Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
THE GLOBAL
DISTRIBUTION AND
CHARACTER OF SOILS
C H A P T E R E L E V E N
If asked to name the most important natural resources on Earth, you might say they are water, forests, fossil fuels,
and the air we breathe. Certainly, these resources are very important, but you might be surprised to learn that
many people believe our most important natural resource is soil. Why? Because our food directly or indirectly
comes from it, we build structures within it, and complex ecosystems are supported by it. This chapter will help
you appreciate the character of soil and the important role it plays on Earth.
This chapter examines how soils form, what properties affect soil fertility and development, and where the
basic types of soils are found on Earth. This chapter naturally follows the preceding chapters on climate and
vegetation because a close relationship is usually found between these variables and soil characteristics. In this
sense, this chapter integrates many components of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere in
a holistic way. It also marks the point where we begin to examine the geographic patterns associated with parts
of Earth that are within Earth, or the
lithosphere
, rather than being on top of it, as in the case of the
biosphere
, or
above it in the
atmosphere
.
