The Early Days of Soil Science
Sometimes over the entire history of humankind, the soil played a subdued role of the fundamental prerequisite since it makes land available to perform the agricultural tasks that leads to the development of the society.
In the nineteenth century the discipline of Soil Science had emerged out of independence. German scientist Justus von Liebig was the first among them when he brought forth his theory of mineral nutrition which instructed the farmers on how the plants extract important nutrients out of the land. The pioneer works of this scholar gave rise to the emergence of a new academic field that made specialists to explore the ways and the structure of soils.
Laying the Foundations in the 20th Century
With the growth in scientific knowledge there was increased knowledge about soil. By the 1930s scientists had developed this idea further with the Soil Profiles, coming to the conclusion that the soil was not a mass but a layered profile that had different features.
Curtis Marbut was one of the most vocal proponents of this movement and argued in defense of a soil morphological based classification other than a purely origin-based classification. Such a change enabled scientists to make standard soil studies and generalize their results to the surrounding science of agriculture, land management, and other fields (Marbut, 1935).
Discovering the Hidden Depths of Subsoil
Until much of the 20th century, the top soil (soil surface) was studied extensively as the topsoil has much organic matter and is full of life.
It was only in the mid-twentieth century when the interest in subsoil, that is less explored and more distant, started increasing. It began to dawn on scientists the importance of subsoil as part of water retention, cycling of nutrients and anchoring roots of plants. With the development of technology, deeper exploration was possible to use more advanced methods of drilling and sampling. This changed everything as it emerged that subsoil was not as dormant as it was believed. Even the then earthworm activity studies by Charles Darwin alluded the power of biological actions that may affect the deeper soil (Darwin, 1881).
Why Subsoil Matters More Than Ever
Subsoils are no longer featured as the afterthought of the sciences but are in themselves recognized as important in climate sciences and sustainability in recent decades. Carbon storage is one of their most crucial activities (nowadays carbon markets are quite in fashion). It was found out that the amount of organic carbon present in sub soils is immense sometimes more than that present in the top soil. This qualifies them as an instrument in the fight against climate change via carbon sequestration and lowering of CO2 emission in the atmosphere (Jenny, 1941).
Subsoils do not only store carbon, but play crucial role as water reserves as well. Plants utilize the water in these deeper layers in periods of droughts hence crucial to the preservation of crops and food security (Kautz, Amelung, & Ewert, 2013). Also, the subsoils work as natural filters, cleaning the water which flows on the ground, therefore, increasing groundwater quality.
The Challenges of the 21st Century
Consequently, the role of subsoil in the sphere of environmental sustainability cannot be overestimated as climate change is progressing fast. The scientists are currently aiming to incorporate subsoil expertise in climate models with the goal of predicting the manner in which soils would react to the changing weather patterns.
Moreover, farmers and policymakers should be more aware of the positive outcomes of the subsoil conservation evidently, and this promotes the necessity to increase awareness among both. Subsoil improved hygiene may be achieved by sustainable land management which includes long-rooted cover crops and less cultivation that would at the same time boost agricultural production (Rumpel & Kögel-Knabner, 2011).
DeepHorizon: Advancing Subsoil Science
DeepHorizon project fills this gap. This initiative is drawing attention to carbon sequestration potential of the largely-neglected layers of soil by paying attention to the processes occurring in the deepest layers of the soils. DeepHorizon tries to fill the information gap, so as to guarantee that next time, subsoils will not be a forgotten element in terms of the environmental and agricultural policies. The results of the project may result in a breakthrough in the area of sustainable agriculture, countermeasures to climate changes, and soil improvement.
Referencies
Darwin, C. (1881). The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. London: John Murray.
Jenny, H. (1941). Factors of Soil Formation: A System of Quantitative Pedology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kautz, T., Amelung, W., & Ewert, F. (2013). Plant–soil interactions in temperate multi-cropping production systems. Crop and Pasture Science, 64(3), 268-285. · Marbut, C. (1935). Soil Survey. USDA Handbook 18, Soil Conservation Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Rumpel, C., & Kögel-Knabner, I. (2011). Deep soil organic matter—a key but poorly understood component of terrestrial C cycle. Plant and Soil, 338(1-2), 143-158.
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