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Soil Texture: Measurement Methods

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Encyclopedia of Agrophysics

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Particle size distribution

Definition

The percentage content of groups of particles with specific sizes in the soil is known as the texture or the particle size distribution of the soil. Soil texture determines the probability of finding a particle with a specific size in the set of all particles.

Introduction

The soil, also referred to as the pedosphere, is a natural formation of the upper layer of the earth crust, formed from weathered rock as a result of the effect of various factors changing over time (climate, biosphere, hydrosphere, relief, and human activity). The component elements of the soil are in the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases (See Soil Phases ). The solid phase of the soil is made up mainly of mineral, organic, and organic–mineral particles with various degrees of fragmentation. The degree of their fragmentation has a significant effect on many of the properties of the soil. The percentage content of groups of particles with specific sizes in the soil is...

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Bibliography

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Correspondence to Andrzej Bieganowski .

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Bieganowski, A., Ryżak, M. (2011). Soil Texture: Measurement Methods. In: Gliński, J., Horabik, J., Lipiec, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Agrophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_157

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