Soil science

Soil science

That science dealing with soils as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils per se; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.

Industry: Earth science

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Soil science

Soil quality

Earth science; Soil science

The capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem boundaries to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health.

Cumulative infiltration

Earth science; Soil science

Total volume of water infiltrated per unit area of soil surface during a specified time period. Contrast with infiltration flux or rate.

Lithic contact

Earth science; Soil science

A boundary between soil and continuous, coherent, underlying material. The underlying material must be sufficiently coherent to make hand-digging with a spade impractical. If a single mineral, its ...

Particle size summation curve

Earth science; Soil science

A curve showing the accumulative percentage by mass of particles within increasing (or decreasing) size limits as a function of diameter; the percent by mass of each size fraction is plotted ...

Reynolds number (Re)

Earth science; Soil science

A dimensionless parameter calculated from the pore water velocity (v), proe diameter (d), fluid density (ρ) and the fluid viscosity (μ): Re = ρvd/μ. Values below 2000 indicate laminar flow and ...

Soil conditioner

Earth science; Soil science

A material which measurably improves specific soil physical characteristics or physical processes for a given use or as a plant growth medium. Examples include sawdust, peat, compost, synthetic ...

Fifteen-atmosphere percentage

Earth science; Soil science

The percentage of water contained in a soil that has been saturated, subjected to, and is in equilibrium with, an applied pressure of 15 atm. Approximately the same as fifteen-bar percentage.