11:375:360

Soils & Water

Instructor:
Dr. Daniel Giménez; gimenez@envsci.rutgers.edu

Teaching Assistant:
Jen Loudon; jloudon@AESOP.rutgers.edu

Text
Brady, N. C. and R. R. Weil. 2002. Elements of the Nature and Properties
of Soils. Prentice Hall.
There is no Lab Manual. Lab instructions will be posted in the course web
site.
 11:375:360
Soils & Water
• Web site:
– http://envsci.rutgers.edu/courses/index.shtml
(follow the link “Soils and Water”).
• Grades: Homeworks 10%

Assignments and Quizzes 20%

Final Exam 25%

Final Project 20%

Laboratory 25%
 Questions
• How do societies benefit from soils?
• What is the difference between soil and
dirt?
Source: Costanza et al. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387: 253-260.
 The Value of Ecosystem Services
• Most of the value of
ecosystem services is outside
the market.
• For the entire biosphere, the
global values is between US$
14-54 trillion per year, while
global gross national product
is about US$ 18 trillion per
year.
• How would the global
economical situation change
if we had to produce or pay
for ecosystem services?

Source: Costanza et al. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387: 253-260.
Taking Soil Science to Outer Space:
The Phoenix 2007 Scout Mission to Mars
Distribution of Water in Mars
 Phoenix Scout Mission to Mars
• Mission Goals:
– Search for subsurface ice and clues to its origin
– Search for evidence of past or episodic liquid water.

• The Mission:

• Phoenix lands in northern spring above the “arctic circle,” and

will operate ~90 days through the summer solstice
• Phoenix’ robot arm can excavate 50-100 cm, with “ripper tines”
to sample hard ice/rock conglomerates.
– Odyssey predicts that ice will be found 20-40 cm below
surface..
• Soil will be analyzed for thermal and geochemical properties.
 Some of the Instruments in the
Phoenix
Optical and Atomic Force Microscope
Properties: soil porosity, aggregation,
cementation effects, crystal forms,
chemical surface textures and
coatings on grains, ice coatings on
grain nuclei, grain size and shape
distribution, and surface textures on Wet Chemistry Lab
grains
Sensors include pH, dissolved CO2 and O2 (ppm level);
Dissolved K+, NH4+, Na+, Li+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cd2+,
NO3-, Cl-, ClO4-, I-, Br-, and Ag+/S- (ppm level).
Cyclic voltammogram (CV) of redox species. Anodic
stripping voltammetry analysis (ASV) of metals such
as Hg, Pb, Zn, Fe, and Cu (ppb level).

Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP)

The TECP will probe the soil with of 4 needles, ~30 mm long, arranged in a row,
performing measurements as a function of depth in 1 cm increments. It will…
Measure temperature from 173-303K and soil electrical conductivity. Determine thermal
conductivity and heat capacity
The Atacama Desert
 Soils and Societies
• Societies greatly depended on soils for their
development.
• Perception changed when the population of
industrialized countries concentrated in cities:
soils became a nuisance associated to diseases and
death (“Dirt, Disease, and Death”).
• Today’s perception about soil is negative overall.
The roots for this can be traced to the nature of
soils as well as to cultural issues.
 Concepts Related to Soils
• Medium for plant growth: production of food and
fibers
• Construction material
• Environmental Filter
• Other uses:
– Medicinal: pharmaceutical, treat gastrointestinal
disorders, soils are a source of antibiotics (e.g.,
streptomycin)
Agriculture and Soils
 Roles of Soil
• Supporting plant growth:
– food production (agriculture)
– recreation (golf greens)
• Recycling waste products:
– nature
– society
• Providing habitat for a large variety of
organisms.
• Controlling flow of water.
• Construction material.
Urbanization and Soils
 Urbanization in the USA
• Impervious surfaces alter
the basic functions of
soils:
– Energy storage and
exchange (“heat
islands”).
– Reduce carbon
sequestration (less
vegetation).
– Increase runoff (less
infiltration).
• In the USA:
– Population increases at
a rate of 3 m/year.
– $418 billion in
construction spending.
– About 6% of urban
land were converted in
the period from 1982
to 1997 (6,750 km2).

Source: Elvidge, C. D., C. Milesi, J. B. Dietz, B. T. Tuttle, P. C. Sutton, R. Nemani, and J. E. Vogelmann (2004), U.S.
Constructed Area Approaches the Size of Ohio, Eos Trans. AGU, 85(24), 233.
 Area Covered With Turf Grasses
• According to Milesi et al. (2005),
1.9% of the surface area of the
USA is covered with lawns
(residential, industrial, and
recreational). This area is 3 times
larger than any single irrigated
crop.
• In New Jersey, the estimated area
covered with turf grasses is about
4,000 km2 or 18% of the surface of
the State.

Source: Milesi et al. 2005. Mapping and Modeling the Biogeochemical Cycling of Turf Grasses in the United States.
Environmental Management 36: 426-438.
 The Geological Cycle

Magma rises to the surface and solidifies.

The rock reaches the surface. Soil on the surface of the

rock is non existent or very thin.

Erosion wears away the rock.

Source: Singer and Munn. 1999. Soil: An Introduction

Geomorphic Cycle
 Definition
• Soil is “the unconsolidated mineral or organic matter
on the surface of the earth that has been subjected to
and influenced by genetic and environmental factors
of parent material, climate (including water and
temperature effects), macro- and microorganisms, and
topography, all acting over a period of time and
producing a product—soil—that differs from the
material from which it is derived in many physical,
chemical, biological, and morphological properties
and characteristics.”
 Ecosystems and Soils
• An ecosystem is an aggregate of plants,
animals, and microbes plus the environment
in which they live.
• We only deal with finite ecosystems with
arbitrary boundaries.
• Terrestrial ecosystems are those that include
soil within their boundaries.
• Aquatic ecosystems do not include soil.
ELEMENTS OF THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF SOILS, 2/e ©2004 Pearson Education, Inc.
Nyle C. Brady and Ray R. Weil Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
The Soil as an Open System
 Soil Profile: Vertical Differentiation
Mass and energy fluxes through a soil result in layers
parallel to the soil surface: HORIZONS

Chatsworth, NJ Eastern Montana, MT

 Soils and Ecosystems

Source: Wright, R.T.2002. Environmental Science

 Soils and Ecosystems

1998 Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc.

 Natural Color Mosaic of North
America

Source: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
 Ecosystem Distribution (USA)

Source: The State of the Nation’s Ecosystems (www.heinzctr.org/ecosystems/report.html)

Soil Types (USA)
Soil-landscape relationship
Gains < losses
Gains > losses
 Overview
• Soils exchange matter and energy with the
surrounding environment, i.e., atmosphere,
biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
• The development of soil profile is determined
by a balance (gains vs. losses) between input
and output of matter and energy.
• Concepts to remember: horizons, soil profile.
 Soil Description

Soils are described by exposing a vertical plane and

describing various features for each horizon.
Soil Morphology
 Soil Morphology
• Soil morphology can be studied at different scales

Solid
Liquid
Air
Concept of Soil Structure

Structured:
“blocky”

Structureless Tilled soil

 Soil Structure

Figure 4.25 in Element of the Nature and Properties of Soils (Diagram courtesy of R. Weil).
Granular
Blocky
Platy
Prismatic
 Structureless

• Single grain

• Massive
Where in the Profile?
Volume Percentages of Soil
Components

Air
Water
Mineral
Organic

An ideal soil is only 50% solid material !

 Volume and Weight Base
Percentages for Soil Components
Comp. Vol. Dens. Mass % total
cm3 g/cm3 g mass
Air 25 0 0 0

Water 25 1.0 25 17

Min. 45 2.65 119.3 81.3

Org. 5 0.5 2.5 1.72

total 100 --- 146.8 100

Figure 4.10 Bulk density Db and particle density Dp of soil. Bulk density is the weight of the solid particles in a
standard volume of field soil (solids plus pore space occupied by air and water). Particle density is the weight
of solid particles in a standard volume of those solid particles. Follow the calculations through carefully and the
terminology should be clear. In this particular case, the bulk density is one-half the particle density, and the
percent pore space is 50.
 Concept of Soil Structure

Soil Aggregates

Structured:
Soil Particles “blocky”

Structureless Tilled soil

 Soil Particles
sand Coarse sand

500 μm silt Fine sand Medium sand

clay

2 μm NOTE: Clay is not visible

 Overview
• Soils are porous material composed by solid
(i.e., mineral and organic matter) and pore
space.
• The pore space contains either air or water.
• Concepts to remember: soil aggregates, soil
particles.
 Soil Composition: Minerals
Property Sand Silt Clay
Size range (mm) 2.0-0.05 0.05-0.002 <0.002

Surface activity low medium high

Clay
 Soil Composition
• Soil organic matter
– includes living and nonliving macro and micro
organisms.
– great influence in the physical, chemical, and
biological soil properties.
– Humus is stable organic material that has been
transformed by soil microorganisms.
– Microorganism population is very diverse. It is
estimated that about 4000 different bacterial
species can be found in a gram of soil.
 Soil Composition
• Air
– several times more concentrated in CO2 than
atmospheric air.
– amount and composition of soil air determined
mainly by soil water content and biological
activity.
• Soil solution
– the soil solution (a.k.a. soil water) contains a
large amount of dissolved substances.
– soil water is the major transport agent of
substances in the soil.