The Chemistry of Soils

An introduction to soil chemistry for non-specialists, this book describes soil minerals, organic matter in soils and the soil solution, the important chemical processes and detailed applications.

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This is a rigorous introduction to soil chemistry for non-specialist undergraduates and graduate researchers. The author describes soil minerals and organic matter in soils and the soil solution, and provides in-depth coverage of important chemical processes - these include solubility reactions, oxidation-reduction phenomena, adsorption, and ion exchange. The three final chapters present detailed applications to soil-plant relationships, fertilizer reactions in soils, acidity, salinity, mineral weathering, and soil management. Over 200 problems of varying difficulty are co-ordinated with the text, and an appendix of SI units summarizes their use in soil chemistry.