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soil
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Podzol soil profile soil profile soil textures Inceptisol soil profiles on hillslopes Ferralsol soil profile Mollisol soil profile Illustrated diagram of the carbon cycle showing how carbon moves as carbon dioxide through the atmosphere, water, living organisms, rocks, and soil. It depicts processes like photosynthesis, respiration, sedimentation, volcanic activity, fossil fuel use, and carbon sequestration, with arrows indicating the flow between air, water, plants, animals, rocks, and industrial sources. Colorful diagram of the nitrogen cycle showing how nitrogen moves through the atmosphere, biosphere, and soil. It illustrates natural processes like nitrogen fixation, assimilation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification, as well as human activities such as fertilizer use and industrial emissions, with arrows and labels connecting elements like plants, animals, bacteria, and factories. nitrogen-fixing bacteria
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Leptosol soil profile
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soil: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Perhaps the finest book on soils for the layperson is Milo I. Harpstead, Thomas J. Sauer, and William F. Bennett, Soil Science Simplified, 3rd ed. (1997). An in-depth introductory treatment is given by Frederick R. Troeh and Louis M. Thompson, Soils and Soil Fertility, 5th ed. (1993). A holistic account of soils in their ecological setting is presented in Hans Jenny, The Soil Resource (1980, reprinted with corrections, 1983). Technical terms are defined in Glossary of Soil Science Terms (1997), published by the Soil Science Society of America.

An excellent technical discussion of pedology in an ecological context is Stanley W. Buol et al., Soil Genesis and Classification, 4th ed. (1997). Guides to soil classification are Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 8th ed. (1998), published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Soil Map of the World: Revised Legend (1990, reprinted with corrections, 1994), published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNESCO.

The modern classic on soil formation is Hans Jenny, Factors of Soil Formation (1941, reissued 1994). See also the commentary volume, Factors of Soil Formation: A Fiftieth Anniversary Retrospective (1994), published by the Soil Science Society of America. The geomorphic processes related to soil formation and erosion are discussed by Cliff Ollier, Weathering (1984). Erosion is considered in more technical detail in Frederick R. Troeh, James Arthur Hobbs, and Roy L. Donahue, Soil and Water Conservation, 3rd ed. (1999). The special problems of soil loss in the humid tropics are brought out in R. Lal and Pedro A. Sánchez (eds.), Myths and Science of Soils of the Tropics (1992); and, on a practical level, in Ted C. Sheng, Soil Conservation for Small Farmers in the Humid Tropics (1989).

Soil pollution issues are given modern treatment in Garrison Sposito, The Chemistry of Soils (1989); Murray B. McBride, Environmental Chemistry of Soils (1994); Eldor A. Paul and Francis E. Clark (eds.) Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry, 2nd ed. (1996); and F.J. Stevenson and M.A. Cole, Cycles of Soil, 2nd ed. (1999). The last four texts also discuss biogeochemical cycling in soils at a technical level.

Garrison Sposito

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Add new Web site: Queensland Government - What is soil? Oct 30, 2026
Add new Web site: Biology LibreTexts - Soils. Sep 17, 2026
Add new Web site: Texas A and M Agrilife Extension - Soils and Fertilizers. May 02, 2026
Add new Web site: University of Minnesota Libraries - Environmental Biology - Soils. Nov 21, 2025
Add new Web site: University of Mosul - Chapter two (Weathering and soils) (PDF). Oct 14, 2025
Add new Web site: University of California - Agriculture and Natural Resources - An Introduction to Soil Concepts and the Role of Soils in Watershed Management (PDF). Sep 20, 2025
Add new Web site: Cell Press - Trends in Plant Science - Soil: the stuff of life. Aug 07, 2025
Add new Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Healthy Soils for Productivity and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (PDF). Jun 28, 2025
Questions and answers added. Mar 19, 2025
Add new Web site: Seneca Polytechnic Pressbooks System - A Brief Introduction to Geology and Geomorphology - Weathering and Soils. Jan 10, 2025
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Sustainable soil use and management: An interdisciplinary and systematic approach. Dec 20, 2024
Add new Web site: The Royal Society Publishing - Pilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - The role of soils in habitat creation, maintenance and restoration. Nov 08, 2024
Add new Web site: Tulane University - Weathering and Soils. May 01, 2024
Add new Web site: CORE - Soils and weathering. Mar 14, 2024
Add new Web site: Openstax - Biology 2e - The Soil. Dec 07, 2023
Add new Web site: Royal Horticultural Society - Soil types. Oct 20, 2023
Add new Web site: Energy.gov - Soil. Sep 08, 2023
Add new Web site: Soil Science Society of America - Soil Basics. May 04, 2023
Add new Web site: Geology.com - Expansive Soil and Expansive Clay. Mar 25, 2023
Add new Web site: Nature - Scitable - What are Soils? Feb 06, 2023
Add new Web site: Biology LibreTexts - Soils. Nov 21, 2022
Add new Web site: Agriculture Victoria - Soil. Sep 08, 2022
Corrected display issue. Jun 08, 2021
Added cross-references throughout. Nov 10, 2020
Add new Web site: The Spruce - What Is Soil? Get the Dirt on Dirt. Nov 20, 2019
Add new Web site: Soil Society of America - What is Soil? Jul 26, 2018
Corrected display issue. Jun 13, 2018
Add new Web site: Idaho Public Television - Science Trek - Soil. May 10, 2018
Add new Web site: University of Illinois Extension - The Great Plant Escape - Soiled Again! Jul 05, 2017
Add new Web site: IndiaNetzone - Gardening - Types of Soil. Jul 05, 2017
Add new Web site: Easy Science for Kids - All About Soil. Dec 28, 2016
Add new Web site: Scottish Environment and Protection Agency - Soil. May 05, 2014
Add new Web site: The Department of Biodiversity & Conservation Biology - University of Western Cape - Soil. May 05, 2014
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Facts about Soil. May 05, 2014
Add new Web site: Quatr.us Study Guides - Soil Types. Mar 20, 2013
Add new Web site: ThinkQuest - Types of Soil. Sep 18, 2011
Add new Web site: Indianetzone - Types of Soil. Sep 18, 2011
Add new Web site: New Georgia Encyclopedia - Geography and Environment - Soils. May 31, 2011
Added video discussing the formation of soil and the organisms that inhabit it. Feb 09, 2011
Added new Web site: Enchanted Learning - Soil. Apr 14, 2009
Added new Web site: Kalispell Public Schools - How Are Soils Classified? Mar 19, 2009
Added new Web site: Kalispell Public Schools - How Are Soils Classified? Mar 19, 2009
Added new Web site: International Center for Leadership in Education - Gold Seal Lesson - Soil Study. Mar 18, 2009
Added new Web site: International Center for Leadership in Education - Gold Seal Lesson - Soil Study. Mar 18, 2009
Media added. Feb 20, 2009
Added new Web site: Banglapedia - Soil Mineralogy. Feb 16, 2009
Added new Web site: ThinkQuest - Soil Composition. Nov 18, 2008
Added new Web site: IndiaNetzone - Gardening - Types of Soil. Nov 18, 2008
Added new Web site: krishi World - Soil. Nov 17, 2008
Added new Web site: Soil Erosion - Soil Erosion. Aug 11, 2008
Added new Web site: Physical Geography.Net - Lithosphere. Apr 28, 2008
Article revised and updated. Mar 13, 2008
Added new Web site: GreenHouse Gas Online - Tropical Soils. Jan 18, 2007
Added new Web site: ThinkQuest - Soils. Jan 15, 2007
Added new Web site: Cornell University - Gardening Resources. Jun 14, 2006
Article revised. Dec 07, 2000
Article added to new online database. Jul 26, 1999
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