Environment; concept and history, Aims, environmental system

Biosphere: biome, ecosystems, flow of energy and matter in ecosystem

(biogeochemical cycles)
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere: troposphere, stratosphere, mesospher, thermosphere
Lithosphere: soil resources
Class participation
Minerals: inorganic, naturally exist, element or compunds, physical properties,
crstal form (Example) Quartz
Rock; aggreagate of minerals
Water
Air
Organic material – dead material
Organism
Important for plants
Food transportation
Sand, clay, silt – soil texture
Natural resource – non renewable (2.4 billion tons /year) (takes 2000 years to
accumulate 4 inches of topsoil layer.
Class participation
Complex mixture of minerals and water, air
Mineral; natural inorganic element or compound has crystal form
(Quartz, salt)
Rock; solid mass or aggregate of minerals
Ice is rock but homogenous
Skin of earth
Tool or important limiting factor for agriculture
Soil has vital nutrients (nitrogenous compounds, potassium, calcium,
phophrous, etc) for plants.
Class participation
Soil layers; Horizones (O, A, B ,C)
Factors (climate, toporapgy time, etc) determine properties (soil
texture, cation exchange capcity, organism)
Degradation factors
Ways to reduce degradation
Role of international agencies
Soil Resources
Outline
• Definition and concept
• Soil formation
• Factors determine the soil Properties
• Soil Horizon
• Soil Properties
• Factor degrading the soil
• How we can stop degradation
• Role of International agencies
Soil is result of physical and chemical weathering of rock and gradual
accumulation of detritus from biosphere.

Geologically, soils are earth materials modified over time by physical,

chemical, and biological processes into a series of layers.

Soils are a key to life on the land, affecting life and affected by it.
Soil Formation
The processes that form soil work in two directions simultaneously.

1. The breakdown of rocks and primary minerals by weathering

provides the raw material for soil from below.

2. The deposition of organic matter from organisms and their wastes

contributes to soil formation from above
 Factors determine the soil Properties
Inorganic components are derived, Different soil types arise from different parent materials.
e.g., Quartz sand (silicon dioxide) will give rise to a soil that is nutrient poor.
1. Parent Material Calcium Carbonate has abundant supply of calcium, have a high pH, and support high
agricultural productivity.
Soils do not develop well below freezing point
2. Climate e.g. Soils at Northern Hemisphere are composed largely of organic material in an undecomposed state.
Soil development in the humid tropics is accelerated by the rapid weathering of rock and soil minerals,
the leaching of nutrients, and the decomposition of organic detritus.
On steep slopes are constantly subjected to erosion and more drastic mass movements of material
3. Topography In contrast, soils that form at the bottoms of steep slopes may continually accumulate material from
higher elevations and become quite deep.
Plants remove nutrients from soil and excrete organic acids that speed chemical weathering. Animals
4. Organisms that tunnel, such as earthworms, gophers, and voles, mix the soil, distributing organic and mineral
matter uniformly throughout.
As soils age, they develop a variety of characteristics. e.g. Grassland have had continual inputs of organic
matter for hundreds of thousands of years and prairie vegetation growing above them, they have become
5. Time deep and fertile.
Other soils that are equally old, but with less productive communities due to quantities of water moving
through them, can become relatively infertile.
Soil Horizons and Properties
O - Horizon
• At the surface of many soils is a layer of organic detritus such as
leaves, needles, twigs, and even animal bodies, all in various stages of
decomposition. This horizon, called the O horizon, or organic horizon,
is most pronounced in forest soils and is also found in some
grasslands.
A - Horizon
In a soil that is mixed, either naturally or by human agricultural
practices, the top layer of soil is the A horizon, also known as topsoil.
The A horizon is a zone of organic material and minerals that have been
mixed together.
E Horizon
In some acidic soils, an E horizon—a zone of leaching forms under the
O horizon or, less often, the A horizon. When present, it always occur
above the B horizon. When an E horizon is present, iron, aluminum,
and dissolved organic acids from the overlying horizons are transported
through and removed from the E horizon and then accumulated in the
B horizon.
B Horizon
All soils have a B horizon. The B horizon, commonly known as subsoil, is
composed primarily of mineral material with very little organic matter.
If there are nutrients in the soil, they will be present in the B horizon.
C Horizon
The C horizon, the least weathered soil horizon, always occurs beneath
the B horizon. The C horizon is similar to the parent material.
Soil Properties
1.Soil Texture; Sand, silt, and clay are mineral particles of different sizes.
The texture of a soil is determined by the percentages of sand, silt, and
clay it contains. The porosity of soil—how quickly soil drains—depends on
its texture..

Sand particles— the largest of the three components—pack together

loosely. Water can move easily between the particles, making sand quick
to drain and quick to dry out.
Silt particles are intermediate in size and in their ability to drain or retain
water.
Clay particles—the smallest of the three components—pack together
much more tightly than sand particles.
Soil Texture
Concept
Larger particles have larger spaces separating them than smaller
particles have. (Visualize the difference between packing softballs and
packing golf balls in containers of the same size.)
Smaller particles have more surface area relative to their volume than
larger particles have. (Visualize cutting a block in half again and again.
Each time you cut it, you create two new surfaces, but the total volume
of the block remains the same.)
Nutrient ions and water molecules tend to cling to surfaces. (This is
why a nongreasy surface remains wet after you drain the water from
it.)
2. Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC); Clay particles contribute the
most to the chemical properties of a soil because of their ability to
attract positively charged mineral ions, referred to as cations.
Because clay particles have a negative electrical charge, cations are
adsorbed—held on the surface—by the particles.
3. Three groups of organisms account for 80 to 90 percent of the
biological activity in soils: fungi, bacteria, and protozoans (certain
single-celled organisms) However, the majority of soil organisms are
detritivores, which consume dead plant and animal tissues and
recycle the nutrients they contain.
Class participation
• Deforesttaion
• Floods cause removal of soil layer ( soil erosion; loss of organic
matter)
• Intensive agriculture
• Coal and mineral mining
• Pollution of heavy metals and non-biodegradable material
Class participation
• Industrial waste
• Overgrazing and heavy machineries
• Compaction
• Lack of awareness
• Over use of pesiticide / fertilizer
Soil degradation
Soil degradation: the loss of some or all of the ability of soils to support
plant growth.
1. Soil erosion
2. Compaction of soil due to heavy grazing activities and machineries
3. Intensive agriculture
4. Deforestation
Example: The Great American Dust Bowl
How we can stop Degradation
• Avoid excess use of fertilizers
• Drip irrigation
• Crop rotation
Role of international agencies
Internationally, there are few soil protection treaties, although a
number of international efforts touch on soil protection. For example,
in 2011 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European
Commission initiated the Global Soil Partnership to promote joint
efforts to protect soil resources and to restore the function of soils in
ecosystems.
The United Nations declared 2015 to be the International Year of Soils
and December 5 to be World Soil Day.
There have been international efforts to protect and restore soils by
reversing deforestation and desertification. The United Nations
established the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which
was signed and officially ratified by more than 100 nations in 1996. The
goal of the UNCCD is to have a “land degradation neutral world,”

In 2014, India, recognizing the impact of desertification on its ability to

provide food, began an effort to become land-degradation neutral by
2030.
Currently there are international collaborations among scientists,
international agencies, and national governments to protect soil.
At this point, most international soil protection efforts are focused on
agriculture because soil health is so closely tied to food security.
Attention to other issues, such as urban soils, soils degraded by mining
or hazardous wastes, and the effect of climate change on soils, has
lagged. In the future, soil health will probably get more international
attention, because it is so closely connected to a number of the
Sustainable Development Goals.