Soil Mass Balance

Soils form at the intersection of the lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere and thus are the location where the fluxes of minerals, water and solutes, and organic matter occur. The directions and sizes of these fluxes, and their sensitivities to environmental forcings, determine the soil's mass and composition, as well as its temporal and spatial characteristics. The quantitative relationships between the material fluxes and the resulting composition of soils are the subject of soil mass balance analysis. Many key concepts of soil formation have been framed implicitly or explicitly based on these concepts. The geochemical, geomorphic, and carbon mass balances have played key roles in advancing our knowledge of the biogeochemical evolution of soils and soils' role in landscape evolution and the carbon cycle.

Atmosphere (unit) · Biogeochemical cycle · Biosphere · Carbon cycle · Earth science · Ecosystem · Geography · Hydrosphere · Soil water · Chemistry · Ecology · Environmental Chemistry · Environmental Science · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology · Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics · Soil Science