Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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
A soil scientist examining horizons within a soil profile. Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.
A represents soil; B represents laterite, a regolith; C represents saprolite, a less-weathered regolith; beneath C is bedrock. Saprolite is a chemically weathered rock. Saprolites form in the lower zones of soil profiles and represent deep weathering of the bedrock surface. In most outcrops, its color comes from ferric compounds.
Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. [3] Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water. Soil consistency is the ability of soil materials to stick together. Soil temperature and colour are self-defining.
A diagnostic horizon is a horizon used to define soil taxonomic units (e.g., to define soil types). A taxonomic unit is determined by the presence or absence of one or more diagnostic horizons in a required depth. In addition, most classification systems use other soil characteristics to define taxonomic units.
Intensive farming methods to satisfy high food demands with high crop yields and growing crops in monocultures can deplete the soil nutrients and damage the soil microbiome. These factors can affect the consistency and quality of the soil resulting in increased erosion. Surface runoff from farm fields is a type of nonpoint source pollution.
Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The subsoil is labeled the B Horizon in most soil mapping systems.
Soil conditions produce uniform or gradual color changes, while reducing environments result in disrupted color flow with complex, mottled patterns and points of color concentration. Sometimes, a distinct change in color within a soil profile indicates a change in the soil parent material or mineral origin. [3]