ABSTRACT
Soils are excellent examples of complex systems. The multitude of feedbacks occurring among the physical, chemical, and biological processes in soils creates an immense challenge for anyone attempting to understand soil formation and behavior. For example, organisms mine soils for essential nutrients, accelerating and modifying the rate of mineral weathering. In turn, death and decay of organisms leads to development of soil organic matter (SOM). The presence of soil organic matter then affects the soil quality (e.g., water and retention) and the types of weathering products that form because SOM influences dissolution and aqueous speciation.1 Different mineral or amorphous solid types can then affect the turnover rates of SOM.2 Such a bewildering interplay of soil components makes understanding the overall behavior of the system extremely difficult; however, important insights can be gleaned from isolating one or two components of the system and determining the key factors that control a given process.
