Soil science

Due to the numerous interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere that are hosted within the pedosphere, more integrated, less soil-centric concepts are also valuable.

Soils are distinguished by obvious characteristics, such as physical appearance (e.g., color, texture, landscape position), performance (e.g., production capability, flooding), and accompanying vegetation.

Previously, soil had been considered a product of chemical transformations of rocks, a dead substrate from which plants derive nutritious elements.

The latter becomes soil under the influence of a series of soil-formation factors (climate, vegetation, country, relief and age).

According to him, soil should be called the "daily" or outward horizons of rocks regardless of the type; they are changed naturally by the common effect of water, air and various kinds of living and dead organisms.

[10] A corollary concept is that soil without a living component is simply a part of Earth's outer layer.

The term is popularly applied to the material on the surface of the Earth's moon and Mars, a usage acceptable within a portion of the scientific community.

[11] Academically, soil scientists tend to be drawn to one of five areas of specialization: microbiology, pedology, edaphology, physics, or chemistry.

Yet the work specifics are very much dictated by the challenges facing our civilization's desire to sustain the land that supports it, and the distinctions between the sub-disciplines of soil science often blur in the process.

Relating the concept of agriculture to soil quality, however, has not been without its share of controversy and criticism, including critiques by Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug and World Food Prize Winner Pedro Sanchez.

National and international soil survey efforts have given the profession unique insights into landscape-scale functions.

The study of land's depression storage capacity is important in the fields of geology, ecology, and especially hydrology.