layer is seasonally frozen.