Soils classification & functions

• What is desertification?

  The process of land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, resulting in the loss of vegetation and soil fertility.
• What is bio-sequestration?

  Using plants to capture Co2 and containing it within soil instead of the atmosphere
• What is soil?

  The upper layer of earth in which plants grow in, it is a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay and rock particles
• What does topography have to do with soils?

  Topography is the relief of land and drainage of an area
• What does "Zonal Soils" refer to?

  Soil classification based on climate and vegetation.
• • Zonal soils form over long periods of time, typically taking 100 years for every inch of soil
• Zonal soil:

  • Soils form the layer between the bedrock and the surface of the ground
  • They consist of weathered bedrock and decomposed organic matter from plants
  • Climate is a key factor in how quickly bedrock weathers and organic matter decomposes
• What are the 5 essential functions of soil?

  • Cycling nutrients - Carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients are stored, transformed and cycled in the soil
  • Regulating water - soil controls where precipitation goes
  • Sustaining plant and animal life - The diversity and productivity of living things depend on soil
  • Filtering and buffering potential pollutants - The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for degrading, immobilising and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials (inc industrial waste etc)
  • Physical stability and support - Soil structure provides a medium for plant roots.
• Soils are reliant and determined on climates
• Soil degradation; 33% of the world's soil is gone
• Soil degradation economic losses

  Estimated annual economic losses: \$426 billion (FAO)
• Soil degradation

  The decline in soil quality and fertility, making it less suitable for agricultural production and ecosystem services
• What are the 2 examples of zonal soils studied?

  1. Tropical Red Latosols
  2. Taiga Podosols
• What human activities are associated with Tropical Red Latosol soil?

  Can be used for Sustainable Farming / living but the land is mainly deforested :(

  Deforestation for these reasons:

  1. Clearing land for settlement + infrastructure
  2. Land for ranching, cash cropping and plantations (agriculture)
  3. Hardwood timbers
  4. Access for mineral exploitation
• Where is tropical red latosol found?

   around the Equator, in the tropics - within tropical rainforest biomes
• How are soils classified?

  Texture, structure, color, and composition
• What human activities are associated with Taiga Podsol?

  1. Sheep farming - in the UK
  2. Logging - only allowed in Sov. Union
  3. Hunting - in the UK good for the economy but it is banned in Eurasia + N. America because of deforestation making it un sustainable
• There are 3 different Classifications of soils, those being:

  1. Zonal soils: mature soils reflecting climatic conditions and associated vegetation.
  2. Interzonal soils: reflecting dominance of other factors, such as the characteristics of the parent rock.
  3. Azonal soils: generally immature and skeletal, with poorly developed profiles.
• What is leeching in soils?

  Leaching is a natural process in which water from the rain, snowmelt, or surface / groundwater dissolves substances in contact with the water on the surface of the Earth, and both water and substance are washed away
• Characteristics of the Taiga Podsol:

  • Podsol (or Podzol) soils form under coniferous woodland or heather moorland in taiga biomes (also known as boreal forest in North America)
  • Occupies a large belt of land just south of the tundra biome of the Arctic Circle in North America, Northern Europe and Northern Russia
  • Weathering of bedrock and decomposition of plant matter is slow due to cold winters and cool summers, so soils are shallow (rarely exceeding one metre thick)
• Characteristics of Tropical Red Latosol:

  • Located in the tropical rainforest biome
  • Weathering of bedrock and decomposition of plant matter rapid due to warm and humid climate, forming deep soils 30-40 metres thick
• Tropical Red Latosol is infertile and has a low water content.
• How can the tropical red latosol support big rich rainforests if the soil is infertile and has low water content?

  The Nutrients Cycle!! --> Thanks to the equator's warm and wet conditions tree leaves can fall all year round. This allows for a rich and full supply of leaf litter. Which decomposes with other biota rapidly into the soil's top layer, the humus. Supplying nutrients into the soil ;)
• Profile of iron-rich tropical red latosol:

  A) Thick

  B) Top Horizon

  C) LEaf Litter

  D) Humus

  E) Leaching

  F) Evapotranspiration

  G) Clay