thumb field in Germany.
thumb developed in glacial till, Northern Ireland
Soil
is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. [1] It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes that include weathering and erosion. Soil differs from its parent rock due to interactions between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and the biosphere. [2] It is a mixture of mineral and organic constituents that are in solid, gaseous and aqueous states. [3] [4] Soil particles pack loosely, forming a soil structure filled with pore spaces. These pores contain soil solution (liquid) and air (gas). [5] Accordingly, soils are often treated as a three state system. [6] Most soils have a density between 1 and 2 g/cm³. [7] Soil is also known as earth
: it is the substance from which our planet takes its name. Little of the soil composition of planet Earth is older than Tertiary and most no older than Pleistocene. [8] In engineering, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose rock material.
thumb are typical in some regions.
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SOIL TICKETS
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Soil forming factors
Soil formation, or
pedogenesis, is the combined effect of physical, chemical, biological, and
anthropogenic processes on soil parent material. Soil genesis involves processes that develop layers or horizons in the soil profile. These processes involve additions, losses, transformations and translocations of material that compose the soil. Minerals derived from weathered rocks undergo changes that cause the formation of secondary minerals and other compounds that are variably soluble in water, these constitutes are moved (translocated) from one area of the soil to other areas by water and animal activity. The alteration and movement of materials within soil causes the formation of distinctive
soil horizons. The weathering of bedrock produces the parent material from which soils form. An example of soil development from bare rock occurs on recent
lava flows in warm regions under heavy and very frequent rainfall. In such climates, plants become established very quickly on
basaltic lava, even though there is very little organic material. The plants are supported by the porous rock becoming filled with nutrient-bearing water, for example carrying dissolved bird droppings or
guano. The developing plant roots, themselves or associated with
mycorrhizal fungi,
[9] gradually break up the porous lava, and organic matter soon accumulates. But even before it does, the predominantly porous broken lava in which the plant roots grow can be considered a soil. How the soil "life" cycle proceeds is influenced by at least five classic soil forming factors that are dynamically intertwined in shaping the way soil is developed, they include: parent material, regional climate, topography, biotic potential and the passage of time.
[10]
Parent material
The material from which soils form is called parent material. It includes: weathered primary bedrock; secondary material transported from other locations, e.g.
colluvium and
alluvium; deposits that are already present but mixed or altered in other ways - old soil formations, organic material including
peat or alpine humus; and anthropogenic materials, like
landfill or mine waste.
[11] Few soils form directly from the breakdown of the underlying rocks they develop on. These soils are often called “residual soils”, and have the same general chemistry as their parent rocks. Most soils derive from materials that have been transported from other locations by wind, water and gravity.
[12] Some of these materials may have moved many miles or only a few feet. Windblown material called
loess is common in the
Midwest of
North America and in central
Asia and other locations.
Glacial till is a component of many soils in the northern and southern
latitudes and those formed near large mountains, and is the product of
glacial ice moving over the ground. The ice can break rock and larger stones into smaller pieces, it also can sort material into different sizes. As glacial ice melts, the melt water also moves and sorts material and deposits it varying distances from its origin. The deeper sections of the soil profile may have materials that are relatively unchanged from when they were deposited by water, ice, or wind.
Weather is the first stage in the transforming of parent material into soil material. In soils forming from bedrock, a thick layer of weathered material called
saprolite may form. Saprolite is the result of weathering processes that include: hydrolysis (the replacement of a mineral’s cations with hydrogen ions),
chelation from organic compounds, hydration (the absorption of water by minerals), solution of minerals by water, and physical processes that include freezing and thawing or wetting and drying.
The mineralogical and chemical composition of the primary bedrock material, plus physical features, including grain size and degree of consolidation, plus the rate and type of weathering, transforms it into different soil materials.
Climate
Soil formation greatly depends on the climate, and soils from different
climate zones show distinctive characteristics.
[13] Temperature and moisture affect weathering and leaching. Wind moves sand and other particles, especially in arid regions where there is little plant cover. The type and amount of
precipitation influence soil formation by affecting the movement of ions and particles through the soil, aiding in the development of different soil profiles. Seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations affect the effectiveness of water in weathering parent rock material and affect soil dynamics, freezing and thawing is an affective mechanism to break up rocks and other consolidated materials. Temperature and precipitation rates affect biological activity, rates of chemical reactions, and types of vegetation cover.
Biological factors
Plants, animals,
fungi,
bacteria and humans affect soil formation. Animals and
micro-organisms mix soils and form
burrows and pores allowing moisture and gases to seep into deeper layers. In the same way, plant roots open channels in the soils, especially plants with deep taproots which can penetrate many meters through the different soil layers bringing up nutrients from deeper in the soil. Plants with fibrous roots that spread out near the soil surface, have roots that are easily decomposed, adding organic matter. Micro-organisms, including fungi and bacteria affect chemical exchanges between roots and soil and act as a reserve of nutrients. Humans can impact soil formation by removing vegetation cover, which promotes
erosion. They can also mix the different soil layers, restarting the soil formation process as less weathered material is mixed with and diluting the more developed upper layers.
Vegetation impacts soils in numerous ways. It can prevent erosion from rain or surface runoff. It shades soils, keeping them cooler and slowing evaporation of soil moisture. Or it can cause soils to dry out by
transpiration. Plants can form new chemicals that break down or build up soil particles. Vegetation depends on climate, land form topography, and biological factors. Soil factors such as soil density, depth, chemistry,
pH, temperature and moisture greatly affect the type of plants that can grow in a given location. Dead plants and dropped leaves and stems of plants fall to the surface of the soil and decompose. There, organisms feed on them and mix the organic material with the upper soil layers; these organic compounds become part of the soil formation process, ultimately shaping the type of soil formed.
Time
Time is a factor in the interactions of all the above factors as they develop soil. Over time, soils evolve features dependent on the other forming factors, and soil formation is a time-responsive process dependent on how the other factors interplay with each other. Soil is always changing. For example, recently-deposited material from a flood exhibits no soil development because there has not been enough time for soil forming activities. The soil surface is buried, and the formation process begins again for this soil. The long periods over which change occurs and its multiple influences mean that simple soils are rare, resulting in the formation of soil horizons. While soil can achieve relative stability in properties for extended periods, the soil life cycle ultimately ends in soil conditions that leave it vulnerable to erosion. But despite the inevitability of soil retrogression and degradation, most soil cycles are long and productive.
Soil-forming factors continue to affect soils during their existence, even on “stable” landscapes that are long-enduring, some for millions of years. Materials are deposited on top and materials are blown or washed away from the surface. With additions, removals, and alterations, soils are always subject to new conditions. Whether these are slow or rapid changes, depends on climate, landscape position, and biological activity.
Characteristics
300pxs by
clay,
silt and
sand composition.
thumb of
Canada.
Soil color is often the first impression one has when viewing soil. Striking colors and contrasting patterns are especially memorable. The
Red River (Mississippi watershed) carries sediment eroded from extensive reddish soils like
Port Silt Loam in
Oklahoma. The
Yellow River in China carries yellow sediment from eroding loessal soils.
Mollisols in the
Great Plains are darkened and enriched by organic matter.
Podsols in boreal forests have highly contrasting layers due to acidity and leaching. Soil color is primarily influenced by soil mineralogy. Many soil colors are due to the extensive and various
iron minerals. The development and distribution of color in a soil profile result from chemical and biological weathering, especially
redox reactions. As the primary minerals in soil parent material weather, the elements combine into new and colorful
compounds. Iron forms secondary minerals with a yellow or red color, organic matter decomposes into black and brown compounds, and
manganese,
sulfur and
nitrogen can form black mineral deposits. These pigments produce various color patterns due to effects by the environment during soil formation.
Aerobic conditions produce uniform or gradual color changes, while
reducing environments result in disrupted color flow with complex, mottled patterns and points of color concentration.
[14]
Soil structure is the arrangement of soil particles into aggregates. These may have various shapes, sizes and degrees of development or expression.
[15] Soil structure affects aeration, water movement, resistance to erosion, and plant
root growth. Structure often gives clues to texture, organic matter content, biological activity, past soil evolution and human use, and chemical and mineralogical conditions under which the soil formed.
Soil texture refers to
sand,
silt and
clay composition. Soil content affects soil behavior, including the retention capacity for nutrients and water.
[16] Sand and silt are the products of physical weathering, while clay is the product of chemical weathering. Clay content has retention capacity for nutrients and water. Clay soils resist wind and water erosion better than silty and sandy soils, because the particles are more tightly joined to each other. In medium textured soils, clay is often translocated downward through the soil profile and accumulates in the subsoil.
The electrical
resistivity of soil can affect the rate of
galvanic corrosion of metallic structures in contact with the soil. Higher moister content or increased
electrolyte concentration can lower the resistivity and thereby increase the rate of corrosion.
[17] Soil resistivity values typically range from about 2 to 1000
O·
m, but more extreme values are not unusual.
[18]
Soil horizons
The naming of
soil horizons is based on the type of material the horizons are composed of; these materials reflect the duration of the specific processes used in soil formation. They are labeled using a short hand notation of letters and numbers.
[19] They are described and classified by their color, size, texture, structure, consistency, root quantity,
pH, voids, boundary characteristics, and if they have nodules or concretions.
[20] Any one soil profile does not have all the major horizons covered below, soils may have few or many horizons.
The exposure of parent material to favorable conditions produces initial soils that are suitable for plant growth. Plant growth often results in the accumulation of organic residues, the accumulated organic layer is called the
O horizon. Biological organisms colonize and break down organic materials, making available nutrients that other plants and animals can live on, and after sufficient time, a distinctive organic surface layer forms with humus which is called the A horizon.
Classification
Soil is classified into categories in order to understand relationships between different soils and to determine the usefulness of a soil for a particular use. One of the first classification systems was developed by the
Russian scientist
Dokuchaev around 1880. It was modified a number of times by American and European researchers and developed into the system commonly used until the 1960s. It was based on the idea that soils have a particular morphology based on the the materials and factors that form them. In the 1960s, a different classification system began to emerge, that focused on soil morphology instead of parental materials and soil forming factors. Since then, it has undergone further modifications.
Orders
Orders are the highest category of soil classification. Order types end in the letters sol. In the US classification system, there are 10 orders:
[21]
- Entisol - recently formed soils that lack well-developed horizons. Commonly found on unconsolidated sediments like sand, some have an A horizon on top of bedrock.
- Vertisol - inverted soils. They tend to swell when wet and shrink upon drying, often forming deep cracks that surface layers can fall into.
- Inceptisol - young soils. They have subsurface horizon formation but show little eluviation and illuviation.
- Aridisol - dry soils forming under desert conditions. They include nearly 20% of soils on Earth. Soil formation is slow, and accumulated organic matter is scarce. They may have a subsurface zones (calcic horizons) where calcium carbonates have accumulated from percolating water. Many aridiso soils have well-developed Bt horizons showing clay movement from past periods of more moisture.
- Mollisol - soft soils.
- Spodosol - soils produced by podsolization. They are typical soils of coniferous and deciduous forests in cooler climates.
- Alfisol - soils with aluminum and iron. They have horizons of were clay accumulates, and form where there is enough moisture and warmth for at least three months of plant growth.
- Ultisol - soils that are heavily leached.
- Oxisol - soil with heavy oxide content.
- Histosol - organic soils.
Other order schemes may include:
- Andisols - volcanic soils, which tend to be high in glass content.
- Gelisols - permafrost soils.
Organic matter
Most living things in soils, including plants, insects, bacteria and fungi, are dependent on organic matter for nutrients and energy. Soils often have varying degrees of organic compounds in different states of decomposition. Many soils, including desert and rocky-gravel soils, have no or little organic matter. Soils that are all organic matter, such as
peat (
histosols), are infertile.
[22]
Humus
Humus refers to
organic matter that has decomposed to a point where it is resistant to further breakdown or alteration.
Humic acids and
fulvic acids are important constituents of humus and typically form from plant residues like
foliage,
stems and
roots. After death, these plant residues begin to decay, starting the formation of humus. Humus formation involves changes within the soil and plant residue, there is a reduction of water soluble constituents including
cellulose and
hemicellulose; as the residues are deposited and break down,
humin,
lignin and lignin complexes accumulate within the soil; as microorganisms live and feed on the decaying plant matter, an increase in proteins occurs.
Lignin is resistant to breakdown and accumulates within the soil, it also chemically reacts with amino acids which add to its resistance to decomposition, including enzymatic decomposition by microbes.
Fats and
waxes from plant matter have some resistance to decomposition and persist in soils for a while. Clay soils often have higher organic contents that persist longer than soils without clay. Proteins normally decompose readily, but when bound to clay particles they become more resistant to decomposition. Clay particles also absorb
enzymes that would break down proteins. The addition of organic matter to clay soils, can render the organic matter and any added nutrients inaccessible to plants and microbes for many years, since they can bind strongly to the clay. High soil
tannin (
polyphenol) content from plants can cause nitrogen to be sequestered by proteins or cause nitrogen immobilization, also making nitrogen unavailable to plants.
[23] [24]
Humus formation is a process dependent on the amount of plant material added each year and the type of base soil; both are affected by climate and the type of organisms present. Soils with humus can vary in nitrogen content but have 3 to 6 percent nitrogen typically; humus as a reserve of nitrogen and phosphorus, is a vital component effecting soil fertility.
Humus also adsorbs water, acting as a moisture reserve, that plants can utilize; it also expands and shrinks between dry and wet states, providing
pore spaces. Humus is less stable than other soil constituents, because it is affected by microbial decomposition, and over time its concentration decreases without the addition of new organic matter. However, some forms of humus are highly stable and may persist over centuries if not millennia: they are issued from the slow oxidation of
charcoal, also called
black carbon, like in Amazonian
Terra preta or Black Earths
[25], or from the sequestration of humic compounds within mineral horizons, like in
podzols [26].
Climate and organics
The production and accumulation or degradation of organic matter and humus is greatly dependent on climate conditions. Temperature and soil moisture are the major factors in the formation or degradation of organic matter, they along with
topography, determine the formation of organic soils. Soils high in organic matter tend to form under wet or cold conditions where
decomposer activity is impeded by low temperature
[27] or excess moisture
[28].
Soil solutions
Different soils, under varying conditions, have diverse colloidal solutions. These solutions exchange gases with the soil atmosphere. These solutions can contain dissolved sugars, fulvic acids and other organic acids, plant micro nutrients such as zinc, iron and copper, plus other metals, ammonium plus a host of others. Some soils have sodium solutions that greatly impact plant growth, calcium is common in forest soils. Soil pH effects the type and amount of
anions and
cations that soil solutions contain and exchange with the soil atmosphere and biological organisms.
[29]
In nature
Biogeography is the study of special variations in biological communities. Soils are a restricting factor as to which plants can grow in which environments. Soil scientists survey soils in the hope of understanding controls as to what vegetation can and will grow in a particular location.
Geologists also have a particular interest in the patterns of soil on the surface of the earth. Soil texture, color and chemistry often reflect the underlying geologic parent material and
soil types often change at geologic unit boundaries. Buried
paleosols mark
previous land surfaces and record
climatic conditions from previous eras. Geologists use this
paleopedological record to understand the ecological relationships in past ecosystems. According to the theory of
biorhexistasy, prolonged conditions conducive to forming deep, weathered soils result in increasing ocean salinity and the formation of limestone.
Geologists use
soil profile features to establish the duration of surface stability in the context of
geologic faults or
slope stability. An offset
subsoil horizon indicates rupture during soil formation and the degree of subsequent subsoil formation is relied upon to establish time since rupture.
thumb
thumb walls fit in with environmental sustainability aspirations.
thumb bin in background. Composting is an excellent way to recycle household and yard wastes.
right
Soil examined in
shovel test pits is used by archaeologists for relative dating based on stratigraphy (as opposed to
absolute dating). What is considered most typical is to use soil profile features to determine the maximum reasonable pit depth than needs to be examined for archaeological evidence in the interest of
cultural resources management.
Soils altered or formed by man (anthropic and
anthropogenic soils) are also of interest to archaeologists, such as
terra preta soils.
Uses
Soil is used in agriculture, where it serves as the primary nutrient base for the plants, however, as demonstrated by
hydroponics, it is not essential to plant growth if the soil-contained nutrients could be dissolved in a solution. The types of soil used in agriculture (among other things, such as the purported level of moisture in the soil) vary with respect to the species of plants that are cultivated.
Soil material is a critical component in the mining and construction industries. Soil serves as a foundation for most construction projects. Massive volumes of soil can be involved in surface mining, road building, and dam construction.
Earth sheltering is the architectural practice of using soil for external
thermal mass against building walls.
Soil resources are critical to the environment, as well as to food and fiber production. Soil provides minerals and water to plants. Soil absorbs rainwater and releases it later thus preventing floods and drought. Soil cleans the water as it percolates. Soil is the habitat for many organisms: the major part of known and unknown
biodiversity is in the soil, in the form of
invertebrates (
earthworms,
woodlice,
millipedes,
centipedes,
snails,
slugs,
mites,
springtails, enchytraeids,
nematodes,
protists),
bacteria,
archaea,
fungi and
algae, and most organisms living aboveground have part of them (
plants) or spend part of their
life cycle (
insects) belowground. Aboveground and belowground biodiversities are tightly interconnected
[30] [31], making soil protection of paramount importance for any restoration or conservation plan.
Waste management often has a soil component.
Septic drain fields treat
septic tank effluent using aerobic soil processes.
Landfills use soil for
daily cover.
Organic soils, especially
peat, serve as a significant fuel resource, but wide areas of peat production, such as
sphagnum bogs, are now protected, because of patrimonial interest.
Both animals and humans in many cultures, occasionally
consume soil. It has been shown that some
monkeys consume soil, together with their preferred food (tree
foliage and
fruits) in order to alleviate
tannin toxicity
[32].
Soils filter and purify water and effect its chemistry. Rain water and pooled water from ponds, lakes and rivers percolate through the soil horizons and the upper rock strata, and thus become groundwater.
Pests (
viruses) and
pollutants such as persistant organic pollutants (
chlorinated pesticides,
PCBs), oils (
hydrocarbons), heavy metals (
lead,
zinc,
cadmium), and excess nutrients (
nitrates,
sulphates,
phosphates) are filtered out by the soil
[33] and soil organisms
metabolize them or immobilize them in their
biomass and necromass
[34], thereby incorporating them into stable
humus [35]. The physical integrity of soil is also a prerequisite for avoiding landslides in rugged landscapes
[36].
Degradation
Land degradation is a human-induced or natural process which impairs the capacity of
land to function. Soils are the critical component in land degradation when it involves acidification, contamination, desertification, erosion, or salination.
While
soil acidification of alkaline soils is beneficial, it degrades land when soil acidity lowers crop productivity and increases soil vulnerability to contamination and erosion. Soils are often initially acid because their
parent materials were acid and initially low in the
basic cations (
calcium,
magnesium,
potassium, and
sodium). Acidification occurs when these elements are removed from the soil profile by normal rainfall or the harvesting of forest or agricultural crops. Soil acidification is accelerated by the use of acid-forming
nitrogenous fertilizers and by the effects of
acid precipitation.
Soil contamination at low levels is often within soil capacity to treat and assimilate. Many waste treatment processes rely on this treatment capacity. Exceeding treatment capacity can damage soil biota and limit soil function.
Derelict soils occur where industrial contamination or other development activity damages the soil to such a degree that the land cannot be used safely or productively.
Remediation of derelict soil uses principles of
geology, physics, chemistry, and biology to degrade, attenuate, isolate, or remove soil contaminants and to restore soil functions and values. Techniques include leaching, air sparging, chemical amendments,
phytoremediation,
bioremediation, and natural attenuation.
Desertification is an environmental process of ecosystem degradation in arid and semi-arid regions, often caused by human activity. It is a common misconception that
droughts cause desertification. Droughts are common in arid and semiarid lands. Well-managed lands can recover from drought when the rains return. Soil management tools include maintaining soil nutrient and organic matter levels, reduced tillage and increased cover. These practices help to control erosion and maintain productivity during periods when moisture is available. Continued land abuse during droughts, however, increases land degradation. Increased population and livestock pressure on marginal lands accelerates desertification.
Soil
erosional loss is caused by wind, water, ice, movement in response to
gravity. Although the processes may be simultaneous, erosion is distinguished from
weathering. Erosion is an intrinsic natural process, but in many places it is increased by human
land use. Poor land use practices include
deforestation,
overgrazing, and improper construction activity. Improved management can limit erosion using techniques like limiting disturbance during construction, avoiding construction during erosion prone periods, intercepting runoff,
terrace-building, use of erosion suppressing cover materials and planting trees or other soil binding plants.
A serious and long-running water erosion problem occurs in
China, on the middle reaches of the
Yellow River and the upper reaches of the
Yangtze River. From the Yellow River, over 1.6 billion tons of sediment flow each year into the ocean. The
sediment originates primarily from water erosion (gully erosion) in the
Loess Plateau region of northwest China.
Soil piping is a particular form of soil erosion that occurs below the soil surface. It is associated with levee and dam failure as well as sink hole formation. Turbulent flow removes soil starting from the mouth of the seep flow and subsoil erosion advances upgradient.
[37]
The term sand boil is used to describe the appearance of the discharging end of an active soil pipe.
[38]
Soil salination is the accumulation of free
salts to such an extent that it leads to degradation of soils and vegetation. Consequences include corrosion damage, reduced plant growth, erosion due to loss of plant cover and soil structure, and water quality problems due to sedimentation. Salination occurs due to a combination of natural and human caused processes. Arid conditions favor salt accumulation. This is especially apparent when soil parent material is saline. Irrigation of arid lands is especially problematic. All irrigation water has some level of salinity. Irrigation, especially when it involves leakage from canals, often raise the underlying water table. Rapid salination occurs when the land surface is within the capillary fringe of saline groundwater.
Soil salinity control involves flushing with higher levels of applied water in combination with tile drainage.
[39]
See also
- Index of soil-related articles
- Geoponic
- Hydroponics
- Agrophysics
- Manure
- Nitrogen cycle
- Red Mediterranean soil
- Shrink-swell capacity
References
- Birkeland, Peter W. ''Soils and Geomorphology, 3rd Edition''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
- Encyclopedia of soil science
- Voroney, R. P., 2006. The Soil Habitat ''in'' Soil Microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry, Eldor A. Paul ed. ISBN=0125468075
- James A. Danoff-Burg, Columbia University The Terrestrial Influence: Geology and Soils
- Taylor, S. A., and G. L. Ashcroft. 1972. Physical Edaphology
- McCarty, David. 1982. Essentials of Soil Mechanics and Foundations
- http://www.pedosphere.com/resources/bulkdensity/triangle_us.cfm
- Soil Genesis and Classification
- Ectomycorrhizal weathering of the soil minerals muscovite and hornblende
- http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/soil_systems/soil__development_soil_forming_
- http://www.naturalresources.nsw.gov.au/care/soil/soil_pubs/parent_pdfs/ch2.pdf
- http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/soilform/deposits.htm
- Climate And Man
- {{web cite | url = http://soils.usda.gov/education/resources/k_12/lessons/color/ | publisher = United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service | title = The Color of Soil | accessdate = 2008-07-08}}
- {{web cite | author= Soil Survey Division Staff|date=1993 | url= http://soils.usda.gov/technical/manual/contents/chapter3g.html#60 | title = Soil Structure | work= Handbook 18. Soil survey manual | Publisher= Soil Conservation Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture | accessdate= 2008-07-08}}
- {{web cite | author = R. B. Brown |date=September 2003 | url = http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SS169 | title = Soil Texture | work = Fact Sheet SL-29 | publisher = University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences | accessdate = 2008-07-08}}
- Electrical Design, Cathodic Protection
- Typical Soil Characteristics of Various Terrains
- Soils of the past : an introduction to paleopedology
- Soil genesis and classification
- http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/~alm7d/soils/soilordr.html
- Fundamentals of soil science
- Short-term and long-term effects of tannins on nitrogen mineralization and litter decomposition in kauri (Agathis australis (D. Don) Lindl.) forests
- Influence of balsam poplar tannin fractions on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in Alaskan taiga floodplain soils
- Molecular signature and sources of biochemical recalcitrance of organic C in Amazonian Dark Earths
- Organic matter formation in sandy subsurface horizons of Dutch coastal dunes in relation to soil acidification
- Climate and parent material controls on organic matter storage in surface soils: A three-pool, density-separation approach
- Carbon accumulation in soils of forest and bog ecosystems of southern Valdai in the Holocene
- Ecology and management of forest soils
- Humus forms in terrestrial ecosystems: a framework to biodiversity
- Linking aboveground and belowground diversity
- Geophagy in the golden-faced saki monkey (Pithecia pithecia chrysocephala) in the Central Amazon
- A review of model applications for structured soils: a) Water flow and tracer transport
- Predicting bioremediation of hydrocarbons: laboratory to field scale
- Persistent organic pollutants in boreal and montane soil profiles: distribution, evidence of processes and implications for global cycling
- Soil and sediment quality and composition as factors in the distribution of damage at the December 26, 2003, Bam area earthquake in SE Iran (M (s)=6.6)
- Soil piping and stream channel initiation
- Sandboils 101: Corps has experience dealing with common flood danger
- Drainage Manual: A Guide to Integrating Plant, Soil, and Water Relationships for Drainage of Irrigated Lands