Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Concepts of soils
- 2 Pedogenic processes and pathways of horizon differentiation
- 3 Soil phases: the inorganic solid phase
- 4 Soil phases: the organic solid phase
- 5 Soil phases: the liquid phase
- 6 Soil phases: the gaseous phase
- 7 Soil phases: the living phase
- 8 The State Factor theory of soil formation
- 9 Factors of soil formation: parent material. As exemplified by a comparison of granitic and basaltic soils
- 10 Factors of soil formation: climate. As exemplified by volcanic ash soils
- 11 Factors of soil formation: topography
- 12 Factors of soil formation: biota. As exemplified by case studies on the direct imprint of trees on trace metal concentrations in soils
- 13 Factors of soil formation: time
- 14 Soil formation on Earth and beyond: the role of additional soil-forming factors
- 15 Soil functions and land use
- 16 Physical degradation of soils
- 17 Chemical degradation of soils
- 18 The future of soil research
- Appendix: Naming soils and soil horizons
- References
- Index
17 - Chemical degradation of soils
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Concepts of soils
- 2 Pedogenic processes and pathways of horizon differentiation
- 3 Soil phases: the inorganic solid phase
- 4 Soil phases: the organic solid phase
- 5 Soil phases: the liquid phase
- 6 Soil phases: the gaseous phase
- 7 Soil phases: the living phase
- 8 The State Factor theory of soil formation
- 9 Factors of soil formation: parent material. As exemplified by a comparison of granitic and basaltic soils
- 10 Factors of soil formation: climate. As exemplified by volcanic ash soils
- 11 Factors of soil formation: topography
- 12 Factors of soil formation: biota. As exemplified by case studies on the direct imprint of trees on trace metal concentrations in soils
- 13 Factors of soil formation: time
- 14 Soil formation on Earth and beyond: the role of additional soil-forming factors
- 15 Soil functions and land use
- 16 Physical degradation of soils
- 17 Chemical degradation of soils
- 18 The future of soil research
- Appendix: Naming soils and soil horizons
- References
- Index
Summary
Soils can be considered as a finite non-renewable resource. A resource is any material that is of benefit to human life. The formation of soils through weathering of the underlying parent rock, the formation of humus, and the development of a soil structure all require a long time. The time span for soil development depends on the intensity of the soil forming factors. On average, the formation of a soil layer a few centimetres thick in a humid climate takes several hundred years (Jenny, 1980; Tutzing Project, 1998). In relation to the time span of a human life, any loss of soil is to be considered permanent.
Soil degradation as defined for the Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (ISRIC, 1990) is ‘a process that describes human-induced phenomena which lower the current and/or future capacity of the soil to support human life’. In other words, soil degradation can be defined as human-induced deterioration of its quality, which means the partial or entire loss of one or more functions of soil (Blum, 1988). Soil quality then should be related to the potential socioeconomical and ecological soil functions. Important ecological soil functions include the ability to produce biomass, to store nutrients and water, to transform plant residues to soil humus (humification), and to release organically bound elements by mineralization (nutrient cycling). Furthermore, soils operate as a buffer against acidification and as a filter for pollutants protecting ground and surface waters. Soils are also the habitat for plant roots and countless soil organisms.
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- Information
- Soils: Basic Concepts and Future Challenges , pp. 235 - 254Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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