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Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. [ 1 ] pH is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of the activity of hydronium ions (H+ or, more precisely, H3O+aq) in a solution.
Soil acidification. Soil acidification is the buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the soil pH. Chemically, this happens when a proton donor gets added to the soil. The donor can be an acid, such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, or carbonic acid. It can also be a compound such as aluminium sulfate, which reacts in the soil to release protons.
The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity. [ 1 ] Soil texture is determined by the relative proportion of the three kinds of soil mineral particles, called soil separates: sand ...
Soil chemistry is the study of the chemical characteristics of soil.Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors. In the early 1870s a consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society in England, named J. Thomas Way, performed many experiments on how soils exchange ions, and is considered the father of soil chemistry. [1]
At 25 °C (77°F), solutions with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic. Solutions with a pH of 7 at 25 °C are neutral (i.e. have the same concentration of H + ions as OH − ions, i.e. the same as pure water). The neutral value of the pH depends on the temperature and is lower than 7 if the temperature ...
For the reproduction by an organism that has not achieved physical maturity, see Paedogenesis. Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soilgenesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemicalprocesses act to both create and destroy order (anisotropy) within soils.
[72] [71] Platy soil structure and soil compaction (low porosity) impede gas flow, and a deficiency of oxygen may encourage anaerobic bacteria to reduce (strip oxygen) from nitrate NO 3 to the gases N 2, N 2 O, and NO, which are then lost to the atmosphere, thereby depleting the soil of nitrogen, a detrimental process called denitrification. [73]
Soil structure describes the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and of the pore spaces located between them (Marshall & Holmes, 1979). [1] Aggregation is the result of the interaction of soil particles through rearrangement, flocculation and cementation. It is enhanced by: [1][2] the precipitation of oxides, hydroxides, carbonates and ...