Soil-Forming Processes

Part of the overall hydrologic cycle of the Earth involves the interaction of water with the land. This interaction involves weathering and erosion which contribute to the formation of soil. Seeming so ordinary, the soil is vital to life on the planet. Lutgens and Tarbuck quote the description "the bridge between life and the inanimate world." Reaching more toward the poetic, they quote Jack Eddy who describes "the Earth as a planet ... where a thin blanket of air, a thinner film of water, and the thinnest veneer of soil combine to support a web of life of wondrous diversity and continuous change."

地球水循环的一部分涉及水与陆地的相互作用。这种相互作用包括风化和侵蚀，这些过程有助于土壤的形成。看似普通，土壤对地球上的生命至关重要。卢滕斯和塔布克引用了“生命与非生命世界之间的桥梁”这一描述。更偏向诗意的表达，他们引用了杰克·埃迪的话：“地球是一个……薄薄的大气层、更薄的水层和最薄的土壤层相结合，支持着一个多样而不断变化的生命网络。”

More prosaically, they describe soil as a combination of mineral and organic matter, water, and air that supports the growth of plants. About half the volume of good quality soil "is a mixture of disintegrated and decomposed rock (mineral matter) and humus (the decayed remains of plant and animal life)." That leaves half the volume for spaces where air and water circulate.

更直白地说，它们将土壤描述为由矿物和有机物质、水和空气组成的混合物，这种混合物支持植物的生长。大约一半的优质土壤体积是碎裂和分解的岩石（矿物物质）和腐殖质（植物和动物残骸的分解产物）的混合物。剩下的另一半体积则用于空气和水的流通。