Our intent here is to provide information that will be useful to people
who may not have easy access to research libraries. The following web
sites are not necessarily comprehensive; they were selected because they
provide a substantial amount of information in a clear fashion.
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Advanced
Soil Chemistry course by Dr. N. V. Hue at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
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Application
of Soil Survey and Classification this tutorial is part of the
Soils of Hawaii site. It gives good explanations of the importance
of classifying and describing soils and soil properties.
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Archaeology:
lessons on future soil use by Gerald W. Olson, Journal of Soil
and Water Conservation 36 (5): 261-64, reproduced (with permission)
on the CIESIN
(Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network) web
site.
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Biodiversity,
soil and ecologically sustainable development by Clive Kirkby,
CSIRO Division of Soils, January 1997. Begins with "Why study
the soil?" and proceeds to describe the intricate interrelationships
of organisms that live in the soil and contribute to its productivity.
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"Clay
mineralogy as affecting disaggregation in some palygoskite containing
soils of the Jordan and Bet-She'an Valleys" by Alexander
Neaman, Arieh Singer, and Karl Stahr in Australian Journal of Soil
Research, vol. 37, no. 5, 1999, pp.913-28.(pdf)
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Combating
Desertification and Desert Rehabilitation information presented
by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs about a joint study by Jordanian,
Israeli, and Palestinian teams. Much of the information concerns soil
conservation.
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Determining
Soil Texture by Feel a flowchart by Steve Thien, originally published
in the Journal of Agronomic Education, 1979.
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Digital
Resources for Managing Wetlands: The Case of Playa Lake Research:
A Preliminary Report by Bill Johnson and Marina Oliver, Issues
in Science and Technology Librarianship, Summer 1997. The shallow
enclosed basins in desert plains which flood after storms form ephemeral
lakes known as "playa."
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Introduction
to Soils upper level university course by Dr. Russell Briggs,
Associate Professor of Forest Soils at State University of New York
(SUNY).
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Monitoring
the White Death - Soil Salinity dryland salinity threatens large
areas of Australia's agricultural zone; causes and prevention are
covered as well as techniques for mapping salinity. Site by the Australian
Academy of Science.
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The Pedosphere and its Dynamics:
a systems approach to soil science, vol. 1, introduction to soil
and soil science, by Noorallah Juma. Ph.D.
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Sciences of Soils a peer-reviewed
online journal on soil sciences edited by Dr. Thomas Hintze, of HintzeOnline.
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Slide
shows of soil resources in agricultural areas and in urban areas
presented by the Shawnee County Conservation District, Kansas.
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Soil Biological
Communities specifically in rangelands with good explanations
and illustrations of biological crusts, fungi, bacteria, protozoa,
nematodes, arthropods and their interactions in healthy soil. Site
by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
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The Soil
Makers: A Brief Look at Soil Zoology by Gordon Ramel, who has
developed an extensive site on entomology.
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Soil
Water Potential is provided by the Department of Agronomy and
Horticulture of New Mexico State University.
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Soil
Quality Information Sheets by U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural
Resources Conservation Service. Full-text available in Adobe Acrobat.
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Soil-Water
Relations by Robert J. Lascano of the Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station. Thorough explanation, with formulas and illustrations. Related
publication on Soil
Gravimetric Water Content: Measurement and calculations.
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SoilFacts
by North Carolina Extension Service. Most of these would not be helpful
regarding soils of arid regions, but Careful
Soil Sampling provides clear explanations and helpful illustrations.
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Soils
and Cryptobiotic Crusts in Arid Lands part of the U.S. Geological
Society's Status
and Trends of the Nation's Biological Resources
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Soils
and Fertilizers extensive information for gardeners by the Arizona
Cooperative Extension, The University of Arizona.
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Soils
publications from Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, many
with full-text available in Adobe Acrobat.
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Texture AutoLookup
(TAL) downloadable TAL is a script that works within a spreadsheet
program to determine the soil texture class based on 4 soil classification
schemes. Developed by Christopher Teh Boon Sung of Universiti Putra
Malaysia.
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Understanding
Our Planet Through Chemistry This U.S.Geological Survey site shows
how chemists and geologists use analytical chemistry to: determine
the age of the Earth; show an extraterrestrial body collided with
the Earth; predict volcanic eruptions; observe atmospheric change
over millions of years; and document damage by acid rain and pollution
of the Earth's surface. Includes a chapter
of photos and descriptions of environmental problems of long-term
irrigation in the San Joaquin Valley, California.
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Using
indigenous knowledge, remote sensing and gis for sustainable development
by Joseph A. Tabor and Charles F. Hutchinson in Indigenous Knowledge
and Development Monitor 2 (1), April 1994. Includes bibliography.
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Volatile
and Fluid Transport in Deep, Arid Soils, research report by Lawrence
Livermore Research Laboratory, January 23, 1998.