Soil Chemistry

Catalog description

This course provides an understanding of soil chemical properties and processes. A detailed examination of the structure and surface chemistry of mineral and organic colloidal particles important to the function of soils is provided. The course also emphasizes reactions that occur at the solid-solution interface (e.g., ion exchange, chemical and physical adsorption), mineral-solution equilibria, soil acidity, and redox reactions in soils. Thermodynamic and kinetic principles are used to model and conceptualize soil chemical processes. The objective is to explain the fundamental role of these soil chemical properties and processes to terrestrial systems, both agricultural and natural ecosystems.