Glossary Terms

Soil particles being 0.06 (0.051) -2.0 mm in diameter OR a soil textural class with 65% or more sand and less than 8% clay.

Volume of water and air that can be held in a soil; ratio of the volume of voids to the total volume of the soil.

The space in-between particles or aggregates of soil that can become filled with air or water.

Measure of acidity, measured from 1 (acid) through 7 (neutral) to 14 (alkaline) expressed on a logarithmic scale. Most soils have a pH 3 to 9.

An individual natural soil aggregate, in contrast to a clod caused by disturbance, or a concretion caused by cementation. Described as a range of shapes: platy (laminated), prismatic (vertical axis of aggregates longer than horizontal), columnar (prisms with rounded tops), blocky (angular or subangular) and granular.

Plant and animal residue in the soil in various stages of decomposition.

The well decomposed, amorphous, stable fraction of the organic matter in mineral soils with a low specific weight and high surface area; usually composed of many organic compounds of high molecular weight and dark colour.

Measure of a material's ability to accommodate the transport of an electric charge and used as a measure of the salinity of the soil, and to estimate practical consequences for crops. EC of a soil suspension at a given soil to water ratio (usually 1:5 or saturated extract as a proxy to soil solution), expressed [...]

Soil particles less than 0.002 mm in diameter OR a soil textural class with 40% or more clay, less than 45% sand, and less than 40% silt.

The total amount of exchangeable cations that can be held by the soil, expressed in terms of cmol of charge per kg of soil at neutrality (pH 7.0) or at some other stated pH value.