Category Archives: Lessons in Soil Science

Happy World Soil Day!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by

Webster Soil Series. Photo courtesy of the Iowa State University Extension and OutreachHappy World Soil Day everyone! I’ll be honest, I kind of forgot about it until I opened up Twitter this afternoon and saw all of my fellow soil … Continue reading →

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The Soil Orders – Spodosols

Posted on October 22, 2012 by

This is the third of a series of blog posts where I will describe some of the interesting features of each of the 12 soil orders in Soil Taxonomy – the soil classification system developed for the US by the … Continue reading →

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Sizing Up Soil Structure

Posted on July 9, 2012 by

Today’s post will focus on soil structure. Previously, soil texture was defined as the relative proportion of soil particles (sand, silt, and clay). Soil structure is the arrangement of those soil particles into aggregates, or peds. Soil structure is important … Continue reading →

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Getting a Feel for Soil Texture

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

One of the most important characteristics of soils is soil texture. Soil, by definition, consists of particles less than 2 mm in diameter. Soil texture is the proportion of sand, silt, and clay particles that are of soil size (2 … Continue reading →

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The Soil Orders – Histosols

Posted on April 25, 2012 by

This is the second of a series of blog posts where I will describe some of the interesting features of each of the 12 soil orders in Soil Taxonomy – the soil classification system developed for the US by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lessons in Soil Science, Soil Orders | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Soil Orders – Gelisols

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

This is the first of a series of blog posts where I will describe some of the interesting features of each of the 12 soil orders in Soil Taxonomy – the soil classification system developed for the US by the … Continue reading →

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The Art of Soil Color

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Soils from around the world differ greatly. One reason for that is color, as evidenced in the header of this website. Colors were first standardized by Professor Albert H. Munsell on a system with three components: hue, value, and chroma. … Continue reading →

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A Spade is a Spade… or Sharp Shooter

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

I’ve been in grad school at NC State for almost 4 straight years now. Ever since I’ve arrived in North Carolina, I’ve thought that the use of the word “sharp shooter” to describe a tile spade (what I’ve always refferred … Continue reading →

Posted in Terminology | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Erosion

Posted on January 2, 2012 by

There are many topics in soil science, and soil and water conservation that are worth a thorough discussion. One is soil erosion. Erosion is a vast topic so it will not all be addressed in one post, or even one … Continue reading →

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“Soil” vs. “Dirt”

Posted on December 28, 2011 by

As a soil scientist I often hear non-soil scientists refer to soil as “dirt”, or people even ask me if there’s a difference. In my mind there is. The simple difference is this: “dirt is soil where it’s not supposed … Continue reading →

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