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The first process-based textbook on how soils form and function in biogeochemical cycles, for advanced undergraduate and graduate students.
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An abridged, student-oriented edition of Hillel's earlier published Environmental Soil Physics, Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics is a more succinct elucidation of the physical principles and processes governing the behavior of soil and the vital role it plays in both natural and managed ecosystems. The textbook is self-contained and self-explanatory, with numerous illustrations and sample problems. Based on sound fundamental theory, the textbook leads to a practical consideration of soil as a living system in nature and illustrates the influences of human activity upon soil structure and function. Students, as well as other readers, will better understand the importance of soils and the pivotal possition they occupy with respect to careful and knowledgeable conservation. - Written in an engaging and clear style, posing and resolving issues relevant to the terrestrial environment - Explores the gamut of the interactions among the phases in the soil and the dynamic interconnection of the soil with the subterranean and atmospheric domains - Reveals the salient ideas, approaches, and methods of environmental soil physics - Includes numerous illustrative exercises, which are explicitly solved - Designed to serve for classroom and laboratory instruction, for self-study, and for reference - Oriented toward practical problems in ecology, field-scale hydrology, agronomy, and civil engineering - Differs from earlier texts in its wider scope and holistic environmental conception
Landscapes viewed from afar have a timeless quality that is soothing to the human spirit. Yet a tranquil wilderness scene is but a snapshot in the steady stream of surficial change. Wind, water and human activities reshape the landscape by means of gradual to catastrophic and usually irreversible events. Much of this change destroys past landscapes, but at some times and places, landscapes are buried in the rock record. This work is dedicated to the discovery of past landscapes and their life through the fossil record of soils. A long history of surficial changes extending back almost to the origin of our planet can be deciphered from the study of these buried soils, or paleosols. Some rudiments of this history, and our place in it, are outlined in a final section of this book. But first it is necessary to learn something of the language of soils, of what happens to them when buried in the rock record and which of the forces of nature can be confidently reconstructed from their remains. Much of this preliminary material is borrowed from soil science, but throughout emphasis is laid on features that provide most reliable evidence of landscapes during the distant geological past. This book has evolved primarily as a text for senior level university courses in paleopedology: the study of fossil soils.
A guide to soil analysis for chemists and environmental scientists Soil-so essential to life on earth-is one of the most complicated of materials. A complex mixture of inorganic and organic solids, liquids, and gases, soil presents a challenging material for analysis, especially for researchers who are not specialists in soil chemistry. This clear, broadly applicable reference provides chemists and environmental scientists with the background they need to analyze soil, interpret their findings, and develop new analytical methods for soil. Introduction to Soil Chemistry will also be valuable to the soil scientist confronting soil analyses that appear to be incorrect or do not work. Introduction to Soil Chemistry: Analysis and Instrumentation investigates the most important soil characteristics that impact analysis and the procedures, chemicals, and equipment used to determine the composition and quantity of soil constituents. It also discusses factors that interfere with accurate soil analysis. Chapters examine such topics as: * Large features-horizons, peds, soil color, and soil naming * Microscopic to atomic orbital description of soil chemical characteristics * Soil components in combination * The biological and organic components in soil * The soil solution and soil air * Electrical measurements, titration, and extraction * Spectroscopy and chromatography * Speciation This book is enhanced by numerous examples within the text, which provide the reader with a practical understanding of various analytical procedures, along with the pitfalls and interferences that may be encountered. Bibliographies and additional resources appear at the end of each chapter.
to Soil Dynamics Arnold Verruijt Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands Arnold Verruijt Delft University of Technology 2628 CN Delft Netherlands [email protected] A CD-ROM accompanies this book containing programs for waves in piles, propagation of earthquakes in soils, waves in a half space generated by a line load, a point load, a strip load, or a moving load, and the propagation of a shock wave in a saturated elastic porous material. Computer programs are also available from the website http://geo.verruijt.net ISBN 978-90-481-3440-3 e-ISBN 978-90-481-3441-0 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3441-0 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940507 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, micro?lming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied speci?cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface This book gives the material for an introductory course on Soil Dynamics, as given for about 10 years at the Delft University of Technology for students of civil en- neering, and updated continuously since 1994.
This textbook offers a superb introduction to theoretical and practical soil mechanics. Special attention is given to the risks of failure in civil engineering, and themes covered include stresses in soils, groundwater flow, consolidation, testing of soils, and stability of slopes. Readers will learn the major principles and methods of soil mechanics, and the most important methods of determining soil parameters both in the laboratory and in situ. The basic principles of applied mechanics, that are frequently used, are offered in the appendices. The author’s considerable experience of teaching soil mechanics is evident in the many features of the book: it is packed with supportive color illustrations, helpful examples and references. Exercises with answers enable students to self-test their understanding and encourage them to explore further through additional online material. Numerous simple computer programs are provided online as Electronic Supplementary Material. As a soil mechanics textbook, this volume is ideally suited to supporting undergraduate civil engineering students. “I am really delighted that your book is now published. When I “discovered” your course a few years ago, I was elated to have finally found a book that immediately resonated with me. Your approach to teaching soil mechanics is precise, rigorous, clear, concise, or in other words “crisp." My colleagues who share the teaching of Soil Mechanics 1 and 2 (each course is taught every semester) at the UMN have also adopted your book.” Emmanuel Detournay Professor at Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota, USA
This book is about applications of remote sensing techniques in the studies on soils. In pursuance of the objective, the book initially provides an introduction to various elements and concepts of remote sensing, and associated technologies , namely Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) in chapter-1. An overview of the sensors used to collect remote sensing data and important Earth observation missions is provided in chapter-2. The processing of satellite digital data (geometric and radiometric corrections, feature reduction, digital data fusion, image enhancements and analysis) is dealt with in Chapter-3. In the chapter to follow the interpretation of remote sensing data , very important and crucial step in d eriving information on natural resources including soils resources, is discussed. An introduction to soils as a natural body with respect to their formation, physical and chemical properties used during inventory of soils, and soil classification is given in Chapter-5.The spectral response patterns of soils including hyperspectral characteristics -fundamental to deriving information on soils from spectral measurements, and the techniques of soil resources mapping are discussed in chapter-6 and -7,respectively. Furthermore, the creation of digital soil resources database and the development of soil information systems, a very important aspect of storage and dissemination of digital soil data to the end users are discussed in ch.apter-8. Lastly, the applications of remote sensing techniques in soil moisture estimation and soil fertility evaluation are covered in chapter-9 and -10, respectively.