TOPSOIL

SUBSOIL

MINERALS SOM

MINERALS SOM

SAFE

UNSAFE

NK Zn

P CaS

CO2

C

CO2CH4 N2O

GHGs

Although often undervalued, soil

is actually criticalfor life

CARBONSEQUESTRATION WATER

PURIFICATION:ABSORPTION AND

RETENTION OFPOLLUTANTS

FLOODREGULATION

NUTRIENTCYCLING

HABITAT FORORGANISMS

PROVISIONOF FOOD,FIBRE AND

FUEL

FOUNDATIONFOR HUMAN

INFRASTRUCTURE

SOURCE OFPHARMACEUTICALS

AND GENETICRESOURCES

PROVISION OFCONSTRUCTION

MATERIALS

CLIMATEREGULATION

CULTURALHERITAGE

So we need to take

good care of SOIL, especially since it is

vulnerable to degradationand can disappear in

seconds…

WATER25%

MINERALPARTICLES

45%

AIR25%

The average SOIL is

composed of water, air, and a hint OF organic matter

ORGANICMATTER 5%ORGANIC MATTER CONTENTIS HIGHLY VARIABLE, BUTMOST SOILS CONTAINBETWEEN 2 AND 10%

the 5 factors of soil

formation are: Climate, Organisms, Topography,

Parent Material and Time!

BIOLOGY

TOPOGRAPHY

ROCK

CLIMATE

TIME

1 cm of soil

0

0,5

1000 years

0

500

Soil?

Thanks to the financial support of

WHATIS

Usually, Soil Organic Matter (SOM) is

much more abundant in surface soil (TOPSOIL) than further below

ground (SUBSOIL). This makes topsoil more fertile

Hi,my name is Soily and

I am the Soil Doctor’s assistant. I’m here to tell

you a little bit aboutsoil.

© F

AO, 2

019

CA22

14EN

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