Abstract
Soils are the biologically active part of the outermost layer of the Earth’s crust, ranging in thickness from a few centimeters to several decameters. The Earth’s crust, in turn, generally has a thickness of 5–40 km and is part of the lithosphere, which has an average thickness of approx. 100 km and consists of the tectonic plates with the continents. The total distance between the ground surface to the Earth’s center is of 6370 km. These orders of magnitude illustrate how soils form a thin and fragile skin on the Earth’s surface, requiring special care.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Supplementary Reading
Blume H-P, Horn R, Thiele-Bruhn S (Hrsg, 2011) Handbuch des Bodenschutzes - Bodenökologie und -belastung - Vorbeugende und abwehrende Schutzmaßnahmen. vol 4. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
Blume H-P, Deller B, Furtmann K, Leschber R, Paetz A, Schmidt S, Wilke B-M (Red, 2000 ff) Handbuch der Bodenuntersuchungen. Beuth, Berlin and Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
Blume H.-P, Felix-Henningsen P, Fischer WR, Frede H.-G, Horn R, Stahr K, Guggenberger G (Hrsg, 1996 ff): Handbuch der Bodenkunde; Ecomed, Landsberg, since 2007 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
Chorover I, Kretzschmar R, Garcia-Pichel F, Sparks DL (2007) Soil biogeochemical processes within the critical zone. Elements 3:321–326
European Soil Bureau Network (2005) Soil atlas of Europe. European Commission, Luxembourg
Lal R (2007) Anthropogenic influences on world soils and implications to global food security. Adv Agron 93:69–93
Special Section (2004) Soils—the final frontier. Science 304:1613–1637
Sumner ME (ed) (2000) Handbook of soil science. CRC, Boca Raton
Cited References
Brümmer GW (1978) Functions of soil in the substance budget of the ecosphere (in German). In: Olschowy G (ed) Natur- und Umweltschutz in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pp. 111…124. P. Parey, Hamburg
Brümmer GW (1984) Functions of soils in the ecosphere and implications for soil protection (in German). Forschungen zur Raumentwicklung vol 14, pp 1–12. Bundesforschungsanstalt für Raumkunde u. Raumordnung, Bonn
Brümmer GW (1992): Soil functions, soil contaminations and strategies for soil protection (in German). In: Ministerium für Umwelt, Raumordnung und Landwirtschaft, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Grundfragen des Bodenschutzrechts – Umweltrechtstage 1992, pp. 12–24. Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster
German Soil Protection Act (1998) Act on protection against harmful changes to soil and on rehabilitation of contaminated sites. BGBl. I, G 5702, no 16, pp 502–510
Jenny H (1941) Factors of soil formation. McGraw-Hill, New York
Kubiena WL (1948) Entwicklungslehre des Bodens. Springer, Wien
Scientific Advisory Council of the Federal Government “Global Environmental Changes” (1994) World in change—endangering of soils. Economica, Bonn
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Blume, HP. et al. (2016). Introduction: Soils—The Earth’s Skin. In: Scheffer/SchachtschabelSoil Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30942-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30942-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30941-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30942-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)