ABSTRACT
The pedosphere supports all biotic activity within the terrestrial ecosystems and interacts with the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. The pedosphere has played a significant role in influencing the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, especially since 1850. Interactive processes that play a major role in the global carbon cycle are those between the pedosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. There are two types of carbon pools in the pedosphere, e.g., soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC). An increase in SOC, through C sequestration into the pedosphere, has two notable positive effects. First is the enhancement of soil quality, and second is the improvements in the soil's environmental regulatory capacity. Three principal processes of C sequestration in the pedosphere are humification, aggregation, and sedimentation. Each of these processes and their relations to each other need to be clearly understood as do the effects of SOC and SIC leaching and the chemical transformations of dissolved carbon.
