Questions tagged [soil-science]
Questions regarding the state and functioning of soil, its interaction with the biota, hydrosphere and atmosphere
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Is it possible/effective to synthetically produce chernozem soil?
Chernozem soils, called mollisols in the Americas, are black-colored soils containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds. Many earthworms ...
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How to accurately estimate air-entry value (AEV) suction for soils?
In the literature, there are graphical (approximate) ways to estimate AEV from the soil water retention curve. I wonder, how can one more accurately estimate AEV according to its definition: the ...
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Can single point value for potential water-logging be calculated using soil particle size, organic matter and bulk density
I am studying the recent paludification (e.g. mineral soil forests turning to peatlands) in a boreal regime. I have collected peat samples from the peat/mineral subsoil contact that have been 14C ...
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Reason for finding low boron levels in clayey soil with high organic matter?
I've read from various University Extension sites (e.g., here and here) that boron levels would be deficient in sandy soils with low organic matter.
This would suggest that boron levels would be ...
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Causes of high calcium levels in sandy alluvial soils
When soil calcium is high: High levels of soil calcium may be expected when there is substantial calcium carbonate bedrock from which the soil has weathered. Calcium levels can be high in agricultural ...
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Can base saturation percentage be greater than 100%?
I have been doing some quality analysis on soil analytical data that I've gathered from some environmental impact assessments. Many of the values for base saturation percentage are well over 100% (...
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How does humanure make soil "fluffier"?
This BBC article says biosolids make soil "fluffier", among other benefits. How?
Adding humanure also changes soil structure, making it more resilient, preventing erosion and balancing out ...
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How to define the lower boundary conditions: seepage face and unit gradient in terms of soil volumetric water content?
context: the models that simulate the flow of water in the soil (e.g. land-surface models)
In these models, in order to simulate percolation (/drainage) from the bottom of the defined soil column, we ...
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What chemical or physical parameters altered during the usage of buffered versus unbuffered extractant for leachability of a soil or sediment?
Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) is an extraction method to simulate a soil or sediment leaching. The method employed two extraction fluids - one is a buffered
solution of acetic acid ...
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Signs of hydrocarbon contamination in soil?
So, let's say, ~completely theoretically~ you knew, beyond a reasonable doubt, a large oil company was doing something nefarious near you. They own a very strange property through a shell company. Now,...
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soil water retention and soil water content
Can someone clarify me about this doubt?
Is the available soil water content (field capacity minus wilting point) the same as the soil water moisture or soil water content?
Thank you.
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How does manure & other organic matter improve soil structure?
How does manure & other organic matter improve soil structure? Based on my understanding, soil structure refers to the arrangement of the aggregates within the soil; a good soil structure prevents ...
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"Down wash" as a source for mineral particles in the soil
In a previous IGCSE examination paper$^1$, the following question was asked and answer provided:
State one source of mineral particles in soil.
Marking Scheme:
Accept any one of:
rock;
down wash;
...
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Generalized Soil Unit Information on Soil Characteristics of FAO/UNESCO Soil Map
I have some doubts regarding the FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World. I have downloaded the ESRI shapefile format of Digital Soil Map of the World (3rd download link on this page).
Among other files, ...
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How to Distribute Soil moisture output of Thornthwaite and Mather (1954) Soil Water Balance Model into different layers?
in Thornthwaite & Mather (1954) Soil Water Balance Approach
The soil moisture output is generated for the whole soil profile, i.e whatever depth we take for the ...
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USDA soil classification vs FAO/UNESCO soil classification
I am making a global social media website for farmers and gardeners which can be used to share information about plant varieties. This sharing is done via so called garden journals.
In a garden ...
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Do long-term anaerobic conditions caused by flood-irrigation lead to irreversible soil degradation?
In fields that have been cultivated with rice, frequent flood irrigation can lead to soil degradation.
When this type of cultivation has been implemented for several decades, will the soil suffer from ...
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How deep is soil?
I am curious of the lower boundary of soil. Soil is formed after going through complex processes and it has been through coevolution with living organisms. According to the USDA, for soil ...
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Why is the concentration of nitrogen gas almost equal in soil air and the atmosphere?
From the composition of soil air, we know that oxygen is much less than that of atmospheric air. On the other hand, carbon dioxide is higher in soil. However, nitrogen gas is very much similar in both ...
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sub soil data finding
I am going to search and finding some subsoil data, (vanGenuchten Parameters, specific storage, Hydraulic conductivity, porosity, Manning coefficient and humidity of root zone) I have no idea about ...
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Is a hotter climate making trees grow faster and have lighter wood?
I started thinking about this after seeing several articles about falling trees, in particular a few articles about very large trees falling in Los Angeles and New York City. Plus, just thinking about ...
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Looking for variables to compare against pH of soil
I'm doing a project in junior year chemistry where I get to choose what I investigate as long as it covers course content. I'm interested in exploring how quantitative (ig. incremental) change in an ...
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Can we define "drainage density" for a soil column (point-scale)?
From what I read all over the web and articles, drainage density is a parameter that is defined for a catchment.
I want to use a hydrological model to simulate the percolation from the bottom of a ...
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How to obtain the saturation point of a soil layer from the volumetric soil water content data?
Would you please let me know if the following is accurate as an answer to the question:
Suppose we have sensors which measure the volumetric soil water content of a soil layer for a long period (more ...
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What is the "pressure gradient" within the richards equation
I'm trying to understand the Richards equation that can be used to compute the flow of water in soil. In a textbook I found the following:
Unfortunately, the textbook doesn't really explain what the ...
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What will be the depth that water can sink to the ground? [duplicate]
Currently there is a pond in one acre of land which is of 4 feet depth. If the pond is filled with water it is expected that some percent of the water will be absorbed by the ground under the pond. To ...
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What is the connection (if any) between jarosite and subsoil biological activity near Spain's Río Tinto?
In the short BBC video Spain's otherworldly red river, Ricardo Amils, a researcher in Spain's Astrobiology Center says the following (amateur transcription):
Río Tinto is a peculiar place in our ...
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Which unsupervised classification method for non linear multivariate time series earth observation data in python
I have collect several data sets for a small region in Germany called Hessisches Ried (about 90 km²) from different sources for a time period from 2015 to 2019. Daily rainfall amount & daily ...
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How to make Martian soil [duplicate]
My son wants to replicate some experiments and try to grow plants in Martian soil for his A-level science project. I know NASA have managed to produce soil that mimics Martian soil, however I also ...
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How to make Martian soil
My son wants to replicate some experiments and try to grow plants in Martian soil for his A-level science project. I know NASA have managed to produce soil that mimics Martian soil, however I also ...
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How did forests end up covering pyramids?
I went to Mexico and the pyramids are covered by vegetation. It's only after archeologists clean them that you can actually see the pyramids. Before that they looked like a natural hill, with soil, ...
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The state of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium during Anaerobic Digession
I am planning to go for organic farming and I would like to utilize available weeds as fertilizers with either anaerobic or aerobic digestion. I understand that during the aerobic process (composting),...
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Can Some not all mountains actually be Giant petrified Tree Stumps? [closed]
Is it possible That The process that had occurred with the flood have actually petrified ginormous tree stumps during the flood??
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Effect of organic matter on salinity
Organic manure is used in agriculture around the globe.
I am interested in how does organic matter affect the salinity of soil? Does it increases, increases or remains unaffected? and is there a study ...
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Get NPK values of soil without spectroscopy
I stumbled upon this new device called Teralytic. Which can measure salination, NPK values and all sorts of things.
Unfortunately it's sold out and I think when it'll be available again rather ...
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What's a Good Soil Quality Index for Plowed Farm Lands?
I'm currently conducting research using Satellite/Weather/Soil (Mostly Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery) Data to Model Smallholder Farms and their dynamics before Planting.
Key to my progress is to find ...
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Why do allophane soils behave as gels?
It is notoriously difficult to determine the texture of soil containing allophane and immogolite. According to the literature this is because the clay fraction "behaves as a gel", i.e. it's not ...
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Is silicon dioxide (silica) found in all types of soil on the planet?
Known that it is found in sand, silt and clay but is it found in all soils?
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soil that is dried (no pore space) weight?
How much would 1 m3 of an ideal mineral SOIL that has been completely dried (all pore space is empty) weigh in Mg on Earth? Answer = ______ Mg
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How can shake amplitude influence the damping ratio and resonant frequency of a soil base structure?
I have performed an experiment using a shaking table to simulate the response of a soil base structure to an earthquake. A multi-floor structure was placed on a sand (90% relative density) bed and the ...
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How many kg $ha^-$$^1$ of exchangeable $Mg^2$$^+$ is there in the top 15cm of this field?
Soil testing from a well-drained soil sample in 0-15cm depth of a farmers field provides the following
information:
• Wet weight of a soil sample from a volume of 100 $cm^3$: 200 g
• Moisture ...
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Leaching Requirement
How can we determine supplemental irrigation needed to reduce soil salinity knowing ETP of a crop and the annual precipitation?
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How eluvial process determines the difference in colour of soil layers [closed]
How eluvial process determines the colour of E horizon lighter compared to O horizon?
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Passive capillary wick samplers
I am interested in sampling soil solution at different depths on Andean soils. I have found that Passive-capillary samplers have been extensively used to sample soil water, however I was not able to ...
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Soil Science and the carbon cycle - is carbon released from soil into the atmosphere?
Is carbon lost from topsoil when it's degraded/removed? What is the scientific process?
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Can caliches form in arctic soils?
Caliches are signature features of many arid soils. In addition to the typical places of formation in deserts, they also occur in parts of the Tibetan plateau. Can they also form in polar climates? If ...
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How can poor tropical soils be enriched by biological means?
I have been reading a lot recently about agriculture in Africa, and one of the big impediments in a lot of places is the poor quality of the soil. Primarily this refers to a lack of usable molecular ...
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