What are those wavy bands in the soil?
Editor’s Note: You may have noticed bands in soil along roadsides, or on hikes. Soil scientists refer to these bands as lamellae [luh–mel-ee]. They are interesting areas of soils, formed […]
Category Archives: Infrastructure
What is “porous pavement” and how does that help soils capture and clean water?
Porous pavement can look just like regular pavement, but it has an important environmental benefit. It allows water to trickle down through the usually impermeable street or sidewalk. This means […]
How do wetlands protect land and water?
Originally, wetlands were thought of as wasted land that could be drained for agriculture, building housing developments and other structures. Even the word “swamp” implies that they are areas with […]
Why do the Loess Hills of Iowa need to be farmed in terraces?
Soil formed in loess, or wind-blown silt, is great for farming. Its soft texture contributes to its productivity, but also increases its susceptibility to erosion. To combat this issue, farmers […]
What considerations go into rehabilitating land back to native grasses?
Using native grasses is a great idea for new – or old – housing developments. Once the areas of native grasses are established, they will have thick surface coverage of […]
What is a “green roof” and are they helpful to the environment?
Green roofs are vegetated rooftops, and they are gaining popularity in the United States. They are designed to alleviate some common problems in urban areas: elevated air temperatures, flooding, and […]
What is the Critical Zone?
Critical Zone science is a new field of science that links together many existing fields. It studies water, air, ecosystems and hard rock geology but it is not soil science. […]
