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Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life , soil biota , soil fauna , or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil- litter interface.
The dominant cause of soil displacement in frost heaving is the development of ice lenses. During frost heave, one or more soil-free ice lenses grow, and their growth displaces the soil above them. These lenses grow by the continual addition of water from a groundwater source that is lower in the soil and below the freezing line in the soil.
Frost heave is the process by which the freezing of water-saturated soil causes the deformation and upward thrust of the ground surface. [3] This process can distort and crack pavement, damage the foundations of buildings and displace soil in regular patterns. Moist, fine-grained soil at certain temperatures is most susceptible to frost heaving.
Freezing is a common method of food preservation that slows both food decay and the growth of micro-organisms. Besides the effect of lower temperatures on reaction rates, freezing makes water less available for bacteria growth. Freezing is a widely used method of food preservation. Freezing generally preserves flavours, smell and nutritional ...
Cryoturbation is the dominant force operating in the active layer, and tends to make it generally uniform in composition throughout. However, variation in the composition of soils due to differences in parent rock are very marked in permafrost regions due to the low rate of weathering in the very cold climate.
A soil scientist examining horizons within a soil profile. Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.
Soil structure describes the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and of the pore spaces located between them (Marshall & Holmes, 1979). [1] Aggregation is the result of the interaction of soil particles through rearrangement, flocculation and cementation.
Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. [3] Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water. Soil consistency is the ability of soil materials to stick together. Soil temperature and colour are self-defining.