Soil Characterisation
...1.2 Soil Profile
.5
1.3 Soil Composition
..7
1.4 Physical Properties of Soil
.9
1.5 Chemical Properties of Soil
11
1.6 Soil Macro and Micronutrients
13
2.0 References
.20
2.1 Book and Journal
20
2.2 Internet
21
Appendix A
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Soil Interface
.1
Figure 1.2 Water Table
5
Figure 1.3 Soil Profile
.6
Figure 1.4 Soil Composition
7
Figure 1.5 Soil Structure
..10
Figure 1.6 Flocculation and Aggregation Formation
11
Figure 1.7 Nutrient Availability
12
Figure 1.8 Nitrogen Cycle
..15
Figure 1.9 Phosphorous Cycle
16
Figure 1.10 Micronutrient Availability
18
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Properties of Soil Solids
.9
Table 1.2 Plant Available Form of Micronutrient
..18
Table 1.3 Micronutrient Fertilizer Forms and Application
19
1.0 Soil: An Introduction.
The soil or the pedosphere is the uppermost layer of the Earths crust that is inhabited by living organisms [1]. Soil is the collection of natural bodies occupying portions of the Earth's surface that support plants and that have properties due to the integrated effects of climate and living matter acting upon parent material, as conditioned by relief, over periods of time [2]. Soil however is not merely the sum of minerals, organic matter, water and air but is the interface zone where the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere and the geosphere all meet and it owes its existence to the interactions that occur between the spheres. It is...
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