Organic matter
* All organic matter contains stored energy from the sun
  - has a half-life in the soil
* Any organic matter increases the water-holding capacity of soil.
* Most organic matter contains carbon
  - passes through intestines
* Some organic matter accumulates in water.
* Some organic matter becomes fossil fuel
* Some organic matter contains cellulose
  - dead organisms
  - derives from plants
  - escapes oxidation and is preserved to varying extents, e.g., as fossil fuels
* Some organic matter is produced by algas
  - decomposition
  - diatoms
  - moves through canals
  - passes though the water column and is deposited in bottom sediments
  - prevents diseases
* Some organic matter prevents fungal diseases
  - root diseases
  - provides food
  - tends to work better than others
* accumulates around the roots of the hitchhiking plants, creating a mass of rich soil.
* adds nutrients to the soil
  - nutrients, improves tilth and stabilizes soil moisture levels
* affects both chemical and physical properties of the soil
  - the available water capacity, infiltration rate, and tilth
* allows the soil to retain more water and provides the plant needed nutrients.
* attracts earthworms that drill channels deep into the subsoil.
* binds soil particles, granules, and aggregates together.
* builds a better soil structure for roots to forage for water, nutrients and air.
* can absorb large quantities of moisture as snow melts, therefore runoff is decreased
  - act as a filter, cleaning air and water
* can be anything from old leaves, dead animals and plants, or tiny living things
  - peat moss, aged manure or compost
  - come from humus, compost, etc
  - consist of compost, well-rotted manure, or peatmoss
* can help prevent iron deficiency
  - sandy soil be more stable, hold plants better and retain more water
  - to improve structure of soil, especially clay soils
  - strongly affect metal ion binding to soil and sediment
  - temporarily harbor fleas while they are off the host
* common limiting factor in the selection of crop, nutrients, or pesticides.
* consists of dead and decomposing plant and animal parts
  - macroscopic and microscopic forms of flora and fauna
* contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
* decomposes more slowly in wet soils.
* does increase slightly at the lower sampling depth with the higher rates
  - several important things for the root growth of azaleas
* drives metabolism in freshwater ecosystems.
* enhances degradation by providing a way for the chemical to uncouple
  - the aeration and water-holding capacity of the soil
* extremely limiting factor in the selection of crop, nutrients, or pesticides.
* favors soil fungi and other organisms.
* gives soil a darker colour.
* great soil improver for both clay and sandy soils.
* has a large influence on soil structure
  - number of important functions in soil
  - strong, positive effect on infiltration of water into soils
  - by far the highest cation exchange capacity of common components of most soils
  - favorable effects on soil productivity
  - good water retention abilities which help sandy soils
  - the ability to absorb large quantities of calcium
* helps aerate clay-heavy soils and helps maintain moisture in sandy soils
  - any soil become more like the ideal loamy soil
  - clay soil to drain and sandy soil to hold more moisture
  - create and stabilize aggregates of the grains of sand, silt, and clay
  - increase microorganisms
  - plants in the soil to grow strong and healthy
  - preserve a porous soil structure, which absorbs and holds water
* helps sandy soils hold water and nutrients
  - slow down the water passing through so the capillary pores can suck it up
  - soil store more water and helps prevent erosion and produces better crops
  - stabilize the soil pH, which, in turn, increases microorganism activity
* holds more water and nutrients than any other soil constituent
  - nutrients in the soil by reducing leaching
* improves aeration, water retention, soil structure, and drainage
  - all Long Island soils
* improves soil conditions, conserves soil moisture and encourages root development
  - drainage of excess water, while holding moisture for better growth
  - structure, helping to develop strong, healthy root systems
* improves the ability of the soil to hold moisture during dry spells
  - drainage and aeration of clay soil
  - fertility, the structure and the tilth of all kinds of soils
  - texture of both sandy and clay soils
  - water-holding capacity and helps retain vital nutrients
* increases nutrient-holding capacity and improves aeration and water retention
  - soil water holding capacity
* increases the number and kind of microorganisms in the soil
  - water holding capacity of a soil
* inhibits the antibacterial action of nitrofurazone.
* is added to the soil as well as the potential for nutrients such as nitrogen
  - gradually by the plants and animals living in the soil
  - all that really does distinguish most atoll soil from crushed coral
  - also the most chemically active part of the soil
  - an essential fraction of any good quality soil
* is an important part of the life of agricultural or garden soils
  - soil material
* is anything that was once alive
  - which comes from a plant or animal
  - basically something that used to be alive
* is beneficial to organisms in the soil and provide a rich food for earthworms
  - the soil and to vegetable crops in many ways
  - beneficial, and fish emulsion is helpful in boosting soil health
  - broken down organic material from plants
  - created by plants, microbes and other organisms that live in the soil
  - divided into living and non-living things
* is equally important in cases of more sandy soil
  - especially beneficial in heavy clay or light, sandy soils
* is essential for making healthy soil, which results in well fed and healthy plants
  - to growing good roses
  - extremely important in improving soil structure and increasing pore space
  - filtered from water at the surface or in the soil
  - ground up in a worm's gizzard
  - high and fertility is medium
  - immature through most of the cored interval, with maturity increasing with depth
* is important for healthy plants
  - in soil tilth
  - on the Coast and in other locales that have sandy soil
  - to soil productivity
  - less abundant in the B horizon
  - like magic
  - lost during and after tillage
* is low in many Australian soils
  - the surface layer
* is made of tiny rocks and bits of dead plants and animals
  - up of dead plant material
  - maintained or increased
  - many different kinds of compounds some more useful to organisms than others
  - metabolized by microorganisms and consumed by invertebrates
  - more important than fertilizer
  - moved downward through sand as the water table fluctuates
  - naturally present from leaves and decaying plants in the reservoir
  - often part of a soil test
  - one of the components that makes the shale black
  - perhaps the life blood of the soil
  - rapidly decomposed and leached or eroded by heavy rains
  - removed biologically
  - sparse in the B-horizon
  - that part of the soil that can make or break a garden
* is the adhesive for holding soil particles together by increasing soil aggregation
  - byproduct of the decomposition
  - key to forest health
* is the layer formed by plants and animals
  - byplants and animals
  - lifeblood of the soil
  - main source of energy for soil organisms, both plant and animal
  - plant and animal residue in the soil at various stages of decomposition
  - remains of plants and animals in the soil
  - single most important factor affecting adsorption of pesticides in soils
  - very heart and soul of organic gardening
  - waste residues and remains of living organisms
  - ubiquitous in the environment and one of the most important copper complexants
  - very important to successful plant growth
* is what makes a soil fertile
  - they eat
* loosens the soil, which increases the amount of pore space
  - tight clay and helps sand hold more water and nutrients
* makes a great natural fertilizer
  - plants healthier
* means plant nutrients.
* placed in airtight landfills stops the earth s natural cycle of decomposition.
* plays a large role in influencing how the Earth functions
  - major role in aquatic systems
  - more of a role in aggregate stability than in aggregate formation
* produced on the land resource which, used properly, is inexhaustible.
* promotes stabilization of the aggregate particles.
* provides benefits to the soil and the subsequent crop in many different ways
  - both types of nutrients, as well as properties that improve soil quality
  - energy for biological activity
  - suitable shelter for disease microbes to survive
* rains down to the bottom of bodies of water.
* reduces effectiveness, but iodophors are less affected than hypochlorites
  - soil crusting and helps soil hold water and nutrients
* releases food in a form available to plants through the process of decomposition.
* requisite for healthy garden soil.
* serves as a carbon source for soil microorganisms
  - glue, holding sandy soil particles together
* slight limiting factor in the selection of crop, nutrients, or pesticides.
* storehouse for nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus.
* tends to bind up some soil pesticides, reducing their effectiveness.
* uses up oxygen in the decay process.
* vital part of soil quality.
* works like a sponge, improving the soil's ability to retain most nutrients and water.
+ Radiocarbon dating: Archaeology :: Carbon :: Radiometric dating
  * It is a type of radiometric dating. The method uses the radioactive isotope carbon-14. Most organic matter contains carbon. This makes it possible to tell the age of substances that contain carbon. The method works to about 60,000 years old.