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Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil. Soil measuring and surveying device
Parent material is the underlying geological material (generally bedrock or a superficial or drift deposit) in which soil horizons form. Soils typically inherit a great deal of structure and minerals from their parent material, and, as such, are often classified based upon their contents of consolidated or unconsolidated mineral material that has undergone some degree of physical or chemical ...
Mor humus has three distinct layers: A litter (L) layer, atop a fermentation (Fm) layer, followed by a humus (H) layer, before the transition to mineral soil (Ae, Bf). ). Unlike other types of forest floor humus, the litter layer is well-differentiated from the fermentation layer, and the fermentation layer remains distinct from the humus la
Kankar or (kunkur) is a sedimentological term derived from Hindi (and ultimately Sanskrit) which is occasionally applied in both India [1] and the United States to detrital or residual rolled, often nodular calcium carbonate formed in soils of semi-arid regions. [2] It is used in the making of lime and of roads. [3]
In classical [1] soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Latin word for "earth" or "ground". [2]
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e., a soil containing more than 85 percent sand-sized particles by mass. [2]
A third definition is that silt is fine-grained detrital material composed of quartz rather than clay minerals. [6] Since most clay mineral particles are smaller than 2 microns, [7] while most detrital particles between 2 and 63 microns in size are composed of broken quartz grains, there is good agreement between these definitions in practice. [5]
The term comes from humus, which in turn comes from the Latin word humus, meaning "soil, earth". [1] Humic substances represent the major part of organic matter in soil , peat , coal , and sediments , and are important components of dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) in lakes (especially dystrophic lakes ), rivers, and sea water .