ECTS credits ECTS credits: 4
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 68 Hours of tutorials: 4 Expository Class: 12 Interactive Classroom: 16 Total: 100
Use languages Spanish, Galician
Type: Ordinary subject Master’s Degree RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Center Higher Technical Engineering School
Call: Second Semester
Teaching: Sin Docencia (En Extinción)
Enrolment: No Matriculable (Sólo Planes en Extinción) | 1st year (Yes)
Study and knowledge of this subject is central in the curriculum of an Environmental Scientist because it provides the basic knowledge which allows the implementation of different technologies to soil management and treatment and, especially, to developing protection, reclamation and decontamination procedures for contaminated/degraded soils. The general objective of the subject is that students acquire skills to understand the role of soil in environmental quality and interpret the soil information necessary for soil ma management.
Specifically, it is intended that students understand: i) soil functions, as well as soil classification/evaluation, ii) global soil threats and its influence on environmental quality and food safety and iii) soil properties/processes/dynamics and their relationship with natural environment. This subject links with “Soil Pollution and Degradation" and "Soil and Residue Laboratory" subjects of the "Soil Recovery and Waste Management" module. The subject approach is eminently practical, without forgetting the theoretical basis that is necessary for designing specific solutions to each type of problem and environment.
The contents developed in the course are contemplated succinctly in the descriptor of the subject matter included in the master's degree in Environmental Engineering:
"Geochemical cycles. Soil factors, components and processes. Soil Classification and evaluation. Soil functions and threats. Productive and environmental planning of soil resources. Soil as a carbon sink "
These contents will be developed along the following topics in which the program has been divided:
I. THE NATURE OF THE SOIL
1. Concept of soil. The soil as a system. Productive and environmental functions of the soil. Soil and plant nutrition. The soil as a regulator of surface biogeochemical cycles. The soil as a pollution buffer. Soil as a carbon sink. Threats. The European Soil Protection Strategy.
2. Soil organisation. From the pedosphere to the microstructure Pedion, profile and horizons. Nomenclature of soil horizons
II. SOIL COMPONENTS.
1. The mineral fraction: origin, composition, properties. Crystalline and non-crystalline components of the fine mineral fraction. Study methods.
2. The organic fraction: origin, composition, properties. Transformations of organic matter, mineralization and humification. Stabilization processes of organic matter in the soil. Functions of the organic matter in the soil. Organo-mineral complexes. Study methods.
3. The fluid phases. Soil water. The soil atmosphere.
4. Soil biota
III. SOIL PROPERTIES
1. Physical properties. Colour. Texture. Structure. Real and apparent density. Porosity. Permeability. Temperature.
2. Physical-chemical properties. Fundamentals of soil reactivity. Dissolution-precipitation reactions Surface interactions: ion exchange and ion retention Acid-base reactions: pH and acidity of the soil Natural and induced acidity. Soil buffering capacity. Oxidation-reduction processes. Concept of Eh. Eh-pH diagrams. Salinity and alkalinity.
SOIL FORMATION: FACTORS AND PROCESSES
1. Soil formation factors. Influence of environmental factors on formation and soil characteristics: parent material, climate, relief, organisms and time. Human influence.
2. Pedogenesis processes. Weathering, embrowning and reddening. Decomposition of organic matter: humification and mineralization. Reductive conditions and alternating oxidation-reduction conditions. Maturation. Pedoturbation. Eluviation and illuviation of clay. Podzolization. Secondary accumulation of silica, gypsum and calcium carbonate Salinization and sodicity. Formation of dense and cemented horizons.
V. CLASSIFICATION, TYPOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS
1. The classification of soils. Principles and problems. Historical evolution of soil classification. Types of soil classifications.
2. Modern classifications. World Reference Base of the Soil Resource (FAO, IUSS, ISRIC). Soil Taxonomy (USDA).
3. The Soil Resource World Reference Base. Structure and rules of use. Horizons, properties and diagnostic materials. Reference groups and second level units.
4. Reference groups of the World Soil Resource Database. Description, distribution, management and use.
Basic bibliography
- DRIESSEN PM, DECKERS, JA. SPAARGAREN, OC AND NACHTERGAELE FO (Eds.). 2001. Lecture Notes on the Major Soils of the World. World Soil Resources Reports 94. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Reference ETSE: Not available. Can be downloaded at:
http://www.isric.org/Isric/Webdocs/Docs/Major_Soils_of_the_World/start… ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/agll/docs/wsrr94e.pdf
- IUSS Working Group WRB. 2015. World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, update 2015 International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. World Soil Resources Reports No. 106. FAO, Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf
Reference ETSE: Not available. Can be downloaded at:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/a0510s/a0510s00.HTM
• PORTA, J., LÓPEZ-ACEVEDO, M., POCH, R.M. 2008. Introducción a la Edafología. Uso y protección del suelo. Mundi-Prensa.
Reference ETSE: Not available at ETSE. ATS82, ATS13, ATS82A (Biology), TS449, ATS13A (Pharmacy)
Complementary bibliography
• EUROPEAN SOIL BUREAU NEWORK. 2005. Soil Atlas of Europe. European Comission, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Louxemburg.
Reference ETSE: Not available. Can be downloaded at:
http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/projects/soil_atlas/Download.cfm
• FAO. 2009. Guidelines for soil description. 4th edición. FAO, Roma, 2006. ISBN: without ISBN
Reference ETSE: Not available. Can be downloaded at:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-a0541e.pdf
• MACÍAS, F. & CALVO, R. 2001. Atlas de Galicia. Solos. Consellería de Presidencia, Xunta de Galicia.
• Porta Casanellas, J. López Acevedo, M. Agenda de campo de suelos: información de suelos para la agricultura y el medio ambiente. Mundi Prensa, 2005. ISBN: 84- 8476- 231- 9
Reference ETSE: A230 5, 5A, 5B
• Soil Survey Staff. 2014. Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 12th ed. USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC. USDA-NCRS, 2014. ISBN: without ISBN.
Reference ETSE: Not available. Can be downloaded at:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/class/tax…
WEB SITES
• FAO: http://www.fao.org
• ISRIC (International Soil Reference and Information Centre), Wageningen, The Netherlands: http://www.isric.org
• Sociedad Española de la Ciencia del Suelo: http://www.secs.com.es/
Student will acquire a set of generic skills which are desirable for an environmental scientist with soil knowledge to solving environmental problems.
Within the skills framework that was designed for the degree, in this subject we will perform more specifically the following:
Basic and General
• CB6 - To acquire and understand knowledge that contribute to be original in the development and / or application of ideas, often in a context of research.
• CB7 - That the students can apply the acquired knowledge and capacity of resolution of problems in environments new or little known inside more wide contexts (or multidisciplinary) related to the area of study
• CB8 - That the students are capable of integrating knowledge and to face the complexity of formulating judgments from an information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social responsibilities and ethics linked to the application of those knowledge and judgments.
• CB9 - That the students will be able to communicate their conclusions and knowledge to public specialized and not specialized in a clear way and without ambiguities
• CB10 - That the students acquire the skills of learning that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be to a great extent self-guided or autonomous.
• G01 - To identify and to enunciate environmental problems
Specific
• E14 – To understand their technologies, tools and techniques in the field of environmental engineering
• E23 – To design and calculate solutions of engineering to environmental problems
• E32 – To compare and select technical alternatives
• E33 – To identify emerging technologies
• E46 – To solve problems efficiently
This is a subject in extinction. The Virtual Campus will be used as a work tool, where material will be available for the study of the subject. Although it is a subject without teaching, the student can request tutorships, only to clarify the doubts that have arisen in the preparation of the final exam.
As it is a subject without teaching, the student will have to take the final written face-to-face exam that will represent 100% of their grade. These conditions are the same both in the first and in the second opportunity.
Maria Del Carmen Monterroso Martinez
- Department
- Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry
- Area
- Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry
- Phone
- 881813288
- carmela.monterroso [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer
Eduardo Garcia-Rodeja Gayoso
- Department
- Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry
- Area
- Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry
- Phone
- 881813287
- eduardo.garcia-rodeja [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
| 01.25.2023 10:00-12:00 | Grupo de examen | Classroom A8 |
| 06.16.2023 16:00-18:00 | Grupo de examen | Classroom A8 |