HomeEnvironmental Conservation
GEO 260, Fall 2010
Soil Formation, Erosion, and Conservation

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Reading to be done before Class: ESBS Chapter 9
Come to class with a basic familiarity with the following concepts and ideas: agriculture, soil as a system, parent material, weathering, erosion, soil horizons, O horizon, A horizon/topsoil, E horizon, leaching, B horizon (subsoil), C horizon, R horizon (parent material or bedrock), types of soil (clay, silt, sand, loam), desertification, overgrazing, salinization, dust bowl, crop rotation, contour farming, intercropping, terracing, shelterbelts, fertilizers, overgrazing,

Soil Content and Structure
  • Solum
    • O horizon (organic surface litter)
    • A horizon (topsoil)
  • Subsoil
    • E Horizon
    • B Horizon
    • C Horizon
  • Parent Material
    • R Horizon
Weathering and Transport
 
  • Alluvium
  • Glacial Drift
  • Loess

Soil Traits

  • Color
  • Texture (Clay, Silt, Sand, loam)
  • Structure
  • pH
  • Tropical Soil Traits
Human Impacts on Soil
  • Changing Plant Cover
  • Building
  • Exposure
Erosion
  • Environmental impacts of Erosion

Soil Conservation in Farming

  • Conservation Tillage
    • Reduced Tillage/Stubble Mulching
    • Intercropping/Strip Cropping
    • Contour Plowing
    • Terracing
  • Crop Rotation
    • Cover Crops
    • Summer Fallowing
  • Shelterbelts

 

 
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