Related topics: water
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
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News tagged with soil
Life on Mars theory boosted by new methane study
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 08, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
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Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published tomorrow in Earth an ...
The past matters to plants
23 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It's commonly known that plants interact with each other on an everyday basis: they shade each other out or take up nutrients from the soil before neighboring plants can get them. Now, researchers ...
Soil Microorganisms? Role Cited as a Missing Factor in Climate Change Equation
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Those seeking to understand and predict climate change can now use an additional tool to calculate carbon dioxide exchanges on land, according to a scientific journal article co-authored by a University of ...
Variable Temperatures Leave Insects wtih a Frosty Reception
Nov 25, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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(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.
Ski Runs Are Not Created Equal
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Building a new ski run by bulldozing a mountainside rather than only cutting its shrubs and trees is far more damaging ecologically, yet might offer only a week's earlier start to the downhill season, says ...
The Meandering Channels of Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 10, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
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Sinuous channels on the Martian surface may be evidence of relatively recent rainfall. Researchers plan to test this hypothesis by studying sinuous streams on Earth.
Farms, Fertilizers and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Dec 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are front and center in finding out how farming affects emissions of the green house nitrous oxide (N2O).
Long-Term Effects of Carbon Dioxide on Plants Studied
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Long-term, open-top chamber studies of how rising carbon dioxide (CO2) could affect crops, forests, and pastures reveal a wide range of impacts, according to Agricultural Research Service ...
Water-saving technology focus of new grant
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Many ornamental nursery growers test to see if their plants need water by sticking a finger in the soil to see if it’s dry. Or, they just water them whether they need it or not. University of Georgia horticulturists ...
ARS Explores Ways to Keep Carbon in the Soil
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are testing out alternative ways of tilling the soil and rotating crops to see if they can help wheat farmers in Oregon sequester more carbon ...
When roots lose contact
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Plant roots can shrink as a result of water deficit and lose contact with the surrounding soil. This effect has been suspected for a long time, but has only now been demonstrated for a fact with the help of ...
It's not just dirt!
Nov 25, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
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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 |
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(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 |
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(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 ...
