Welcome to Ask the Expert

In this section of the soils tutorial questions are submitted to are
experts in the field of Soil Science.

1. "Is Dirt Soil or is Soil Dirt?"

-  Soil is a naturally occurring body at the earth's surface due to the combined effects of climate and biotic activity acting upon a parent material modified by topography over time. This dynamic body is teeming with biological, chemical, and physical activity which provides for this material to serve as a medium for plant growth, a repository for wastes, and an important component of the hydrologic cycle and associated water treatment. Dirt is soil out of place; dirt possesses few of the original soil attributes. One does not want to recycle our water through dirt.

This question was answered by Dr Randall J Miles, Associate Professor in the Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

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