Soil science

Soil science deals with soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth.

It includes soil formation, classification and mapping.That means that general physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils are fixed in a map and that they are looked at in relation to the use and management of soils.

But many more sciences deal with knowledge of soils and the advancement of the soil sciences: engineering, agronomists, chemistry, geology, geography, biology, microbiology, sylviculture, public health, archaeology, and regional planning.

"Soil" refers to anything between the top of the dirt and the top of the underlying rock (called "bedrock"). Soil is often broken into layers. The top layer is high in organic matter (rotting plants and such). Then there is a layer of soil where rain water has removed some metals (called "leaching"). Those metals get collected in another, lower layer. Finally, there is a layer made up mostly of broken bits of bedrock. A soil can have all of these layers, or only a few.

Soils are important because most groundwater, which is used in everything from city water supplies to farming, is found in soil, not bedrock.

Fields of application in soil science
 Soil survey
 Soil management
 Standard methods of analysis
 Soil fertility / Nutrient management
 Ecosystem studies
 Climate change
 Watershed and wetland studies
 Pedotransfer function

 References 

 Related disciplines 
 Agricultural sciences
 Irrigation management
 Anthropology
 archaeological stratigraphy
 Environmental science
 Landscape ecology
 Geography
 Physical geography
 Geology
 Hydrology
 Hydrogeology
 Waste management
 Wetland science

Other websites
 Certified Professional Soil Scientist 
 Registered Professional Soil Scientist  (PDF)
SoilScience.info
SoilScience.info's Daily Dirt - Soil Science in Mainstream Media and Popular Press 
SoilScience.info's Job Listings  

Category:Earth sciences
Category:Soil