List of soil topics - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is an index of articles relating to soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

A

Acid sulfate soil

Acid sulfate soils are naturally occurring soils, sediments or organic substrates that are formed under waterlogged conditions. These soils contain iron sulfide minerals or their oxidation products. In an undisturbed state below the water table, acid sulfate soils are benign...

- Acrisol

Acrisol

An acrisol is a type of soil as classified by the Food and Agriculture Organization. It is clay-rich, and is associated with humid, tropical climates, such as those found in Brazil, and often supports forested areas. It is one of the 30 major soil groups of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources...

- Active layer

Active layer

In environments containing permafrost, the active layer is the top layer of soil that thaws during the summer and freezes again during the autumn. In all climates, whether they contain permafrost or not, the temperature in the lower levels of the soil will remain more stable than that at the...

- Agricultural soil science

Agricultural soil science

Agricultural soil science is a branch of soil science that deals with the study of edaphic conditions as they relate to the production of food and fiber. In this context, it is also a constituent of the field of agronomy.-History:...

- Akadama

Akadama

is a naturally occurring, granular clay like mineral that is used as soil for bonsai trees and other container-grown plants. It is surface mined, immediately sifted and bagged, and supplied in various grades: the deeper mined grade being somewhat harder and more useful in horticulture than the more...

- Albeluvisols

Albeluvisols

An albeluvisol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a soil with a thin, dark surface horizon on a bleached subsurface horizon that tongues into a clay illuviation horizon. The Bt horizon has an irregular or broken upper boundary resulting from the tonguing of bleached soil...

- Alfisols

Alfisols

Alfisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Alfisols form in semiarid to humid areas, typically under a hardwood forest cover. They have a clay-enriched subsoil and relatively high native fertility. "Alf" refers to aluminium and iron . Because of their productivity and abundance, the...

- Alkali soils

Alkali soils

Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH , a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate...

- Andisols

Andisols

In USDA soil taxonomy, Andisols are soils formed in volcanic ash and defined as soils containing high proportions of glass and amorphous colloidal materials, including allophane, imogolite and ferrihydrite...

- Angle of repose

Angle of repose

The angle of repose or, more precisely, the critical angle of repose, of a granular material is the steepest angle of descent or dip of the slope relative to the horizontal plane when material on the slope face is on the verge of sliding. This angle is in the range 0°–90°.When bulk granular...

- Antigo (soil)

Antigo (soil)

Antigo soils are among the most extensive soils in Wisconsin. They occur on about 300,000 acres in the northern part of the State. Antigo soils are well-drained and formed under northern hardwood forests in loess and loamy sediments over stratified sandy outwash...

- Aridisols

Aridisols

Aridisols are a soil order in USA soil taxonomy. Aridisols form in an arid or semi-arid climate. Aridisols dominate the deserts and xeric shrublands, which occupy about one third of the Earth's land surface...

- Atriplex

Atriplex

Atriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...

- Australian Society of Soil Science Incorporated

Australian Society of Soil Science Incorporated

The Australian Society of Soil Science Incorporated was founded 1955 to "advance soil science in the professional, academic, and technical fields". The Society consists of a federation of branches operating the 'umbrella' of the ASSSI Federal Council. Current branches are: New South Wales,...

B

Baer's law

In geology, Baer's law, named after Karl Ernst von Baer, says that, because of the rotation of the earth, in the Northern Hemisphere, erosion occurs mostly on the right banks of rivers and in the Southern Hemisphere on the left banks...

- Bama (soil)

Bama (soil)

Bama is the official state soil of Alabama.The Professional Soil Classifiers Association of Alabama adopted a resolution at its 1996 annual meeting recommending the Bama Soil Series as the state soil...

- Barren vegetation

Barren vegetation

The term Barren vegetation, or just barren, describes an area where plant growth is sparse, stunted, or possesses little biodiversity. Poor growth may occur due to high winds, climate, salt spray, infertile or toxic soil, or heavy exploitation by man....

- Base-richness

Base-richness

Base-richness in ecology is the level in water or soil of chemical bases, such as calcium or magnesium ions. Many organisms are restricted to base-rich or base-poor environments. Chemical bases are alkalis, and so base-rich environments are neutral or alkaline...

- Bay mud

Bay mud

Bay mud consists of thick deposits of soft, unconsolidated silty clay, which is saturated with water; these soil layers are situated at the bottom of certain estuaries, which are normally in temperate regions that have experienced cyclical glacial cycles...

- Bearing capacity

Bearing capacity

In geotechnical engineering, bearing capacity is the capacity of soil to support the loads applied to the ground. The bearing capacity of soil is the maximum average contact pressure between the foundation and the soil which should not produce shear failure in the soil...

- Berkshire (soil)

Berkshire (soil)

Berkshire soil series is the name given to a well drained loam or sandy loam soil which has developed on glacial till in parts of southern Quebec, eastern New York State and New England south to Massachusetts. It belongs to the podzol soil group and is one of the most important soils in its area...

- Bevameter

Bevameter

A bevameter is a device used in terramechanics to measure the mechanical properties of soil.-External links:*, Ojeda, L., Borenstein, J., Witus, G....

- Biochar

Biochar

Biochar or terra preta is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. Biochar is under investigation as an approach to carbon sequestration via bio-energy with carbon capture and storage. Biochar thus has the potential to help mitigate climate change, via carbon sequestration...

- Biogeology

Biogeology

Biogeology is the study of the interactions between the Earth's biosphere and the lithosphere.Biogeology examines biotic, hydrologic, and terrestrial systems in relation to each other, to help understand the Earth's climate, oceans, and other effects on geologic systems.For example, bacteria are...

- Blandford (soil)

Blandford (soil)

Blandford soil series is the name given to a loam or sandy loam soil which has developed on glacial till in parts of southern Quebec and northern New England. It belongs to the brown podzolic soil group and occurs in hilly areas of the Green Mountains in Vermont plus the adjoining Sutton Mountains...

- Bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

- Brickearth

Brickearth

Brickearth is a term used in southeast England for loess, a wind-blown dust deposited under extremely cold, dry, peri- or postglacial conditions. The name arises from its use in making house bricks. The Brickearth is normally represented on 1:50,000 solid and drift edition geological maps...

- Brown earth

Brown earth

Brown earth is a type of soil. Brown earths are mostly located between 35° and 55° north of the Equator. The largest expanses cover western and central Europe, large areas of western and trans-Uralian Russia, the east coast of America and eastern Asia. Here, areas of brown earth soil types are...

- Brown podzolic

Brown podzolic

Brown podzolic soils are a subdivision of the Podzolic soils in the British soil classification. Although classed with podzols because they have an iron-rich, or spodic horizon, they are, in fact intermediate between podzols and Brown earths...

C

Calcareous grassland

Calcareous grassland is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover...

- Calciorthid

Calciorthid

Calciorthid is the taxonomic classification of soils possessing the following properties:*Yellowish to grey colour. *Poor in nitrogen, phosphorus and potash...

- Calcisols

Calcisols

A Calcisol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a soil with a substantial secondary accumulation of lime. Calcisols are common in calcareous parent materials and widespread in arid and semi-arid environments...

- Cambisols

Cambisols

A Cambisol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a soil with a beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak...

- Canada Land Inventory

Canada Land Inventory

The Canada Land Inventory is a multi-disciplinary land inventory of rural Canada.Conceptualized in the early 1960s by the Department of Forestry and Rural Development , the CLI was a federal-provincial project that lasted from 1963 to 1995 and produced maps which indicated the capability of land...

- Capacitance probe

Capacitance probe

Capacitance sensors use capacitance to measure the dielectric permittivity of a surrounding medium.The configuration is like the neutron probe where an access tube made of PVC is installed in the soil. The probe consists of sensing head at fixed depth...

- Carbon cycle re-balancing

Carbon cycle re-balancing

The carbon cycle is the process by which carbon is exchanged between the four reservoirs of carbon: the biosphere, the earth, the air and water. Exchanges take place in several ways, including respiration, transpiration, combustion, and decomposition...

- Casa Grande (soil)

Casa Grande (soil)

-Name and origin:The Casa Grande series was first identified in 1936. It is named after the city of Casa Grande and the nearby Casa Grande National Monument, home of a large earthen building constructed by the Hohokam Indians nearly 1,000 years ago...

- Cellular confinement

Cellular confinement

Cellular Confinement Systems are widely used in construction for erosion control, soil stabilization on flat ground and steep slopes, channel protection, and structural reinforcement for load support and earth retention...

- Cecil (soil)

Cecil (soil)

]Originally mapped in Cecil County, Maryland in 1899, more than 10 million acres of the Cecil soil series are now mapped in the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States...

- Characterisation of pore space in soil

Characterisation of pore space in soil

Soil is essential to most animals on the earth. It is a relatively thin crust where an even smaller portion contains much of the biological activity. Soil consists of three different phases. A solid phase that contains mainly minerals of varying sizes as well as organic compounds. The rest is pore...

- Charlottetown (soil series)

Charlottetown (soil series)

Charlottetown soil series is the name given to a deep fine sandy loam soil which has developed under forest vegetation on glacial till. This series occurs only on Prince Edward Island, where it is widespread and so important for agriculture that it has been designated as the Provincial Soil.This...

- Chernozem

Chernozem

Chernozem , also known as "black land" or "black earth", is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus 7% to 15%, and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia...

- Clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

- Claypan

Claypan

In geology, a claypan is a dense, compact, slowly permeable layer in the subsoil having a much higher clay content than the overlying material, from which it is separated by a sharply defined boundary. Claypans are usually hard when dry, and plastic and sticky when wet. They limit or slow the...

- Cob (material)
- Cohesion (geology)

Cohesion (geology)

Cohesion is the component of shear strength of a rock or soil that is independent of interparticle friction.In soils, true cohesion is caused by one of three things:# Electrostatic forces in stiff overconsolidated clays...

- Compressed earth block

Compressed earth block

Compressed Earth Block often referred to simply as CEB, is a type of manufactured construction material formed in a mechanical press that forms an appropriate mix of dirt, non-expansive clay, and an aggregate into a compressed block...

- Consolidation (soil)
- Contour ploughing
- Critical state soil mechanics

Critical state soil mechanics

Critical State Soil Mechanics is the area of Soil Mechanics that encompasses the conceptual models that represent the mechanical behavior of saturated remolded soils based on the Critical State concept.-Formulation:...

D

Darcy

A darcy and millidarcy are units of permeability, named after Henry Darcy. They are not SI units, but they are widely used in petroleum engineering and geology. Like other measures of permeability, a darcy has the same units as area.-Definition:Permeability measures the ability of fluids to...

- Darcy's law

Darcy's law

Darcy's law is a phenomenologically derived constitutive equation that describes the flow of a fluid through a porous medium. The law was formulated by Henry Darcy based on the results of experiments on the flow of water through beds of sand...

- Darcy–Weisbach equation
- Dark earth

Dark earth

For the video game by the same name, see Dark Earth .Dark Earth in archaeology is an archaeological horizon often as much as 0.6m - 0.9m thick which covers Roman remains, notably in London and in Roman ruins in the rest of England, particularly urban ones...

- Dispersion (geology)

Dispersion (geology)

Dispersion occurs when a soil is sodic. When a sodic soil is wetted the clay particles are forced apart. This is generally a major cause of erosion.-Prevention of dispersion:Preventing dispersion can be done by:* re-vegetating the area...

- Downer (soil)

Downer (soil)

Downer is the New Jersey state soil. The Downer has four soil horizons:*Surface Layer: dark grayish brown loamy sand*Subsurface layer: grayish brown sandy loam*Subsoil - upper: yellowish brown gravelly sandy loam...

- Downhill creep

Downhill creep

Downhill creep, or commonly just creep, is the slow downward progression of rock and soil down a low grade slope; it can also refer to slow deformation of such materials as a result of prolonged pressure and stress. Creep may appear to an observer to be continuous, but it really is the sum of...

- Drainage research

Drainage research

Drainage research is the study of agricultural drainage systems and their effects to arrive at optimal system design.- Aspects to be covered :...

- Drilosphere

Drilosphere

The drilosphere is the part of the soil influenced by earthworm secretions and castings. Specifically, it is the fraction of soil which has gone through the digestive tract of earthworms; or the lining of an earthworm burrow...

- Drucker Prager yield criterion

Drucker Prager yield criterion

The Drucker–Prager yield criterion is a pressure-dependent model for determining whether a material has failed or undergone plastic yielding. The criterion was introduced to deal with the plastic deformation of soils...

- Drummer (soil)

Drummer (soil)

The Drummer soil series is the state soil of Illinois.It was established in Ford County, Illinois, in 1929. Drummer Soil was named for Drummer Creek in Drummer Township. It consists of very deep, poorly-drained soils that formed in 40 to of loess or other silty material and in the underlying...

- Dry quicksand

Dry quicksand

Dry quicksand is loose sand whose bulk density is reduced by blowing air through it and which yields easily to weight or pressure. It acts similarly to normal quicksand, but it does not contain any water and does not operate on the same principle...

- Dryland salinity

Dryland salinity

Dryland salinity is salinity that occurs in a landscape that is not irrigated, as distinct from irrigation salinity and urban salinity.-Overview:...

- Duricrust

Duricrust

Duricrust is a hard layer on or near the surface of soil. Duricrusts can range in thickness from a few millimeters or centimeters to several meters....

- Durisols

Durisols

A Durisol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a very shallow to moderately deep, free-draining soil of arid and semi-arid environments, that contain cemented secondary silica in the upper metre of soil. Durisols are internationally known as "hardpan soils" or "dorbank" or they...

- Dynamic compaction

Dynamic compaction

Dynamic compaction is a method that is used to increase the density of the soil when certain subsurface constraints make other methods inappropriate. It is a method that is used to increase the density of soil deposits. The process involves of dropping a heavy weight repeatedly on the ground at...

E

Ecological land classification

Ecological land classification is defined as being a cartographical delineation of distinct ecological areas, identified by their geology, topography, soils, vegetation, climate conditions, living species, habitats, water resources, as well as anthropic factors...

- Ecosystem ecology

Ecosystem ecology

Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals, bedrock, soil, plants, and animals.Ecosystem ecology...

- Edaphic

Edaphic

Edaphic is a nature related to soil. Edaphic qualities may characterize the soil itself, including drainage, texture, or chemical properties such as pH. Edaphic may also characterize organisms, such as plant communities, where it specifies their relationships with soil...

- Edaphology

Edaphology

Edaphology is one of two main divisions of soil science, the other being pedology. Edaphology is concerned with the influence of soils on living things, particularly plants. The term is also applied to the study of how soil influences man's use of land for plant growth as well as man's overall...

- Effective stress

Effective stress

Karl von Terzaghi first proposed the relationship for effective stress in 1936. For him, the term ‘effective’ meant the calculated stress that was effective in moving soil, or causing displacements...

- Eluvium

Eluvium

Eluvium is the moniker of ambient recording artist Matthew Cooper, who currently resides in Portland, Oregon. Cooper, who was born in Tennessee and raised in Louisville, Kentucky before relocating to the Northwest, is known for blending various genres of experimental music including shoegaze,...

- Entisol

Entisol

In USA soil taxonomy, Entisols are defined as soils that do not show any profile development other than an A horizon. An Entisol has no diagnostic horizons, and most are basically unaltered from their parent material, which can be unconsolidated sediment or rock...

- Erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

- European Soil Bureau Network

European Soil Bureau Network

The European Soil Bureau Network , located at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Ispra, was created in 1996 as a network of national soil science institutions. The ESBN at the JRC is operated by staff members of the Land Management Unit . Its main tasks are to collect,...

- European Soil Database

European Soil Database

The European Soil Database is the main source of soil information from which most other data information and services are derived. For instance, the European Soil Database v2 Raster Archive contains raster data files with cell sizes of 10km x 10km for a large number of soil related parameters...

- Expansive clay

Expansive clay

Expansive clay is a clay that is prone to large volume changes that are directly related to changes in water content.The mineral make-up of this type of soil is responsible for the moisture retaining capabilities. Soils with smectite clay minerals, including montmorillonite, have the most dramatic...

F

Fech fech

Fech Fech

Fech fech is a very fine powder caused by the erosion of clay-limestone terrain. This pulverized soil is common under a thin crust in deserts. It is not determinable from the surface and can therefore pose a significant transportation hazard acting as a surprise "trap" as the ground collapses...

- Fen

Fen

A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...

- Ferrallitisation

Ferrallitisation

Ferrallitisation is the process in which rock is changed into a soil consisting of clay and sesquioxides, in the form of hydrated oxides of iron and aluminium. In humid tropical areas, with consistently high tempetures and rainfall for all or most of the year, chemical weathering rapidly breaks...

- Fill dirt

Fill dirt

Fill dirt is earthy material which is used to fill in a depression or hole in the ground or create mounds or otherwise artificially change the grade or elevation of real property....

- Flatwood

Flatwood

Flatwood is a soil series with impaired drainage that occurs in the southeastern United States. Flatwood soils are upland soils formed from marine sediments. A shallow water table plays a role in soil formation, typically the water table is only a few feet deep and fluctuates during the year...

- Flownet

Flownet

A flownet is a graphical representation of two-dimensional steady-state groundwater flow through aquifers. Construction of a flownet is often used for solving groundwater flow problems where the geometry makes analytical solutions impractical...

- Fractal in soil mechanics

Fractal in soil mechanics

The fractal approach to soil mechanics is a new line of thought. There are several problems in soil mechanics which can be dealt with by applying a fractal approach. One of these problems is the determination of soil-water-characteristic curve...

- Frequency domain sensor

Frequency domain sensor

Frequency domain sensor is an instrument developed for measuring soil moisture content. The instrument has an oscillating circuit, the sensing part of the sensor is embedded in the soil, and the operating frequency will depend on the value of soil's dielectric constant.There are two types of...

- Fresno scraper

Fresno Scraper

The Fresno Scraper is a machine used for constructing canals and ditches in sandy soil.It was invented in 1883 by the Scottish immigrant and entrepreneur James Porteous who, having worked with farmers in Fresno, California, had recognised the dependence of the Central San Joaquin Valley on...

- Frost heaving

Frost heaving

Frost heaving results from ice forming beneath the surface of soil during freezing conditions in the atmosphere. The ice grows in the direction of heat loss , starting at the freezing front or boundary in the soil...

- Frost line

Frost line

The frost line—also known as frost depth or freezing depth—is most commonly the depth to which the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze. The frost depth depends on the climatic conditions of an area, the heat transfer properties of the soil and adjacent materials, and on nearby heat sources...

- Fuller's earth

Fuller's earth

Fuller's earth is any non-plastic clay or claylike earthy material used to decolorize, filter, and purify animal, mineral, and vegetable oils and greases.-Occurrence and composition:...

G

Gelisols

Gelisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy. They are soils of very cold climates which are defined as containing permafrost within two meters of the soil surface...

- Geosmin

Geosmin

Geosmin, which literally translates to "earth smell", is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavour and aroma, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when soil is...

- Geotechnical investigation

Geotechnical investigation

Geotechnical investigations are performed by geotechnical engineers or engineering geologists to obtain information on the physical properties of soil and rock around a site to design earthworks and foundations for proposed structures and for repair of distress to earthworks and structures caused...

- Gley soil

Gley soil

Gley soil in soil science is a type of hydric soil which exhibits a greenish-blue-grey soil color due to wetland conditions. On exposure to the air, gley colors are transformed to a mottled pattern of reddish, yellow or orange patches. During gley soil formation , the oxygen supply in the soil...

- Gleysols

Gleysols

A Gleysol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a wetland soil that, unless drained, is saturated with groundwater for long enough periods to develop a characteristic gleyic colour pattern...

- Gravitational erosion

Gravitational erosion

Gravitational erosion is caused by gravity in contrast to the physical movement of wind and water required for other types of soil erosion. Gravitational erosion involves both large scale mass wasting and smaller scale erosion. Forms of gravitational erosion include avalanche, landslide, debris...

- Groundwater-related subsidence

Groundwater-related subsidence

Groundwater-related subsidence is the subsidence of land resulting from groundwater extraction, and a major problem in the developing world as major metropolises swell without adequate regulation and enforcement, as well as a being a common problem in the developed world...

- Guelph soil

Guelph soil

Guelph soil series is the name given to a well drained or moderately well drained medium-textured soil which has developed on calcareous glacial till in parts of Michigan, Ohio in the United States and Ontario in Canada...

- Gypcrust

Gypcrust

Gypcrete or gypcrust is a hardened layer of soil, consisting of around 95% gypsum . It forms in a manner similar to that of caliche, which is composed of calcium carbonate....

- Gypsisols

Gypsisols

Gypsisols in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources are soils with substantial secondary accumulation of gypsum . They are found in the driest parts of the arid climate zone.In the USDA soil taxonomy they are classified as Gypsids , in the Russian soil classification they are called...

H

Hardpan

In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan or ouklip is a general term for a dense layer of soil, usually found below the uppermost topsoil layer. There are different types of hardpan, all sharing the general characteristic of being a distinct soil layer that is largely impervious to water...

- Headland (agriculture)

Headland (agriculture)

In agriculture, a headland is the area at each end of a planted field. It is used for turning around with farm implements during field operations and is the first area to be harvested to minimize crop damage...

- Hesco bastion

Hesco bastion

The HESCO bastion is both a modern gabion used for flood control and military fortification and the name of the British company that developed it in the late 1980s. It is made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy duty fabric liner, and used as a temporary to semi-permanent dike or barrier...

- Hilo (soil)

Hilo (soil)

Hilo soil is the official state soil of the state of Hawaii. These soils cover about and are considered prime agricultural land. The Hawaiian definition of the word “Hilo” is “first night of the full moon.” Also, the word is the Polynesian term for “Navigator,” and the name of a town, Hilo,...

- History of soil science

History of Soil Science

The history of soil science began from the contributions of chemist Justus von Liebig. It also includes the work of other scientists like Vasily V. Dokuchaev, Curtis F...

- Histosol

Histosol

In both the FAO soil classification and the USA soil taxonomy, a histosol is a soil consisting primarily of organic materials. They are defined as having or more of organic soil material in the upper . Organic soil material has an organic carbon content of 12 to 18 percent, or more, depending on...

- Houdek (soil)

Houdek (soil)

Houdek is a type of soil composed of glacial till and decomposed organic matter. It is found only in the U.S. state of South Dakota where it is the state soil....

- Hume (soil)

Hume (soil)

Hume is a soil type that is well drained and slowly permeable. Hume is formed from the erosion of shale and sandstone. Hume soils occur naturally on slopes and alluvial fans.- Notes and references :*...

- Humin

Humin

The chemical compounds in organic soil that do not dissolve when treated with diluted alkali solutions.-References:Singer, Michael J., and Donald N. Munns. Soils An Introduction . Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2005. isbn: 9780131190191...

- Humus
- Hydraulic conductivity

Hydraulic conductivity

Hydraulic conductivity, symbolically represented as K, is a property of vascular plants, soil or rock, that describes the ease with which water can move through pore spaces or fractures. It depends on the intrinsic permeability of the material and on the degree of saturation...

- Hydric soil

Hydric soil

A hydric soil is a soil that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part....

- Hydro axe mulching

Hydro axe mulching

Hydro-axe mulching is the process of turning stumps, wood, and other organic material into mulch.A hydro-axe mulcher is a powerful mulching attachment which turns unwanted vegetation, including trees up to six inches in diameter, and transform the debris into mulch in a very short time.-Benefits:*...

- Hydrological transport model

Hydrological transport model

An hydrological transport model is a mathematical model used to simulate river or stream flow and calculate water quality parameters. These models generally came into use in the 1960s and 1970s when demand for numerical forecasting of water quality was driven by environmental legislation, and at...

- Hydropedology

Hydropedology

Hydropedology is an emerging field formed from the intertwining branches of soil science and hydrology. Similar to hydrogeology, hydroclimatology, and ecohydrology, the emphasis is connections between hydrology and other of the earth's spheres. In this case, hydropedology focuses on the...

- Hydrophobic soil

Hydrophobic soil

Hydrophobic soil - soil that is hydrophobic - causes water to collect on the soil surface rather than infiltrate into the ground. Wild fires generally cause soils to be hydrophobic temporarily, which increases water repellency, surface runoff and erosion in post-burn sites...

I

Immobilization (soil science)
- Inceptisols

Inceptisols

Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are older than entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, Iron, Aluminum or organic matter. They have an Ochric or Umbric horizon and a cambic subsurface horizon....

- International Humic Substances Society

International Humic Substances Society

The International Humic Substances Society is a scientific society that seeks to advance knowledge and research of natural organic matter in soil and water...

- International Soil Reference and Information Centre

International Soil Reference and Information Centre

World Soil Information, established in 1964 is an independent foundation with a global mandate, funded by the Netherlands Government, and with a strategic association with Wageningen University and Research Centre.Our aims:...

- International Union of Soil Sciences

L

Lahar

A lahar is a type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris, and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. The term is a shortened version of "berlahar" which originated in the Javanese language of...

- Laimosphere

Laimosphere

The laimosphere is the microbiologically enriched zone of soil that surrounds below-ground portions of plant stems; the laimosphere is analogous to the rhizosphere and spermosphere. The combining form laim- from laimos denotes a connecting organ while -sphere indicates a zone of influence...

- Land improvement

Land improvement

Land improvement or land amelioration refers to investments making land more usable by humans. In terms of accounting, land improvements refer to any variety of projects that increase the value of the property...

- Lateral earth pressure

Lateral earth pressure

Lateral earth pressure is the pressure that soil exerts against a structure in a sideways direction. The common applications of lateral earth pressure theory are for the design of ground engineering structures such as retaining walls, basements, tunnels, and to determine the friction on the sides...

- Leaching (agriculture)

Leaching (agriculture)

In agriculture, leaching refers to the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil, due to rain and irrigation. Soil structure, crop planting, type and application rates of fertilizers, and other factors are taken into account to avoid excessive nutrient loss.Leaching may also refer to ...

- Leaching (pedology)

Leaching (pedology)

In pedology, leaching is the loss of mineral and organic solutes due to percolation. It is a mechanism of soil formation. It is distinct from the soil forming process of eluviation, which is the loss of mineral and organic colloids. Leached and elluviated materials tend to be lost from topsoil and...

- Leaching model (soil)
- Leptosols

Leptosols

A Leptosol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a very shallow soil over hard rock or highly calcareous material or a deeper soil that is extremely gravelly and/or stony. Leptosols cover approximately 1.7 billion hectares of the Earth's surface. They are found from the tropics to...

- Lessivage

Lessivage

Lessivage is a kind of leaching from clay particles being carried down in suspension. The process can lead to the breakdown of peds ....

- Liming (soil)
- Linear aeration

Linear aeration

Linear aeration is a relatively new aeration process; it allows water to penetrate the soil and to be retained in the proper amounts. Linear aeration also adds organic nutrition, soil softeners if necessary.-Gardens:...

- Lixisols

Lixisols

Lixisols are soils with subsurface accumulation of low activity clays and high base saturation. They develop under intensive tropical weathering conditions....

- Loam

Loam

Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...

- Loess

Loess

Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...

- Lunar soil

Lunar soil

Lunar soil is the fine fraction of the regolith found on the surface of the Moon. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil...

M

Miami (soil)

The Miami soil series is the state soil of Indiana.The less sloping Miami soils are used mainly for corn, soybeans, or winter wheat. The steeper areas are used as pasture, hayland, or woodland. Significant area has been converted to residential and commercial uses. There are of Miami soils mapped...

- Multi-Scale Soil Information Systems
- Mineralization (soil)

Mineralization (soil)

Mineralization in soil science, is when the chemical compounds in organic matter decompose or are oxidized into plant-accessible forms,. Mineralization is the opposite of immobilization....

- Mollisols

Mollisols

Mollisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Mollisols form in semi-arid to semi-humid areas, typically under a grassland cover. They are most commonly found in the mid-latitudes, namely in North America, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains, in South America in Argentina and Brazil, and in...

- Mud

Mud

Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...

- Muck (soil)

Muck (soil)

Muck is a soil made up primarily of humus from drained swampland. It is known as black soil in The Fens of eastern England, where it was originally mainly fen and bog. It is used there, as in the United States, for growing specialty crops such as onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes...

- Multiscale European Soil Information System
- Muskeg

Muskeg

Muskeg is an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, although it is found in other northern climates as well. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland but muskeg is the standard term in Western Canada and Alaska, while 'bog' is common elsewhere. The term is of Cree origin, maskek...

- Myakka (soil)

Myakka (soil)

Myakka soil is the official soil in the state of Florida. It is restricted to the state, where it encompasses the largest acreage. More than contain Myakka soils. Its name originates from a Native American pronunciation of "Big Waters".-Profile:...

N

Narragansett (soil)

-Narragansett - Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts :The State Soil of Rhode Island, USA...

- Natchez silt loam

Natchez silt loam

In 1988, the Professional Soil Classifiers Association of Mississippi selected Natchez silt loam soil to represent the soil resources of the State...

- National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists

National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists

The National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists , is a scientific and professional society of soil scientists, principally in the U.S. but with non-U.S. members as well. Members engage primarily in environmental consulting, but consulting is not a requirement of membership, and the member body...

- Natural organic matter
- Newmark's influence chart

Newmark's influence chart

Newmark’s Influence Chart is an illustration used to determine the vertical pressure at any point below a uniformly loaded flexible area of soil of any shape...

- No till method

O

On-Grade Mat Foundation for Expansive Soils

An on-grade mat foundation is an above-ground type of foundation used to provide load-bearing capacity in expansive, rocky or hydro collapsible soils...

- OPAL Soil Centre

OPAL Soil Centre

The OPAL Soil Centre is one of five centres of expertise under the Open Air Laboratories Network . The OPAL Soil Centre is based at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London...

- Orovada (soil)
- Orthent

Orthent

In USDA soil taxonomy, Orthents are defined as Entisols that lack horizon development due to either steep slopes or parent materials that contain no permanent weatherable minerals . Typically, Orthents are exceedingly shallow soils. They are often referred to as "skeletal soils" or, in the FAO soil...

- Overburden pressure

Overburden pressure

Overburden pressure, also called lithostatic pressure or vertical stress, is the pressure or stress imposed on a layer of soil or rock by the weight of overlying material.The overburden pressure at a depth z is given by...

- Oxisol

Oxisol

Oxisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest, 15-25 degrees north and south of the Equator. Some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.-Formation:...

P

Paleosol

In the geosciences, paleosol can have two meanings. The first meaning, common in geology and paleontology, refers to a former soil preserved by burial underneath either sediments or volcanic deposits , which in the case of older deposits have lithified into rock...

- Particle size (grain size)

Particle size (grain size)

Particle size, also called grain size, refers to the diameter of individual grains of sediment, or the lithified particles in clastic rocks. The term may also be applied to other granular materials. This is different from the crystallite size, which is the size of a single crystal inside the...

- Paxton (soil)

Paxton (soil)

The Paxton soil series was established in Worcester County Massachusetts in 1922, and is named for the town of Paxton where it was first described and mapped.- The Official State Soil of Massachusetts :...

- Peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

- Pedalfer

Pedalfer

Pedalfer is composed of aluminum and iron oxides. It is a subdivision of the zonal soil order comprising a large group of soils in which sesquioxides increase relative to silica during soil formation. Pedalfers usually occur in humid areas...

- Pedocal

Pedocal

Pedocal is a subdivision of the zonal soil order. It is a class of soil which forms in semiarid and arid regions. It is rich in calcium carbonate and has low soil organic matter. With only a thin A horizon , and intermittent precipitation calcite, other soluble minerals ordinarily removed by water...

- Pedodiversity

Pedodiversity

Pedodiversity can be generally defined as the variation of soil properties within an area.Pedodiversity studies were first started by analyzing soil series–area relationships . According to Guo et al...

- Pedology (soil study)

Pedology (soil study)

Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology...

- Permeability (earth sciences)
- Petrichor

Petrichor

Petrichor is the scent of rain on dry earth. The word is constructed from Greek, petra, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology....

- Plaggen soil

Plaggen soil

Plaggen is a type of soil created in Europe in the Middle Ages, as a result of so called 'plaggen cultivation', created by cutting turves of peat from an outfield area, and then using them as bedding for cattle; the slurry-soaked bedding was later spread on the arable fields as fertilizer...

- Planosol

Planosol

A planosol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a soil with a light-coloured, coarse-textured, surface horizon that shows signs of periodic water stagnation and abruptly overlies a dense, slowly permeable subsoil with significantly more clay than the surface horizon...

- Ploughpan
- Podsol

Podsol

In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous, or boreal forests. They are also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia...

- Pore water pressure

Pore water pressure

Pore water pressure refers to the pressure of groundwater held within a soil or rock, in gaps between particles . Pore water pressures in below the phreatic level are measured in piezometers...

- Porosity

Porosity

Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0–1, or as a percentage between 0–100%...

- Port Silt Loam

Port Silt Loam

Port Silt Loam is the state soil of Oklahoma. This type of soil is reddish in color due to the weathering of reddish sandstones, siltstones, and shales of the Permian period....

- Prime farmland

Prime farmland

Prime farmland is a designation assigned by U.S. Department of Agriculture defining land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is also available for these land uses....

- Psamment

Psamment

In USDA soil taxonomy, a Psamment is defined as an Entisol which consists basically of unconsolidated sand deposits, often found in shifting sand dunes but also in areas of very coarse-textured parent material subject to millions of years of weathering. This latter case is characteristic of the...

- Pygmy forest

Pygmy forest

A pygmy forest is a forest which, for pedological and geological reasons, contains only miniature trees. Pygmy forests may occur over various world locations with notable occurrences being noted in the literature of the: California coastal terraces and inner coastal mountains of Northern...

R

- Rankers

Rankers

Rankers are soils developed over non-calcareous material, usually rock. They are regarded in some soil classifications as lithomorphic soils, a group which also includes rendzinas, similar soils over calcareous material. They are often called A/C soils, as the topsoil or A horizon is immediately...

- Red Mediterranean soil
- Regosols

Regosols

A Regosol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is very weakly developed mineral soil in unconsolidated materials. Regosols are extensive in eroding lands, in particular in arid and semi-arid areas and in mountain regions...

- Rendzina

Rendzina

Rendzina is a dark, grayish-brown, humus-rich, intrazonal soil. It is one of the soils most closely associated with the bedrock type and an example of initial stages of soil development...

- Reynolds' dilatancy

Reynolds' dilatancy

Reynolds' dilatancy is the observed tendency of a compacted granular material to dilate as it is sheared. This occurs because the grains in a compacted state are interlocking and therefore do not have the freedom to move around one another. When stressed, a lever motion occurs between...

- Rill

Rill

A Rill can be a:*1.) natural fluvial topographic feature;*2.) functional constructed channel to carry a water supply from a water source some distance away;*3.) aesthetic garden water feature.-Natural:...

- Rock flour

Rock flour

Rock flour, or glacial flour, consists of fine-grained, silt-sized particles of rock, generated by mechanical grinding of bedrock by glacial erosion or by artificial grinding to a similar size...

S

SahysMod

SahysMod is a computer program for the prediction of the salinity of soil moisture, groundwater and drainage water, the depth of the watertable, and the drain discharge in irrigated agricultural lands, using different hydrogeologic and aquifer conditions, varying water management options, including...

- Saline seep

Saline seep

A saline seep is seep of saline water, with an area of alkali salt crystals that form when the salty water reaches the surface and evaporates. Various types of water movement form saline seeps, including capillary action from a water table under the surface, and a water table being brought to the...

- Salinity in Australia

Salinity in Australia

Soil salinity and dryland salinity are two problems degrading the environment of Australia. Salinity is a concern in most states, but especially in the south-west of Western Australia....

- Salt marsh

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

- Salting the earth

Salting the earth

Salting the earth, or sowing with salt, is the ritual of spreading salt on conquered cities to symbolize a curse on its re-inhabitation. It originated as a practice in the ancient Near East and became a well-established folkloric motif in the Middle Ages.-Destroying cities:The custom of purifying...

- SaltMod

SaltMod

SaltMod is computer program for the prediction of the salinity of soil moisture, groundwater and drainage water, the depth of the watertable, and the drain discharge in irrigated agricultural lands, using different hydrologic conditions, varying water management options, including the use of...

- San Joaquin (soil)

San Joaquin (soil)

San Joaquin is an officially designated state insignia, the State Soil of the U.S. state of California.The California Central Valley has more than 500,000 acres of San Joaquin soils, named for the south end of that valley. This series is the oldest continuously recognized soil series within the...

- Sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

- Sand boil

Sand boil

Sand boils or Sand Volcanoes occur when water under pressure wells up through a bed of sand. The water looks like it is "boiling" up from the bed of sand, hence the name.-Flood protection structures:...

- Sandbag

Sandbag

A sandbag is a sack made of hessian/burlap, polypropylene or other materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification, shielding glass windows in war zones and ballast....

- Scobey (soil)

Scobey (soil)

Scobey soil is the state soil of Montana.Scobey soil is known for its productivity for farming wheat .-External links:*http://ortho.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/osd/dat/S/SCOBEY.html*http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/soils/mtsoils/...

- Seitz (soil)

Seitz (soil)

-Profile:The Seitz soil series consists of very deep, well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in colluvium or slope alluvium derived from igneous, sedimentary, and volcanic rocks. Seitz soils are located on mountains, mainly in southwestern and central Colorado...

- Serpentine soil

Serpentine soil

A serpentine soil is derived from ultramafic rocks, in particular serpentinite, a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle....

- Shear strength (soil)

Shear strength (soil)

Shear strength is a term used in soil mechanics to describe the magnitude of the shear stress that a soil can sustain. The shear resistance of soil is a result of friction and interlocking of particles, and possibly cementation or bonding at particle contacts. Due to interlocking, particulate...

- Shear strength test

Shear strength test

Soil shear strength tests are used to determine the load on soil. Some of these teste are:* direct shear test* triaxial shear test* vane shear test* unconfined compression test...

- Shrub swamp

Shrub swamp

Shrub swamps, also called scrub swamps or buttonbush swamps, are a type of freshwater wetland ecosystem occurring in areas too wet to become hardwood swamps , but too dry or too shallow to become marshes...

- Silt

Silt

Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...

- Slope stability

Slope stability

The field of slope stability encompasses the analysis of static and dynamic stability of slopes of earth and rock-fill dams, slopes of other types of embankments, excavated slopes, and natural slopes in soil and soft rock...

- Slump
- Soil

Soil

- Soil alkalinity
- Soil amendment
- Soil and water assessment tool

Soil and water assessment tool

SWAT is an extension of ArcGIS-ArcView. A graphical user interface examines and displays the watershed-scale model to measure the impact of human development and land management practices. It is supported by the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service...

- Soil Association

Soil Association

The Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...

- Soil biodiversity

Soil biodiversity

This discussion looks at the relationship of the soil to biodiversity, at some aspects of the soil that can be managed in relation to biodiversity, and raises some catchment management considerations.-Soil and biodiversity:...

- Soil biology

Soil biology

Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria and different arthropods...

- Soil carbon

Soil carbon

Soil carbon is the generic name for carbon held within the soil, primarily in association with its organic content. Soil carbon is the largest terrestrial pool of carbon. Humans have, and will likely continue to have, significant impacts on the size of this pool...

- Soil cement

Soil cement

Soil cement is a construction material, a mix of pulverized natural soil with small amount of portland cement and water, usually processed in a tumble, compacted to high density...

- Soil chemistry

Soil chemistry

Soil chemistry is the study of the chemical characteristics of soil. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors.-History:...

- Soil classification

Soil classification

Soil classification deals with the systematic categorization of soils based on distinguishing characteristics as well as criteria that dictate choices in use.- Overview :...

- Soil compaction

Soil compaction

In Geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which a stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water being displaced from between the soil grains then...

- Soil conditioner

Soil conditioner

A soil conditioner, also called a soil amendment, is a material added to soil to improve plant growth and health. A conditioner or a combination of conditioners corrects the soil's deficiencies in structure and-or nutrients.-Purpose:...

- Soil conservation

Soil conservation

Soil conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil being eroded from the Earth’s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination...

- Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act

Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act

The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act is a United States federal law that allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to "conserve soil", prevent erosion, and accomplish other minor goals...

- Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936
- Soil contamination

Soil contamination

Soil contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of xenobiotic chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment....

- Soil crust

Soil crust

A soil crust is a layer of soil whose particles cohere because of organic material including live organisms and what they produce.- External references :* by the USGS...

- Soil depletion
- Soil ecology

Soil ecology

Soil ecology is the study of the interactions among soil organisms, and between biotic and abiotic aspects of the soil environment. It is particularly concerned with the cycling of nutrients, formation and stabilization of the pore structure, the spread and vitality of pathogens, and the...

- Soil erosion
- Soil fertility
- Soil food web

Soil food web

The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes a complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals....

- Soil functions

Soil functions

Soil functions are general capabilities of soils that are important for various agricultural, environmental, nature protection, landscape architecture and urban applications...

- Soil gradation

Soil gradation

Soil gradation is a classification of a coarse-grained soil that ranks the soil based on the different particle sizes contained in the soil. Soil gradation is an important aspect of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering because it is an indicator of other engineering properties such as...

- Soil guideline value
- Soil health

Soil health

Soil health is an assessment of ability of a soil to meet its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment.- Aspects of soil health :The term soil health is used to assess the ability of a soil to:...

- Soil horizon

Soil horizon

A soil horizon is a specific layer in the land area that is parallel to the soil surface and possesses physical characteristics which differ from the layers above and beneath. Horizon formation is a function of a range of geological, chemical, and biological processes and occurs over long time...

- Soil inoculant

Soil inoculant

Soil inoculants are bacteria or fungi that are added to soils in order to improve plant growth by either:*Freeing up soil nutrients for plant use.*Entering into symbiotic relationships with plant root systems....

- Soil life

Soil life

Soil life or soil biota is a collective term for all the organisms living within the soil.-Overview:In balanced soil, plants grow in an active and steady environment. The mineral content of the soil and its heartiful structure are important for their well-being, but it is the life in the earth that...

- Soil liquefaction

Soil liquefaction

Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid....

- Soil management

Soil management

Soil management concerns all operations, practices and treatments used to protect soil and enhance its performance.-Practices:Soil management practices that affect soil quality:...

- Soil mechanics

Soil mechanics

Soil mechanics is a branch of engineering mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids and particles but soil may also contain organic solids, liquids, and gasses and other...

- Soil moisture
- Soil moisture sensors

Soil moisture sensors

Soil moisture sensors measure the water content in soil. A soil moisture probe is made up of multiple soil moisture sensors. One common type of soil moisture sensors in commercial use is a Frequency domain sensor such as a capacitance sensor...

- Soil nailing

Soil nailing

Soil nailing is a construction technique that can be used as a remedial measure to treat unstable natural soil slopes or as a construction technique that allows the safe over-steepening of new or existing soil slopes...

- Soil organic matter

Soil organic matter

Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds...

- Soil pH

Soil pH

The soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity in soils. pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the activity of hydrogen ions in solution. It ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is basic. Soil pH is considered a master variable in soils as it...

- Soil physics

Soil physics

Soil physics is the study of soil physical properties and processes. It is applied to management and prediction under natural and managed ecosystems. Soil physics deals with the dynamics of physical soil components and their phases as solids, liquids, and gases. It draws on the principles of...

- Soil policy (Victoria, Australia)

Soil policy (Victoria, Australia)

This outlines soil policy in the State of Victoria, Australia. A policy, for this purpose, is a principle or course of action adopted or proposed by a definable group of people.-Overview:...

- Soil profile
- Soil resilience

Soil resilience

Soil resilience refers to the ability of a soil to resist or recover their healthy state in response to destabilising influences - this is a subset of a notion of environmental resilience...

- Soil respiration

Soil respiration

Soil respiration refers to the production of carbon dioxide when soil organisms respire. This includes respiration of plant roots, the rhizosphere, microbes and fauna....

- Soil salination

Soil salination

Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil.- Causes of soil salinity :Salt-affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most pronounced at the soil surface. Salts can be transported to the soil surface by capillary transport from a salt laden water table and then...

- Soil salinity
- Soil salinity control
- Soil science

Soil science

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.Sometimes terms which...

- Soil Science Society of America

Soil Science Society of America

The Soil Science Society of America , is a scientific and professional society of soil scientists, principally in the U.S. but with a large number of non-U.S. members as well...

- Soil series

Soil series

Soil series as established by the National Cooperative Soil Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service are a level of classification in the USDA Soil Taxonomy classification system hierarchy. The actual object of classification is the so-called...

- Soil solarization

Soil solarization

Soil solarization is an environmentally friendly method of using solar power for controlling disease agents in the soil by mulching the soil and covering it with tarp, usually with a transparent polyethylene cover, to trap solar energy....

- Soil steam sterilization

Soil steam sterilization

Soil steam sterilization is a farming technique that sterilizes soil with steam in open fields or greenhouses. Pests of plant cultures such as weeds, bacteria, fungi and viruses are killed through induced hot steam which causes their cell structure to physically degenerate. Biologically, the...

- Soil structure

Soil structure

Soil structure is determined by how individual soil granules clump or bind together and aggregate, and therefore, the arrangement of soil pores between them...

- Soil survey

Soil survey

Soil survey, or soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information. It applies the principles of soil science, and draws heavily from geomorphology, theories of soil formation, physical geography, and analysis of...

- Soil test

Soil test

In agriculture, a soil test is the analysis of a soil sample to determine nutrient and contaminant content, composition and other characteristics such as acidity or pH level. Tests are usually performed to measure the expected growth potential of a soil...

- Soil texture

Soil texture

Soil texture is a qualitative classification tool used in both the field and laboratory to determine classes for agricultural soils based on their physical texture. The classes are distinguished in the field by the 'textural feel' which can be further clarified by separating the relative...

- Soil type

Soil type

In terms of soil texture, soil type usually refers to the different sizes of mineral particles in a particular sample. Soil is made up in part of finely ground rock particles, grouped according to size as sand, silt and clay...

- Soil water (retention)

Soil water (retention)

Soils can process and contain considerable amounts of water. They can take in water, and will keep doing so until they are full, or the rate at which they can transmit water into, and through, the pores is exceeded. Some of this water will steadily drain through the soil and end up in the...

- Soils retrogression and degradation

Soils retrogression and degradation

Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession reverts back to pioneer conditions . Degradation is an evolution,...

- Solonchak

Solonchak

Solonchak is pale or grey soil type found in arid to subhumid, poorly drained conditions. The word is Russian for "salt marsh" in turn from Russian sol , "salt"....

- Solonetz

Solonetz

Solonetz is a type of soil in FAO soil classification. They have, within the upper 100 cm of the soil profile, a so-called "natric horizon" . There is a subsurface horizon , higher in clay content than the upper horizon, that has more than 15% exchangeable sodium...

- Specific storage

Specific storage

Specific storage , storativity , specific yield and specific capacity are material physical properties that characterize the capacity of an aquifer to release groundwater from storage in response to a decline in hydraulic head. For that reason they are sometimes referred to as "storage properties"...

- Specific weight

Specific weight

The specific weight is the weight per unit volume of a material. The symbol of specific weight is γ ....

- Spodic soils

Spodic soils

Spodic soils refer to a diagnostic subsurface horizon defined by the illuvial accumulation of organic matter. Iron oxide can be present or absent, and the soil is generally derived from a sandy parent material. Spodic may also refer to the taxonomic soil order spodosols....

- Stagnosol

Stagnosol

A stagnosol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a soil with strong mottling of the soil profile due to redox processes caused by stagnating surfacewater. Stagnosols are periodically wet and mottled in the topsoil and subsoil, with or without concretions and/or bleaching. The...

- Strip farming

Strip farming

Strip cropping is a method of farming used when a slope is too steep or too long, or when other types of farming may not prevent soil erosion. Strip cropping alternates strips of closely sown crops such as hay, wheat, or other small grains with strips of row crops, such as corn, soybeans, cotton,...

- Stuttgart (soil)

Stuttgart (soil)

Stuttgart soil series is an officially designated state symbol, the State Soil of Arkansas.Stuttgart soils are named for the City of Stuttgart in southeast Arkansas. They are used primarily for crops, mainly rice, soybeans, small grains, and corn...

- Subaqueous soil

Subaqueous soil

Subaqueous Soils are soils that form in sediment found in shallow permanently flooded environments. Excluded from the definition of these soils are any areas permanently covered by water too deep for the growth of rooted plants....

- Subsidence

Subsidence

Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...

- Subsoil

Subsoil

Subsoil, or substrata, is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. The subsoil may include substances such as clay and/or sand that has only been partially broken down by air, sunlight, water, wind etc., to produce true soil...

- Suckiaug

Suckiaug

Suckiaug, meaning "Black Fertile River-Enhanced Earth, good for planting", is the name of the land lining the river valley of what is currently Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield, South Windsor, East Hartford, Glastonbury and Rocky Hill in Connecticut in the United States.In 1623, the Dutch settled...

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Talik

A talik is a layer of year-round unfrozen ground that lies in permafrost areas. In regions of continuous permafrost, taliks often occur underneath shallow thermokarst lakes and rivers, where the deep water does not freeze in winter, and thus the soil underneath will not freeze either...

- Tanana (soil)

Tanana (soil)

-Profile:The Tanana soil consists of shallow, well drained, moderately permeable soils formed in materials weathered from limestone. They are gently sloping to very steep soils on foot slopes and side slopes of limestone hills. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is...

- Technosols

Technosols

A Technosol in the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a new type of soil that combines soils whose properties and pedogenesis are dominated by their technical origin...

- Tepetate

Tepetate

Tepetate is a Mexican term for a kind of brittle volcanic rock. Tepetate can be converted into arable land through pulverization.-References:...

- Terrace (agriculture)

Terrace (agriculture)

Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...

- Terracette

Terracette

In geomorphology, a terracette is a type of landform, a ridge on a hillside formed when saturated soil particles expand, then contract as they dry, causing them to move slowly downhill...

- Terramechanics

Terramechanics

Terramechanics is the study of soil properties, specifically the interaction of wheeled or tracked vehicles on various surfaces.-External links:**...

- Terra preta

Terra preta

Terra preta is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta owes its name to its very high charcoal content, and was indeed made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile Amazonian soil, and stays there for...

- Terra rosa (soil)

Terra rosa (soil)

Terra rossa is a type of red clay soil produced by the weathering of limestone. When limestone weathers, the clay contained in the rocks is left behind, along with any other non-soluble rock material. Under oxidizing conditions, when the soils are above the water table, iron oxide forms in the...

- Terzaghi's Principle

Terzaghi's Principle

Terzaghi's Principle states that when a rock is subjected to a stress, it is opposed by the fluid pressure of pores in the rock.More specifically, Karl von Terzaghi's Principle, also known as Terzaghi's theory of one-dimensional consolidation, states that all quantifiable changes in stress to a...

- Thaw depth

Thaw depth

In soil science, the thaw depth or thaw line is the level down to which the permafrost soil will normally thaw each summer in a given area....

- Thixotropy

Thixotropy

Thixotropy is the property of certain gels or fluids that are thick under normal conditions, but flow over time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed...

- Threebear (soil)

Threebear (soil)

-Profile:The Threebear series consists of moderately well drained soils formed in silty sediments with a thick mantle of volcanic ash. These soils are moderately deep to a fragipan. The name “Threebear” is derived from a creek in Latah County, Idaho. These soils are on hills with slopes of 5 to 35...

- Throughflow

Throughflow

In hydrology, throughflow is the horizontal movement of water in the soil zone. This type of flow must first emerge on land before it enters a body of surface water to be considered throughflow...

- Tifton (soil)

Tifton (soil)

-Profile:A typical Tifton soil profile consists of an topsoil of dark grayish brown loamy sand. The subsoil extends to about 65 inches, strong brown fine sandy loam to 22 inches; yellowish brown sandy clay loam to 40 inches; yellowish brown mottled, sandy clay loam to...

- Tillage

Tillage

Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking...

- Topsoil

Topsoil

Topsoil is the upper, outermost layer of soil, usually the top to . It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.-Importance:...

- Tropical peat

Tropical peat

Areas of tropical peat are found mostly in South East Asia although are also found in Africa, Central and South America and elsewhere around the Pacific Ocean. Tropical peatlands are significant carbon sinks and store large amounts of carbon and their destruction can significantly impact on the...

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Umbric horizon

The umbric horizon is a thick, dark coloured, surface Soil horizon rich in organic matter. It is identified by its dark colour and structure.Normally it has a pH of less than 5.5 representing a base saturation of less than 50 percent...

- Ultisols

Ultisols

Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. They are defined as mineral soils which contain no calcareous material anywhere within the soil, have less than 10% weatherable minerals in the extreme top layer...

- Umbrisols
- Unified Soil Classification System

Unified Soil Classification System

The Unified Soil Classification System is a soil classification system used in engineering and geology to describe the texture and grain size of a soil. The classification system can be applied to most unconsolidated materials, and is represented by a two-letter symbol...

- USDA soil taxonomy

USDA soil taxonomy

USDA Soil Taxonomy developed by United States Department of Agriculture and the National Cooperative Soil Survey provides an elaborate classification of soil types according to several parameters and in several levels: Order, Suborder, Great Group, Subgroup, Family, and Series.- Example of...

- Ustochrept

Ustochrept

Ustochrepts are a great group of soils, in the USDA soil taxonomy. They are classed in the sub-order Ochrepts, in the order InceptisolsUstochrepts are characterised by an ochric epipedon, a warm soil temperature regime and an ustic soil moisture regime. Ochric epipedon refers to surface...

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See also