EAS 21700 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Soil Organic Matter, Pedogenesis, Parent Material

• School: CUNY-City College
• Department: Earth and Atmospheric Science
• Course: EAS 21700
• Professor: Angelo Lampousis

Document Summary

Reference: nature and properties of soils, 15th edition, by ray r. weil and nyle c. brady. Soil is the bridge between the various earth systems. Regolith means earth"s land surface is covered by a layer of rock and mineral fragments produced by weathering; otherwise known as loose soil/loose earth. Soil is a combination of mineral and organic matter, water, and air and is the portion of the regolith that supports the growth of plants (agricultural definition) Soil is the solid material that can be removed without blasting (engineering definition) The source of weathered material that forms soil: residual soils soils form from the underlying bedrock, transported soils soils that form in place from unconsolidated sediment, time. Weathering over a short period of time forms thin soils that closely resemble the parent material. Soils that have weathered for a long period of time are generally thick and do not resemble the parent material: climate. The most influential control of soil formation.