Soil
From Fiswiki
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics.
It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes that include weathering and erosion.
Soil differs from its parent rock due to interactions between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and the biosphere.
It supports a complex ecosystem, which supports the plants on the surface and creates new soil by breaking down rocks and sand. This microscopic ecosystem has co-evolved with the plants to collect and store water and nutrients in a form usable by plants.
Soil particles pack loosely, forming a soil structure filled with pore spaces.
These pores contain soil solution (liquid) and air (gas). Accordingly, soils are often treated as a three state-system. Most soils have a density between 1 and 2 g/cm³. Soil is also known as earth: it is the substance from which our planet takes its name.
Little of the soil composition of planet Earth is older than the Tertiary and most no older than the Pleistocene.
In engineering, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose rock material.
[edit] Also see
- Water
- Frozen Ground
- Permafrost
- What Affects Frozen Ground
- What is the Cryosphere
- Geomorphology
- Physical Features of Mountains
- Alpine permafrost
- Mountain
- Mountain Glossary
- Weathering
- Chemical weathering
- Mountain Ecosystem
- Vegetation
- Thaw depth
- Frost line
- Rock
[edit] Reference
- Wikipedia Soil [1]
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