Soil
hideSoil 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. 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. It is a mixture of mineral and organic constituents that are in solid, gaseous and aqueous states. Soil particles pack loosely, forming a soil structure filled with pore spaces. These pores contain sol solution (liquid) and air (gas). Accordingly, soils are often treated as a three state system. Most soils have a density between 1 and 2 g/cm³. 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. In engineering, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose rock material.
For more information about Soil, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with soil
Variable Temperatures Leave Insects wtih a Frosty Reception
Nov 25, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, scientists at The University of Western Ontario have shown that insects exposed to repeated periods of cold will trade reproduction for immediate survival.
It's not just dirt!
Nov 25, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Soil is the linchpin of the environment, where atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere meet. Despite that, many students see soil as "just dirt" - a place to grow plants, but nothing more. Soil science educators are challenged ...
Sustainable Corn Production Supports Advanced Biofuel Feedstocks
Nov 25, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers worldwide are trying to economically convert cellulosic biomass such as corn stover into "cellulosic ethanol." But Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that ...
Time-Tunneling for Climate Change Clues
Nov 23, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- If you look closely at individual plant species' responses in the past, you may find that the largest effects of high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels occurred decades ago, according to Agricultural ...
New Method to Measure Snow, Soil Moisture With GPS May Benefit Meteorologists, Farmers
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected ...
ORNL, Los Alamos pioneer new approach to assist scientists, farmers
Nov 19, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos ...
SMOS satellite instrument comes alive (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 19, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
The MIRAS instrument on ESA's SMOS satellite, launched earlier this month, has been switched on and is operating normally. MIRAS will map soil moisture and ocean salinity to improve our understanding of the ...
The benefits of stress ... in plants
Nov 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Chronic stress in humans has been implicated in heart disease, weight gain, and diabetes, among a host of other health problems. Extreme environments, a source of chronic stress, present a challenge even for the hardiest ...
Studying Fertilizers to Cut Greenhouse Gases
Nov 18, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that using alternative types of fertilizers can cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, at least in one part of the country. They are ...
Bacterial 'ropes' tie down shifting Southwest
Nov 17, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (5) |
0
Researchers from Arizona State University have discovered that several species of microbes (cyanobacteria), at least one found prominently in the deserts of the Southwest, have evolved the trait of rope-building ...
Taking a Bite of Antarctic Ice
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 16, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
1
Scientists with NASA’s IceBite project are heading this week for University Valley, a hanging valley perched more than 1600 feet (more than 1 mile) above sea level in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. Their ...
Plants prefer their kin, crowd out competition from strangers
Nov 16, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Plants don't mind sharing space with their kin but when they're potted with strangers of the same species they start invigorating their leaves, a study by McMaster University reveals.
Tiny bubbles clean oil from water
Nov 16, 2009 |
4 / 5 (3) |
0
Small amounts of oil leave a fluorescent sheen on polluted water. Oil sheen is hard to remove, even when the water is aerated with ozone or filtered through sand. Now, a University of Utah engineer has developed ...
Seeing stars, Proba-2 platform passes its first health check
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Into its second week in orbit, Proba-2's spacecraft platform has proven to be in excellent health. This leaves the way clear for commissioning the many new technology payloads aboard the mini-satellite, ...
A Tale of Planetary Woe (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (11) |
5
Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed ...
