ENV100Y5 Lecture 3: Module 3 ENV100Y5
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ENV100Y5 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Peat soils formed over 8000 years; up to 6. Carbon balance in peat: primary production stores carbon, decomposition releases carbon. Interdiciplinary research project studying the influence of climate on carbon balance (and vice versa) Soil consists of mineral matter, organic matter, water, air and other gases: dead and living microorganisms and decaying material, bacteria, algae, earthworms, insects, mammals, amphibians, reptiles. Parent material= base geologic material of soil: bedrock= continuous mass of solid rock (earths crust, regolith (sediment)= broken up rock. Physical(mechanical)= no chemical changes in the parent material: pressure release in rockbed. Chemical= substances chemically interact with parent material: karst: dissolution of layers of bedrock, salt weathering. Biological= organisms break down parent material: roots of plants in rockbed. Factors that affect soil formation: parent material composition (mineral content, climate (temperature, precipitation, topography (steepness of slope, vegetation (root activity; protective cover, biological activity(soil microbes and fauna; decomposition and accumulation of organic matter) Soil profile= the cross-section of soil as a whole.
