Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Soil
Soil
Soil?
WHAT
IS
Hi,
my name is Soily and
I am the Soil Doctor’s
assistant. I’m here to tell
you a little bit about
soil.
ORGANIC
MATTER 5% the 5
The factors of soil
average SOIL is
ORGANIC MATTER CONTENT
composed of water,
MOST SOILS CONTAIN
Organisms, Topography,
BETWEEN 2 AND 10%
500 0,5
Usually, Soil
AIR Organic Matter (SOM) is
much more abundant in surface
0 0
25%
soil (TOPSOIL) than further below
ground (SUBSOIL). This makes
MINERAL T IME
topsoil more fertile
PARTICLES
45%
WATER
ATE
25% C L IM
MINERALS SOM
O GY
BIOL
TO P O G
RAPHY
TOPSOIL
CARBON ROC
K
SEQUESTRATION WATER
PURIFICATION:
ABSORPTION AND
SUBSOIL
RETENTION OF
POLLUTANTS
CO2
C UNSAFE
SAFE
NUTRIENT
CYCLING
GHGs
CO2
CH4 N2O
So
we need to take
good care of SOIL,
S P Ca N
K Zn
seconds…
MATERIALS
undervalued, soil
PHARMACEUTICALS
AND GENETIC
is actually critical
RESOURCES
for life
FOUNDATION
FOR HUMAN
CA2214EN/1/12.19
INFRASTRUCTURE
© FAO, 2019