Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) that are primarily composed of minerals which differ from their parent materials in their texture, structure, consistency, colour, chemical, biological and other characteristics. It is the unconsolidated or loose covering of fine rock particles that covers the surface of the earth. Soil is the end product of the influence of the climate (temperature, precipitation), relief (slope), organisms (flora and fauna), parent materials (original minerals), and time. In engineering, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose rock material: this is the 'drift deposit' lying on top of the 'solid geology'. However, in horticulture, the term 'soil' is defined as the humic layer of topsoil, or the depth of regolith containing organic material that influences and has been influenced by plant roots and may range in depth from centimetres to many metres. Expressions such as lunar soil or Martian soil are commonly used for extraterrestrial regolith, even though there is no known biological component.
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Some articles on soil:
... Soils which contain high levels of particular clays, such as smectites, are often very fertile ... farmers in tropical areas, however, struggle to retain organic matter in the soils they work ... In recent years, for example, productivity has declined in the low-clay soils of northern Thailand ...
... Hans Jenny (7 February 1899 – 9 January 1992) was a soil scientist and expert on pedology (the study of soil in its natural environment), particularly ...
... fitness of marsh elder (Iva) shrubs in lower elevations, where soil salinity was higher ... The rush shaded the soil, which decreased evapotranspiration, and in turn decreased soil salinity ... However, at higher elevations where soil salinity was lower, marsh elder fitness was decreased in the presence of the rush, due to increased competition for resources ...
... the geotechnical engineering properties of soils and delineating soil stratigraphy ... It was initially developed in the 1950s at the Dutch Laboratory for Soil Mechanics in Delft to investigate soft soils ... Today, the CPT is one of the most used and accepted in soil methods for soil investigation worldwide ...
... classification, also called World Soil Classification, which offers useful generalizations about soils pedogenesis in relation to the interactions with the main soil-forming factors ... was first published in form of the UNESCO Soil Map of the World (1974) (scale 1 5 M.) ... Originally developed as a legend to the Soil Map of the World, the classification was applied by United Nations sponsored projects ...
More definitions of "soil":
- (noun): The part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock.
Synonyms: dirt
- (noun): The state of being covered with unclean things.
Synonyms: dirt, filth, grime, stain, grease, grunge
- (noun): Material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use).
Example: "Good agricultural soil"
Synonyms: land, ground
- (noun): The geographical area under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state.
Example: "American troops were stationed on Japanese soil"
Synonyms: territory
Famous quotes containing the word soil:
“Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Men nowhere, east or west, live yet a natural life, round which the vine clings, and which the elm willingly shadows. Man would desecrate it by his touch, and so the beauty of the world remains veiled to him. He needs not only to be spiritualized, but naturalized, on the soil of earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Let the soil squeal I am the biting man
And the velvet dead inch out.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)