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Acidity

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Encyclopedia of Soil Science

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

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Soil acidity is a term used to describe acid soils; i.e., soils with a pH value < 7.0 (Gregorich, 2001). When used as a quantitative term, soil acidity is considered a capacity factor and refers to the total acidity contained in a given soil or soil horizon. Soil pH, a measure of the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion activity in the soil solution, is used as an indicator of the degree of acidity or alkalinity in soil (Table A5). Another term that is sometimes associated with the degree of acidity of a soil as a function of soil pH is soil reaction.

Table A5 Descriptive terms commonly used to describe the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a soil a
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Authors
  1. Randy A. Dahlgren
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  2. Felipe Macías
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  3. Marta Camps Arbestain
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  4. Ward Chesworth
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  5. Wayne P. Robarge
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  1. University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Ward Chesworth

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Dahlgren, R.A., Macías, F., Arbestain, M.C., Chesworth, W., Robarge, W.P. (2008). Acidity. In: Chesworth, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Soil Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3995-9_9

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