Soil Properties & Genesis

Catalog description

This course centers on the overlap of soil science and geology. Our goal is to explain the fundamental principles in soil sciences, introduce the concept of critical zone, where water, rock, biology, and atmosphere interact as a system, understand: (1) how the interactions of landform, topography, climate, and biota result in patterns of soil development and the distribution of soils that we observe within the landscape; (2) how physical, chemical and biological properties of soils affect water and nutrient availability to plants.