EESA01H3 Chapter : chapter notes
31 Oct 2010
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Soil: loose material derived from rock a complex plant-supporting system consisting of disintegrated rock, organic matter, water, gases, nutrients, and microorganisms fundamental to the support of life on the planet & provision of food. N consists of half mineral matter with varying proportions of organic matter, pore space taken up by air, water, soil gases. N organic matter living and dead microorganisms, decaying material from plants and animals. N 1 teaspoonful of soil = 100 million bacteria, 500 000 fungi, 100 000 algae, 50 000 protists. N habitat for earthworms, insects, mites, millipedes, centipedes, nematodes, sow bugs, other invertebrates (burrowing mammals, amphibians and reptiles) Parent material: base geological matter can include lava or volcanic ash, rock or sediment deposited by glaciers, wind-blown dunes, sediments deposited by rivers in lakes or ocean, bedrock. N weathering, erosion, deposition and decomposition (and accumulation) of organic matter.
