Submicroscopic studies of soils / Субмикроскопические исследования почв

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.

The plan to start IWGSUSM originated in 1975, but it was 1979 before E.B.A. Bisdom could write the first circular letter. By this time sufficient new submicroscopic techniques had been tested to allow detailed studies of soil constituents in thin sections. One of the problems, then and now, is however, that the costs of using electron microscopes, ion microscopes, laser microprobe mass analyzers, etc. are rather high and that the interpretation of data can be intricate. Consequently, an international organization was founded to assess the significance of projects and to start cooperative efforts, Such cooperation between specialized laboratories should facilitate the study of intricate problems. Various specialists joined IWGSUSM, i.e. soil micromorphologists, soil physicists, soil chemists, engineers in soil mechanics, geologists, geographers, biologists, etc. The first results of three cooperative research projects, i.e. on soil pollution, the characterization of organic matter in Vertisols, and the effects of the application of sewage .sludge and pig slurry on surface crusts of cultivated soils are discussed. <...>