Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic

matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support

the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions
distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to
displaced soil.

Soil measuring and surveying device

Soil consists of a solid phase of minerals and organic matter (the soil
matrix), as well as a porous phase that holds gases (the soil
atmosphere) and water (the soil solution).[1][2] Accordingly, soil is a
three-state system of solids, liquids, and gases.[3] Soil is a product of
several factors: the influence of climate, relief (elevation, orientation,
and slope of terrain), organisms, and the soil's parent
materials (original minerals) interacting over time.[4] It continually
undergoes development by way of numerous physical, chemical and
biological processes, which include weathering with
associated erosion.[5] Given its complexity and strong
internal connectedness, soil ecologists regard soil as an ecosystem.[6]
Most soils have a dry bulk density (density of soil taking into account
voids when dry) between 1.1 and 1.6 g/cm3, though the soil particle
density is much higher, in the range of 2.6 to 2.7 g/cm3.[7] Little of the
soil of planet Earth is older than the Pleistocene and none is older
than the Cenozoic,[8] although fossilized soils are preserved from as
far back as the Archean.[9]
Collectively the Earth's body of soil is called the pedosphere. The
pedosphere interfaces with the lithosphere, the hydrosphere,
the atmosphere, and the biosphere.[10] Soil has four
important functions:

 as a medium for plant growth

 as a means of water storage, supply, and purification
 as a modifier of Earth's atmosphere
 as a habitat for organisms
All of these functions, in their turn, modify the soil and its properties.
Soil science has two basic branches of
study: edaphology and pedology. Edaphology studies the influence of
soils on living things.[11] Pedology focuses on the formation, description
(morphology), and classification of soils in their natural
environment.[12] In engineering terms, soil is included in the broader
concept of regolith, which also includes other loose material that lies
above the bedrock, as can be found on the Moon and other celestial
objects.[13]

Processes
[edit]
Soil is a major component of the Earth's ecosystem. The world's
ecosystems are impacted in far-reaching ways by the processes
carried out in the soil, with effects ranging from ozone
depletion and global warming to rainforest destruction and water
pollution. With respect to Earth's carbon cycle, soil acts as an
important carbon reservoir,[14] and it is potentially one of the most
reactive to human disturbance[15] and climate change.[16] As the planet
warms, it has been predicted that soils will add carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere due to increased biological activity at higher
temperatures, a positive feedback (amplification).[17] This prediction
has, however, been questioned on consideration of more recent
knowledge on soil carbon turnover.[18]
Soil acts as an engineering medium, a habitat for soil organisms, a
recycling system for nutrients and organic wastes, a regulator of water
quality, a modifier of atmospheric composition, and a medium for plant
growth, making it a critically important provider of ecosystem
services.[19] Since soil has a tremendous range of
available niches and habitats, it contains a prominent part of the
Earth's genetic diversity. A gram of soil can contain billions of
organisms, belonging to thousands of species, mostly microbial and
largely still unexplored.[20][21] Soil has a mean prokaryotic density of
roughly 108 organisms per gram,[22] whereas the ocean has no more
than 107 prokaryotic organisms per milliliter (gram) of
seawater.[23] Organic carbon held in soil is eventually returned to the
atmosphere through the process of respiration carried out
by heterotrophic organisms, but a substantial part is retained in the
soil in the form of soil organic matter; tillage usually increases the rate
of soil respiration, leading to the depletion of soil organic
matter.[24] Since plant roots need oxygen, aeration is an important
characteristic of soil. This ventilation can be accomplished via
networks of interconnected soil pores, which also absorb and hold
rainwater making it readily available for uptake by plants. Since plants
require a nearly continuous supply of water, but most regions receive
sporadic rainfall, the water-holding capacity of soils is vital for plant
survival.[25]
Soils can effectively remove impurities,[26] kill disease agents,[27] and
degrade contaminants, this latter property being called natural
attenuation.[28] Typically, soils maintain a net absorption
of oxygen and methane and undergo a net release of carbon
dioxide and nitrous oxide.[29] Soils offer plants physical support, air,
water, temperature moderation, nutrients, and protection from
toxins.[30] Soils provide readily available nutrients to plants and animals
by converting dead organic matter into various nutrient forms.[31]

Composition
[edit]
 A, B, and C represent the soil profile, a notation firstly coined
by Vasily Dokuchaev (1846–1903), the father of pedology. Here, A is the topsoil; B is a regolith;
C is a saprolite (a less-weathered regolith); the bottom-most layer represents the bedrock.
9 The template Pie chart is being considered for merging. :
Components of a silt loam soil by percent volume

Water (25%)
Gases (25%)
Sand (18%)
Silt (18%)
Clay (9%)
Organic matter (5%)
A typical soil is about 50% solids (45% mineral and 5% organic
matter), and 50% voids (or pores) of which half is occupied by water
and half by gas.[32] The percent soil mineral and organic content can
be treated as a constant (in the short term), while the percent soil
water and gas content is considered highly variable whereby a rise in
one is simultaneously balanced by a reduction in the other.[33] The pore
space allows for the infiltration and movement of air and water, both of
which are critical for life existing in soil.[34] Compaction, a common
problem with soils, reduces this space, preventing air and water from
reaching plant roots and soil organisms.[35]
Given sufficient time, an undifferentiated soil will evolve a soil
profile that consists of two or more layers, referred to as soil horizons.
These differ in one or more properties such as in
their texture, structure, density, porosity, consistency, temperature,
color, and reactivity.[8] The horizons differ greatly in thickness and
generally lack sharp boundaries; their development is dependent on
the type of parent material, the processes that modify those parent
materials, and the soil-forming factors that influence those processes.
The biological influences on soil properties are strongest near the
surface, while the geochemical influences on soil properties increase
with depth. Mature soil profiles typically include three basic master
horizons: A, B, and C. The solum normally includes the A and B
horizons. The living component of the soil is largely confined to the
solum, and is generally more prominent in the A horizon.[36] It has been
suggested that the pedon, a column of soil extending vertically from
the surface to the underlying parent material and large enough to
show the characteristics of all its horizons, could be subdivided in
the humipedon (the living part, where most soil organisms are
dwelling, corresponding to the humus form), the copedon (in
intermediary position, where most weathering of minerals takes place)
and the lithopedon (in contact with the subsoil).[37]