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1-Lecture of Basic Soil Science Introduction and Basic Concepts

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RAIHAN NABIL PRATAMA
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11 views

1-Lecture of Basic Soil Science Introduction and Basic Concepts

Uploaded by

RAIHAN NABIL PRATAMA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SOIL –

The Fundamental
Concepts

[email protected]
Natural
Resources
Faperta Unmul, 04022021
Conservation
Service
Helping People Help the Land
What is soil?
You have 3 minutes to
develop a group consensus
definition.

Natural
Resources
Conservation
Service
Helping People Help the Land
What is “Soil?”
 Each discipline defines soil in a
different way, depending on how soil
affects it.
SOIL
 Geologic definition: Loose surface of the
earth as distinguished from solid bedrock;
support of plant life, not required.
SOIL
 Traditional
definition: Material which
nourishes and supports growing plants;
includes rocks, water, snow, air.
SOIL
 Component definition: Mixture of mineral
matter, organic matter, water, and air.
SOIL
 Soil Taxonomy definition: Collection of natural
bodies of the earth’s surface, in places modified or even
made by man or earthy materials, containing living
matter and supporting or capable of supporting plants
out of doors.
Its upper limit is air or shallow water and its lower limit is
the depth to which soil weathering has been effective.
Definition, Soil Taxonomy, 2 nd
ed.

 Soil is a natural body comprised of solids


(minerals and organic matter), liquid, and
gases that occurs on the land surface,
occupies space, and is characterized by one or
both of the following: horizons, or layers, that
are distinguishable from the initial material as a
result of additions, losses, transfers, and
transformations of energy and matter or the
ability to support rooted plants in a natural
environment.
Definition, Soil Taxonomy, 2 nd
ed.

 The upper limit of soil is the boundary


between soil and air, shallow water, live
plants, or plant materials that have not begun
to decompose. Areas are not considered to
have soil if the surface is permanently
covered by water too deep (typically more
than 2.5 meters) for the growth of rooted
plants.
Definition, Soil Science Glossary, SSSA
 (i) The unconsolidated mineral or organic
material on the immediate surface of the
earth that serves as a natural medium for the
growth of land plants.
Definition, Soil Science Glossary, SSSA, cont’d
 (ii) The unconsolidated mineral or organic
matter on the surface of the earth that has
been subjected to and shows effects of
genetic and environmental factors of: climate
(including water and temperature effects),
and macro- and microorganisms, conditioned
by relief, acting on parent material over a
period of time. A product-soil differs from the
material from which it is derived in many
physical, chemical, biological, and
morphological properties and characteristics.
Definition, Joffe, 1949, modified by
Birkeland, 1999

 Soil is a natural body consisting of layers


(horizons) of mineral and/or organic
constituents of variable thicknesses, which
differ from the parent materials in their
morphological, physical, chemical, and
mineralogical properties and their biological
characteristics.
SOIL
 As a portion of the landscape: Collection of
natural bodies occupying portions of the earth’s surface
that support plants and that have properties due to the
integrated effect of climate and living matter, acting upon
parent material, as conditioned by relief, over periods of
time.
 Soil is material capable of supporting
plant life. Soil forms through a variety of
soil formation processes, and includes
weathered rock "parent material"
combined with dead and living organic
matter and air.
 Soils are vital to all life on Earth because

they support the growth of plants, which


supply food and oxygen and absorb
carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
Definitions (simplified)
 Soil is a dynamic, heterogeneous, three-phase,
porous media
– Perspective: Soil Physics
 Soil is the outer layer of the earth’s crust capable
of supporting plant growth (Pearson, 1967,
Principles of Agronomy)
– Perspective: Botany, Agronomy,
Horticulture, ...
 Soil is unconsolidated, surficial material.

– Perspective: Geology, Engineers


Soil
Components

Natural
Resources
Conservation
Service
Helping People Help the Land
Major Components
 Mineral matter
 Organic matter
 Air

 Water
SOIL
 Component definition: Mixture of mineral
matter, organic matter, water, and air.
 Example:

Air 25%

Mineral Matter
45%

Water 25%

Organic Matter 5%
Soil Role and
Its Function

Natural
Resources
Conservation
Service
Helping People Help the Land
Why Study Soil?
 Great Integrator!
– Medium of crop production
– Filter water and waste
– Producer and absorber of gases
– Home to organisms
– Medium for plant growth
– Waste decomposer
– Source material for construction, art, medicine, etc.
– Snapshot of geological, climatic, biological, and
human history
– Essential natural resource.
SOIL: Make it Work for You!
We Study Soil Because It’s A(n)
Great integrator:
Medium of crop all parts of ecosystem Snapshot of
production geologic, climatic,
biological, and
human history
Producer and
absorber of Waste decomposer
gases

Medium for
plant
growth Source material for
construction,
medicine, art, etc.
Home to organisms
(plants, animals and
others) Filter of water
and wastes
Essential natural resource
Soils Perform Several Vital
Functions
Sustaining plant and
animal life below and
above the surface
Regulating and
partitioning water and
solute flow

Filtering, buffering,
degrading, immobilizing,
and detoxifying

Storing and cycling


nutrients

Providing support to
structures
Soil Management Affects Soil Properties
Soil
Quality
Soil is a Fundamental Part
of the Ecosystem
The living systems
occurring above and
below the ground
surface are determined
by the properties of the
soil. We often ignore
the soil because it is
hard to observe.
The Study of Soil (Pedology)
is a Unique Discipline
Soil—a natural body of solids, liquid, and gases,with
either horizons, or layers or the ability tosupport
rooted plants

Unique physical, chemical, and biological


properties

color
texture
structure
consisten
ce
roots
pores
other
features
USDA-NRCS

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