What is it about?
The properties and main soils of occurrence of primary and secondary minerals in soils are detailed and their origins, alterations, transformations and associations discussed. The relative stabilities of primary minerals to each other are the inverse of the order in which they crystallized out of a magma when it cooled. The use of solution thermodynamics to predict the occurrence of minerals in soils is invalidated by the complexity of soil secondary minerals, by the importance of the processes of oxidation and reduction and by the difficulty of obtaining equilibrium in soils.
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Why is it important?
The clay-sized (< 2 micrometre) secondary particles contribute all of the charge and almost all of the surface area to soils. Secondary minerals almost invariable occur in associations, with one another, with other inorganic materials, e.g. oxides, and with organic matter. Associations of secondary minerals and organic matter form the basis of a stable soil structure.
Perspectives
This is a short review of the inorganic solid phase, i.e. minerals in soils. It represents the important knowledge at its time of publication. It is uncluttered by too many references. This is a developing field and the continuing advent of high resolution analytical instruments will provide the capacity to examine minerals within undisturbed samples of soils and to discover their natural associations at the nanoscale. Minerals in soils have other uses than in agriculture, e.g. in the stability of buildings and other earth works, medicine, forensics and archaeology.
Jock Churchman
University of Adelaide
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This page is a summary of: Soil phases: the inorganic solid phase, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511535802.004.
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