Soil Water
Water affects soil formation, structure, stability and erosion but is of primary concern with respect to plant growth. Water is essential to plants for four reasons:
- It constitutes 85%-95% of the plant's protoplasm.
- It is essential for photosynthesis.
- It is the solvent in which nutrients are carried to, into and throughout the plant.
- It provides the turgidity by which the plant keeps itself in proper position.
In addition, water alters the soil profile by dissolving and redepositing minerals, often at lower levels, and possibly leaving the soil sterile in the case of extreme rainfall and drainage. In a loam soil, solids constitute half the volume, air one-quarter of the volume, and water one-quarter of the volume, of which only half will be available to most plants.
Read more about this topic: Soil
Famous quotes containing the words soil and/or water:
“A man’s destination is not his destiny,
Every country is home to one man
And exile to another. Where a man dies bravely
At one with his destiny, that soil is his.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Communism, my friend, is more than Marxism, just as Catholicism ... is more than the Roman Curia. There is a mystique as well as a politique.... Catholics and Communists have committed great crimes, but at least they have not stood aside, like an established society, and been indifferent. I would rather have blood on my hands than water like Pilate.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)