ABSTRACT
Generally, soil in general can be described as a three-phase system, made up of a large number of components. The three phases are: the solid phase, the aqueous phase and the gas phase. In geological time, rocks that form the earth’s crust and surface, have been tranformed in many ways, and most of these transformations belong to domain of earth scientists. The transformations pertinent for us to consider that is fundamentally applicable to soil science and bioremediation, is chemical weathering. Depending on different dissolution rates, chemical weathering causes the succesive disappearance of different silicate minerals. Iron-oxydes and organic matter determine the colour of soil. Ironoxydes play an important role in soil phenomena like aggregation and cementation. Organic matter acts as a cement for the mutual cohesion of soil particles and induces formation of larger pores. This is important for waterholding capacity of soil. A soil which is low in humus, will retain less water than a soil rich in humus.
