Soil Sciences
Entry Requirements
- 15 ECTS in Chemistry, of which 5 ECTS General Chemistry
- 5 ECTS Geology or Hydrology, or both, and 2.5 ECTS Meteorology or Climatology.
Course facts
MV0219, Soil Sciences, 15.0 Hp
Print syllabus
Syllabus
Level
First cycle (G1F)
Main field of study
Soil Science, Environmental Science
Subject
Soil science, Environmental science
Grading Scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Course language
Swedish
Entry Requirements
- 15 ECTS in Chemistry, of which 5 ECTS General Chemistry
- 5 ECTS Geology or Hydrology, or both, and 2.5 ECTS Meteorology or Climatology.
Objectives
After completed course, the student should be able to:
- describe soil physical, chemical and biological properties, conditions and processes as well as their interactions
- use methods to analyse and describe soil properties
- interpret, validate and give account of soil data
- present and discuss the soil system, its function as an environment for growing plants, and connections between soil properties, land use and environmental impact.
Content
The following is treated during lectures and exercises. Participation in most exercises is required for passed course:
- Texture and pore system of the soil. Soil structure as a result of interactions between soil components.
- Soil water: supply and adsorption at hydrostatic equilibrium. Soil water movements in saturated and unsaturated soil as influenced by hydraulic conductivity and gradients in hydraulic potential.
- Processes affecting the transport and leaching of solutes in the soil solution: convection, diffusion and dispersion.
- Composition and mass flow of soil air; diffusion of its gas components.
- Chemical weathering of soil minerals. Emergence of electrically charged soil particles with significance for the adsorption of cations and anions in soil.
- Soil acidity: methods to assess it, processes that affect it.
- Adsorption and redox processes: their influence on nutrients and harmful substances in the soil. Assessment of the cation adsorption capacity of the soil.
- Pedological factors and processes involved in soil formation. Properties, classification and worldwide distribution of pedological taxa.
- Soil organisms and their environmental adaptations: metabolism, trophic strategies, interactions and functions.
- Factors and processes controlling the content and turnover of soil organic matter.
- Cycling of nitrogen in the soil. Processes controlling its availability to plants.
- Soil profile description in the field.
- Soil-profile theme, group project: data processing, oral and written reporting of properties and land use of selected typical Swedish soils.
Examination Formats and Requirements for Passing the Course
Passed written exams, passed written reports from exercises requiring this, approved participation in other exercises with mandatory participation, approved participation soil-profile theme (group project).
Responsible Department/Equivalent
Department of Soil and Environment
Supplementary information
Included in program
- Biology and Environmental Science - Bachelor's Programme
- Crop Production (BSc)
Module set
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Soil physics | 4.0 | 0102 |
| Soil chemistry | 4.0 | 0103 |
| Soil biology | 3.0 | 0104 |
| General soil science and synthesis work | 4.0 | 0105 |
The Course Replaces
MV0210
Other Information
Recommended previous knowledge: Microbiology equivalent to 5 ECTS; Plant Anatomy or Plant Physiology equivalent to 5 ECTS; Mathematics equivalent to 2.5 ECTS, with orientation in derivatives and differential equations.