Lithosphere

Syllabus: Earth crust, soil a life support system, its texture, types, components, pollution and pollutants, reasons of soil erosion and possible control measures.

http://www.scribd.com/apsingh1960 1. Gk. Lithos rock; sphaire ball or sphere 2. The crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth 3. 8-40 km; average 20 km 4. Include all land masses (thick) and ocean bed (thin) and comprises 0.4% of total land mass; include rocks, soil and sediment of sea 5. Soil (L. solum bottom, ground or floor) is the uppermost weathered layer of the earth crust and is a complex of rock matter, organisms and the product of their activity , death, decay and some ecological factors 6. It is a life support system or primacy of life 7. Soil formation occurs in two stages weathering and pedogenesis. 8. Weathering is the breakdown of rock matter into fine particles; it can be physical(heating/cooling; wetting/drying; freezing / melting; glaciations/flow of water/wind), chemical (hydration / hydrolysis; oxidation/reduction; carbonation, chelation) and biological (activity of organisms) 9. Pedogenesis is the process of soil development through mixing of decomposed organic matter with weathered rock matter; followed by its biochemical, biophysical and geochemical changes (humification) 10. Soil texture is the physical nature of soil determined by relative proportion of different sizes of soil particles; it influences water holding capacity and aeration of soil 11. Soils are of various types based on mode of their formation [residual (found at place of its formation, e.g., hill slope) and transported (taken away from place of formation)], nature and composition (black, red, laterite) and texture [sandy (85% sand and 15% clay), clayey (50% clay and 50% silt or sand or both), silt (90% silt and 10% sand), loamy (40% sand, 20% clay and 40% silt) and sandy Loam (70% sand and 30% clay or silt or both)] 12. Transported soil is classified into various types based on transporting agent gravity (colluvial), running water (alluvial), glaciers (glacial) and wind (eolian). 13. Soil has various components mineral matter (40-50%), organic matter (7-10%), soil air (15-25%), soil moisture(25-35%) and soil organisms (variable); soil moisture contains salts in dissolved state and referred as soil solution 14. Mineral matter has various particles gravel (2-10 mm), coarse sand (0.2- 2mm), fine sand (0.02-0.2 mm), silt (0.002-0.02 mm) and clay (< 0.002 mm) Soil profile is the view of mature soil in a vertical section from surface to parent rock. It shows series of parallel arranged layers called soil horizons. Each soil horizon has distinct soil texture and composition 15. A typical soil has 4 horizons O (Surface Litter Layer), A (True Soil or Top Soil; 2-3 m; average 15 cm), B (Sub Soil; 1 m), C (Layer of incompletely weathered rock) and D (Parent Rock Matter) horizons. 16. Soil Pollution is any unfavorable alteration in the soil quality that renders it unfit for vegetation and adversely affects health of animals 17. Types of soil pollution negative (loss of some useful components; due to soil erosion, mineral mining by intensive cropping, developmental activities) and positive (addition of unwanted materials; urban wastes, industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals, mine dust, hospital wastes, radioactive wastes, volcanic eruptants) 18. Landscape pollution or third pollution is due to dumping of solid wastes on land 19. Soil Pollutants urban wastes, industrial wastes, agricultural wastes and chemicals, radioisotopes, hospital wastes 20. Soil pollution can be checked by - minimum use of agrochemicals, proper sanitation; collection and recycling of reusable wastes; disposal of solid wastes (sanitary land filling and incineration); use of animal and human excreta for biogas generation and

composting 21. Soil Erosion is process of loss of top fertile layer of the soil due to man-made or natural reasons. 22. Types of Soil Erosion natural and man-made; sheet (removal of thin sheet of top soil from whole exposed leveled or gentle slopping surface; slow; but more damaging in the long run), rill (finger like depressions due to runoff water on loose or fallowed surface; heavy down pour) and gully (permanent wide channels in soil due to fast flowing water; goes on deepening with time; results in loss of subsoil; most permanent). 23. Agents of soil erosion wind, water and glacier 24. Reasons of soil erosion deforestation, overgrazing, shifting cultivation, faulty agricultural practices and litter collection in forests 25. Control measures against soil erosion - agricultural (crop rotation, mixed cropping, contour farming, mulching, strip cropping, green manuring, fallowing, cover crops), forestry (reforestation, afforestation, pastures, wind breaks) and mechanical (terracing, contour bunding, contour trenching)

Dr A P Singh MSc, PhD (Zoology), MSc (Ecology and Environment) & MSc (Biotechnology) 98142-03428; apsingh_60@yahoo.co.in