18 Terms
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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.
Industry: Earth science
Add a new termContributors 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.
