Soil | Definition, Importance, Types, Erosion, Composition, & Facts ...
2025年1月10日 · Soil, the biologically active, porous medium that has developed in the uppermost layer of Earth’s crust. It is one of the principal substrata of life on Earth, serving as a reservoir …
soil - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Soil is a mixture of minerals and organic material that covers much of Earth’s surface. Minerals are bits of rock, and organic material is the remains of living things that have died. Soil is not …
Horizon | Soil Composition & Characteristics | Britannica
2024年12月24日 · horizon, a distinct layer of soil, approximately parallel with the land surface, whose properties develop from the combined actions of living organisms and percolating …
Evapotranspiration | Water Cycle, Precipitation & Climate | Britannica
evapotranspiration, Loss of water from the soil both by evaporation from the soil surface and by transpiration from the leaves of the plants growing on it. Factors that affect the rate of …
Soil - Erosion, Conservation, Management | Britannica
2025年1月10日 · Soils on steep, long slopes are much more susceptible to erosion than those on shallow, short slopes because the steeper slopes accelerate the flow of surface runoff. The …
Hydrologic sciences - Interception, Precipitation, Runoff | Britannica
When water from a rainstorm or a period of snowmelt reaches the ground, some or all of it will infiltrate the soil. The rate of infiltration depends on the intensity of the input, the initial moisture …
Runoff | Surface Flow, Erosion, Sedimentation | Britannica
Runoff, in hydrology, quantity of water discharged in surface streams. Runoff includes not only the waters that travel over the land surface and through channels to reach a stream but also …
Soil - Structure, Composition, Properties | Britannica
2025年1月10日 · Soil - Structure, Composition, Properties: The grain size of soil particles and the aggregate structures they form affect the ability of a soil to transport and retain water, air, and …
Soil - Ecosystems, Nutrients, Structure | Britannica
2025年1月10日 · It is transformed and transported through the ecosystem by the water cycle and biological processes. This nutrient enters the biosphere primarily as wet deposition to the soil …
A horizon | soil type | Britannica - Encyclopedia Britannica
In soil: Soil horizons …surface litter) is termed the A horizon. This is a weathered layer that contains an accumulation of humus (decomposed, dark-coloured, carbon-rich matter) and …