Soil is formed continuously, but slowly, when rocks break down due to weathering. Weathering is a process that can be physical, chemical, or biological:
Physical weathering is the deterioration of rocks caused by mechanical activity. Changes in temperature, abrasion (when rocks clash), and frost can all cause rocks to break down.
Chemical weathering refers to the deterioration of rocks caused by a change in their chemical composition. When the minerals in rocks react with water, air, or other chemicals, this can happen.
The degradation of rocks by living organisms is known as biological weathering. Plant roots can grow into fractures in the rock, causing it to split. Burrowing animals let water and air get into the rock, and plant roots can grow into crevices in the rock, causing it to break.
The term "soil type" refers to a variety of physical and chemical features of a soil. These properties, along with the impacts of the surrounding environment, life in the soil, and human management of the soil, affect the soil's attributes and overall soil quality.
Young soil is relatively light brownish.
- Parents material- it determines colour,texture,properties,minerals chemical.
- Relief -altitude,slope.
- Climate ,rainfall,rate of weathering and humus.
- Biological humus- flora fauna,micro organisation.
- time- thickness- mature -soil formation.
Quiz question:
- How many soil conditions are there? (5)
To better comprehend the nature of soils and their behavior, we must first understand their properties, as well as be familiar with some of the popular phrases used when discussing soils.
Soil type determines how a soil operates and how suitable it is for various applications. You've probably heard of soil types like silty, clay, loam and sandy loam and wondered what they meant. More...
The hole text, audio and vocabulary you can see at Anabel's post.
What is soil?
Soil is so very important because we need it to survive. Without it we wouldn't have any food nor nature,
which can provide us with oxygen.
What are its functions?
The soil regulates the natural cycles of water, air and orgaic and mineral matter. It filters and purifies water, stores and breaks down substances and is therefore a vital link in the constant flow of energy and matter throughout the Earth's entire ecosystem.
Audio:
Soil.m4a (549,72 kb)
Quiz-Question
Decide which soil function is dominant in the blue marked part of this landscape?
a) Food production
b) Biodiversity
c) Foundation for building
More...
Florian and I choosed the topic "soil salinization".
This topic talks about the danger that salted soil renders 2.000 hectares of land unproductive and so unusable for agriculture every day.
It is one of the reasons why we should be concerned about the future food supply.
The management of land and water resources is responsible for the development of human-induced saline and sodic soils. The main causes are:
- Poor drainage infrastructure which induces a rise of the groundwater table. This is a major cause of soil salinization in India, Pakistan, China, Kenya and the Central Asian countries.
- Use of brackish groundwater for irrigation. This is a major cause of secondary salinization in parts of Asia, Europe and Africa.
- Intrusion of seawater in coastal areas, for example in Bangladesh.
- Poor on-farm water management and cultural practices in irrigated agriculture.
- Continuous irrigation over very long periods, particularly in the Middle East.
- Replacement of deep rooted perennial vegetation with shallower rooted annual crops and pastures that use less water leading to the rise of saline groundwater, for example in southern Australia.
Vocabulary
- Soil salinity: The presence of salts in the soil profile that impair crop production
- Salinization: The accumulation of soluble salts at the surface or at some point below the surface of the soil profile
- Saline soils: These are soils that contain sufficient neutral soluble salts to adversely affect the growth of most crops. The soluble salts are mainly sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium sulphate (Na2SO4), but they may also contain appreciable quantities of chlorides and sulphates of calcium and magnesium. High salt concentrations, through their high osmotic pressure, affect plant growth by restricting water uptake by the plant roots. Salt-affected, or saline, soils include soils where the electrical conductivity of the soil exceeds 4 dS/m
- Sodic soils: Sodic soils contain sodium salts that are capable of alkaline hydrolysis, mainly sodium carbonate, Na2CO3 (in the past these soils were also called alkaline soils). Sodicity affects the soil physical characteristics like stability, water availability, permeability and toxicity to plants. Soils are classified as sodic if the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), which in simple terms is the total amount of 'mobile' sodium relative to the amount a particular soil can hold, exceeds 6
- Rock weathering: Significant quantities of sodium (Na), and to a lesser extent chloride (Cl), occur widely in the parent rocks from which soils form. Over time, rock weathering can lead to appreciable salt accumulation in soils if leaching is restricted. Did you know that rock weathering is the primary source of salt in seawater
- Sea water and accession of salt in marine sediments: Saline soils can form from sediments and parent materials that were once under the sea. Likewise, the salts can result from tidal inundation. Upward seepage of brackish/saline groundwater, e.g., in the coastal areas in The Netherlands, can also result in salinization
- Atmospheric deposition: Salt derived from the sea, either deposited via rainfall or dry fallout, is the primary source of salt across large areas, e.g., many millions of hectares in southern Australia. In arid areas, salt can also be derived from dry lake beds and then be blown considerable distances by wind (e.g., Eurasia and parts of Australia)
More...
Well, we can tell you that is not absolutely true. The grass is greener where it gets water. But it does not only depend on the water, it depends a lot on the soil. More specifically on soil water interactions. It's also named soil-water processes.
Have you ever heard about the "hydrologic cycle"?
An important question that we asked each other was; what are soil-water processes? Well, we are going to explain it to you.
When it's raining, the water arrives on the soil surface. Then a lot of things can happen to that water. Either the water will enter the soil by infiltration or it will stay on the surface and form puddles if it cannot infiltrate. Once water has entered the soil, it will spread out and move in different directions. This is called redistribution and involves percolation (downward movement) and capillarity (this is sideways and upward movement).
The function of storage is an important soil-water process. It makes the water available for uptake by plant roots and evaporation. Then the water gets into the soil but it's not stored there.
But why are these soil-water processes so important?
Plants need water, air and nutrients. Water movements through soil is what allows there to be air exchange in the soil too and it delivers the nutrients which plants need and get mostly by their roots.
More...
CO2NTROL - Play SRF
Every week a new edition with a new subject!
Check it out!
My apartment has floor heating, which is powered by electricity.
My apartment have oil heating.
Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers use for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often abbreviated as HHO.
Our property management company heats my apartments using oil.
Our oil heating system with condensing technology consumes around 15 liters per square meter per year. This value includes both heating and the supply of hot drinking water.
