Soil

Role and Importance of Soil:

• Soil is crucial for Earth’s ecosystem processes and impacts global phenomena like ozone depletion, global warming, and water pollution.
• It serves as a carbon reservoir, engineering medium, habitat for diverse organisms, and a water quality regulator.
• Soil contains vast genetic diversity with billions of organisms per gram, mostly unexplored and microbial.

Composition and Structure of Soil:

• Soil composition includes water, gases, sand, silt, clay, and organic matter, with 50% solids and 50% voids filled with water and gas.
• Soil profiles evolve over time, forming horizons with distinct properties like texture, structure, and color.
• Soil horizons (A, B, C layers) vary in thickness and properties based on parent material and soil-forming factors.

Functions and Characteristics of Soil:

• Soil serves as a medium for plant growth, water storage, habitat for organisms, and nutrient recycling system.
• Soil texture, pores for air and water movement, compaction effects, and mature soil profiles with A, B, C horizons are key characteristics.
• Soil plays a vital role in maintaining oxygen and methane levels in the atmosphere.

Formation and Properties of Soil:

• Soil is formed through the accumulation of organic matter and movement of colloids by water and animal activity.
• Soil horizons are formed due to factors like parent material, climate, topography, organisms, and time.
• Physical properties like texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, and consistency define soil characteristics.

Interactions and Soil Components:

• Soil science branches into edaphology and pedology, focusing on living organisms’ influence and soil formation.
• Soil interacts with the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, forming the pedosphere.
• Soil provides ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, water filtration, and plant growth support, containing diverse habitats and niches for billions of organisms.

Soil Data Sources