Fly, thought, on golden wings, go alight on the cliffs, on the hills, where the sweet airs of our native soil smell soft and mild! Chorus of the Hebrew slaves, Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi Have you ever noticed the smell of rain? Why does wet soil smell so good? The smell of wet soil plants oils …[Read More]
Soil science
A dark future sprouting from sealed soil
Every year in Europe, soils covering an area larger than the city of Berlin are lost to urban sprawl and transport infrastructure. This unsustainable trend threatens the availability of fertile soils and groundwater reservoirs for future generations. A new report made public today by the European Commission recommends a three-tiered approach focused on limiting the …[Read More]
Lightening the clay (II)
According to the previous post, tetrahedral and octahedral sheets combine to form layers, and we can find two main types of clay structures: structure 1:1 (one tetrahedron sheet and one octahedral sheet) and 2:1 (two tetrahedral sheets and one octahedral sheet). The basic structure of clays is this: Substitutions between cations may occur in the tetrahedral and octahedral …[Read More]
Connecting European connectivity research (COST Action ES1306)
Saskia Keesstra E-mail: saskia.keesstra@wur.nl Deputy President of the Soil System Sciences Division of the European Geosciences Union Why connecting connectivity research? Successful prediction of pathways of storm runoff generation and associated soil erosion is of considerable societal importance, including off-site impacts such as water quality and the provision of related ecosystem services. Recently, the role of connectivity …[Read More]
Lightening the clay (I)
“The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is”. Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC). What is clay? Clays are particles. Very, very small mineral particles. You cannot see them, you cannot handle them… but unity makes strength. Clays are one of the major mineral components of the soil, whose chemical and physical properties …[Read More]
Monday paper: Use of phytoremediation and biochar to remediate heavy metal polluted soils: a review
Paz-Ferreiro, J., Lu, H., Fu, S., Méndez, A., and Gascó, G.: Use of phytoremediation and biochar to remediate heavy metal polluted soils: a review, Solid Earth, 5, 65-75, doi:10.5194/se-5-65-2014, 2014. Soil heavy metal pollution Due to increased extraction and use by various industries, heavy metals come easily to the environment in various ways. Unlike organic substances, heavy metals can not …[Read More]
Google Scholar metrics for soil science journals
The 2014 version of Google Scholar Metrics has been just published. The ranking is arranged according to each journal’s h5-index and h-median metrics. The 2014 edition is based on citations of all articles indexed in Google Scholar until mid-June 2014 and covers articles published between 2009-2013, both inclusive. The ranking also includes lists for publications in …[Read More]
Soil color never lies
Often, soil color is described using general terms such as “brown”, “red”, “dark”, etc. When I talk about this issue for the first time with my students of Soil Science, I use to ask them how to describe the color of a soil sample. Normally, in a few seconds, I get a list of color …[Read More]
Soils going red: Terra rossa
The term “terra rossa” comes from the Italian for “red soil” or “red earth”. Although terra rossa exists in other places in the world, these soils are common in areas with Mediterranean-type climates: alternation of a rainy and cool-to warm-dry season. The terra rossa soil is heavy and clay-rich (silty-clay to clayey) soil, strongly reddish, …[Read More]
Short time for submitting abstracts to the EGU2014 Programme on Soil Science
Deadlines Have you submitted yours? Be aware of deadlines: 16 January 2014: Deadline for receipt of abstracts 30 January 2014: Cancellation of Support Applicants who did not answer 04 February 2014: Letter of acceptance 12 March 2014: Letter of schedule 31 March 2014: Deadline for letters of invitation 31 March 2014: Deadline for early registration …[Read More]