Minerals, organic components, microbial organisms, soil fauna, plants, and aqueous solutions interact in the pedosphere in biogeochemical reactions collectively referred to as weathering. The full complexity of the interactions, especially important in the rhizosphere, and how the interactions relate to important aspects of soil science such as pedogenesis, mineral nutrition, and environmental protection, remain partly obscure and in need of continued research. To facilitate the elucidation of the complexity, the alternative reactions are divided into abiotic and biotic, a convenient though somewhat arbitrary division of the whole soil system.
Abiotic weathering environments
Weathering of soil minerals under earth surface conditions is controlled by surface reactions. The factors affecting the surface reactions of minerals include: (1) the activities of proton and inorganic and organic ligands, (2) the population of surface complexes with H + and OH −, and other ligands, (3) ionic...
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Chesworth, W. et al. (2008). Clay Mineral Alteration in Soils. 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_107
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