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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.

Contributors in Soil science

Soil science

Saprophytic competence

Earth science; Soil science

The ability of a nodule symbiont or pathogenic microorganism to establish itself and live in soil as a saprophyte.

Soil micromorphology

Earth science; Soil science

The study of soil morphology by microscopic (light optical and less frequently by submicroscopic) methods, often using thin-section techniques.

Hardsetting soil

Earth science; Soil science

Soils that, following wetting, exhibit transient but only slowly reversible cementation and/or induration throughout significant fractions of the profile restrictive to seed emergence and root ...

Nonlimiting water range

Earth science; Soil science

The region bounded by the upper and lower soil water content over which water, oxygen, and mechanical resistance are not limiting to plant growth. Compare with available water.

Ammonium fixation

Earth science; Soil science

The process of entrapment of ammonium ions in interlayer spaces of phyllosilicates, in sites similar to K+ in micas. Smectites, illites and vermiculites all can fix ammonium, but vermiculite has the ...

Angle of repose

Earth science; Soil science

The maximum angle of slope (measured from a horizontal plane) at which loose, cohesionless material will come to rest.

Ground water

Earth science; Soil science

That portion of the water below the surface of the ground at a pressure equal to or greater than atmospheric.

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