Study the conditions of the soils in relation to the living beings that live in them
Edaphology is a science that deals with the study of nature, the conditions presented by soils and the relationship they have with the living beings that live on them, especially plants, living beings that occupy a fundamental place in the soil, since they grow in it and live there.
This expert discipline in soils arises as a detachment from geology, its main and exclusive method being that of evaluating, studying and comparing the different types of soils and also knowing how the composition of each affects the living organisms that develop precisely on him, for example plants.
Assists when developing urban planning projects
Animals, silvers, human beings use the soil as the great base on which we carry out our lives ... So, having concise and precise knowledge about the conditions of the soil, for example before undertaking any project or activity, is essential and this is dealt with by edaphology.
The construction of a building, the location of a useful structure, first demands a detailed, exhaustive study of that surface on which some of the commented questions will be carried out.
In this sense, then, civil engineering is one of the sciences that most uses soil science as an auxiliary discipline before carrying out a construction work of any kind. You will study the composition of the soil and thus have a complete idea of whether the area in question is suitable for carrying out such construction.
In this sense, edaphology also assists in the realization of graphs and maps of those areas that are suitable and those that are not in terms of urban development, road construction and other constructions.
It provides us with relevant technical and architectural information about the soil
The study carried out by edaphology also provides us with very interesting knowledge in technical and architectural matters, informing us, for example, of the age of a portion of the soil and the sediments that compose it, among others.
What is the soil? Changes suffered
Soil is the product of that matter that had its origin in the chemical and mechanical processes that transformed the rocks that make up the earth's surface, while a series of components have been added to it, such as gases, water, carbon dioxide. carbon, living beings, time, among others, which produce a certain transformation in the humus that will result in all this a quite heterogeneous mixture in which both organic and inorganic materials are found.
And then it will be on these transforming and shaping factors that this science will focus its attention, because the process of soil formation is a situation that is in constant production and will never come to its complete end because each region has its own types of rocks. and its characteristic climatic phenomena that contribute to the fact that this process never stops.
Factors involved in soil formation
Among the main factors that intervene in the formation of soils are the following: bedrock, climate, time, organisms and relief.
The first studies that were made regarding soils began approximately in the second half of the 18th century on Russian soil.
Russia, pioneer in the study of the soil
The Russian geographer Vasily Dokuchaev was the first to give the term soil a scientific connotation, that is, to consider that they are undergoing constant change, daily it could be said, as a consequence of the joint action exerted by water, air , living or dead organisms, among others.
Likewise, Edaphology, in the various theoretical and applied branches that it presents, is very especially related to sciences such as Physics and Chemistry.
