The term "soil" has many definitions, depending upon who is using the term. For example, to engineers "soil" is unconsolidated surficial material, whereas to many soil scientists it is mainly the medium for plant growth. A definition of soil that serves our purpose well is a slight modification of that given by Joffe'": a soil is described as a natural body consisting of layers or horizons of mineral and/or organic constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent material in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties and their biological characteristics; at least some of these properties are pedogenic (Fig. 1-1). Soil horizons generally are unconsolidated, but some contain sufficient amounts of silica, carbonates, or iron oxides to be cemented <...>

Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology is a comprehensive and accessible textbook on all aspects of soils.

The book’s introductory chapters on soil morphology, physics, mineralogy and organisms prepare the reader for the more advanced and thorough treatment that follows. Unlike other books on soils, the authors devote considerable space to discussions of soil parent materials and soil mixing (pedotur-bation), along with dating and paleoenvironmen-tal reconstruction techniques. Theory and processes of soil genesis and geomorphology form the backbone of the book, rather than the emphasis on soil classification that permeates other soils textbooks. This refreshingly readable text takes a truly global perspective, with many examples from around the world sprinkled throughout.

This special issue of Geoderma is the result of the work of members of the “International Working-Group on Submicroscopy of Undisturbed Soil Materials (IWGSUSM)”. The papers are from the second workshop of IWGSUSM, organized in 1981 by J. Ducloux at the University of Poitiers, France; the symposium on “Submicroscopy of Undisturbed Soil Materials” organized in 1981 by M.L. Thompson in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. during the annual meeting of the Soil Science Society of America, and work done in 1982. The papers mainly concern in situ electron microscopic studies of materials in thin sections of soils and of unimpregnated soil constituents in peds. Ion microscopy is discussed in one paper.

This book, aimed at undergraduate civil engineering students, deals with the relevance of geology for safe and successful large-scale civil engineering constructions. Pertinent details such as ground water, earthquakes, landslides, engineering properties of rocks have been included.