ESSP 462 contributes to completion of MLO 4 in that erosion from agricultural fields pose significant environmental problems. In particular, we will be talking with professions in the Natural Resources Conservation Service on how the government and local farmers are dealing with these issues. ESSP 462 contributes more directly to completion of MLO 5. Students will learn the field mapping skills, and chemical and physical tests of soil properties. Approaches to studying soils.
Soils play a critical role in many of the environmental issues facing the world.
Students will be able to discuss this role in terms of ecology, hydrology, recycling of wastes, and habitat, among others. Students will recognize soils as a natural system and what this implies. Fundamentals of field observations in a soil. These skills will be more fully learned in later labs. Students will be able to discuss processes that break down rock to create soils.