Soil science - Dojogaku (English spelling) soil science

The study of soil includes agricultural and forestry soil science, which is based on the agricultural science perspective with the fundamental aim of pursuing productivity, and soil engineering (or soil mechanics), which focuses on mechanical investigations from the civil engineering perspective. However, in the narrow sense, soil science is a research field that discusses the formation process from the perspective of earth science, and is called pedology. It regards soil as a natural product on the surface of the earth's lithosphere, and investigates its physicochemical and biological properties as a substance, while considering the environment in which it formed based on regional characteristics and differences in climate, vegetation, and land conditions (rock parent material, surface relief, groundwater, etc.). Therefore, the principles of soil science can be said to form the basis of agricultural and forestry soil science and soil engineering.

The history of research into soil science (pedology) is relatively short, beginning in the second half of the 19th century. Dokuchaev, a researcher during the Imperial Russian period, classified soil types based on their physicochemical properties and demonstrated that the distribution of soil in Europe corresponds to the arrangement of climatic zones. This marked the beginning of the study of soil genesis (pedology), and is said to be the time when modern soil science was established. Since then, research into pedology has progressed in European countries and the United States, leading to the development of a classification theory of soil types around the world and the creation of detailed soil maps. So-called soil geography has also been studied from a geographical perspective. Famous scholars who contributed to the development of soil science include Glinka of Russia, CF Marbut and JS Joffe of the United States, and Gerasimov, a leading expert in soil research who also served as president of the Soviet Geographical Society.

In addition, there is Quaternary studies as an interdisciplinary field, and the study of soil, which is at the intersection of the fields of geology, topography, climate, biology, and archaeology, is particularly important within Quaternary studies. In addition, one of the recent challenges in soil science is to investigate the causes and actual conditions of soil pollution from the perspective of pollution prevention.

[Shigeo Asami and Makiko Watanabe]

"Introduction to Forest Soil Science" by Kawada Hiroshi (1989, Hakuyusha)" ▽ "Environmental Soil Science - Soil Science as the Human Environment" by Matsui Ken and Okazaki Masanori (1993, Asakura Publishing)" ▽ "Revised New Edition of "Basics and Applications of Soil Science" by Yamane Ichiro (1993, Rural Culture Association)" ▽ "Latest Soil Science" edited by Kuma Kazutoshi (1997, Asakura Publishing)" ▽ "Introduction to Soil Science" by Umemiya Yoshiaki, Goto Itsuo, Senoo Keishi, Tsutsugi Kiyoshi, and Matsunaka Teruo (2001, Asakura Publishing)" ▽ "Tropical Soil Science" by Kuma Kazutoshi (2001, Nagoya University Press)" ▽ "Basics of Soil Science - Formation, Function, Fertility, and Environment" by Matsunaka Teruo (2003, Rural Culture Association)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

土壌を研究する学問には、生産性の追求を基本命題とする農学の立場にたつ農林土壌学、土木工学の面から力学的究明を中心とする土壌工学（または土質力学）の分野もあるが、狭義の土壌学は地球科学の観点からその生成過程を論ずる研究分野をいい、これをペドロジーpedologyとよぶ。土壌を地球の岩石圏の表面における自然生成物としてとらえ、物質としての理化学的および生物学的性質を調べるとともに、その生成環境を気候、植生、土地条件（岩石母材や地表の起伏、地下水など）の地域的特質と相違に基づいて考察する学問がこれである。したがってこの土壌学原理は、農林土壌学や土壌工学の基礎をなすものといえる。

　土壌学（ペドロジー）の研究史は比較的短く、19世紀後半に始まった。帝政ロシア時代の研究者ドクチャーエフが土壌の理化学性に基づく土壌型の分類を行い、ヨーロッパにおける土壌の分布が気候帯の配列に対応することを明らかにした。これが土壌の成因論的研究（ペドロジー）の始まりで、このときに近代土壌学が成立したといわれている。以来、ヨーロッパ諸国とアメリカ合衆国でペドロジーの研究が進み、世界における土壌型の分類論の展開や詳細な土壌図の作成がみられた。地理学的視野のもとにいわゆる土壌地理学の研究もなされてくる。土壌学の発展に寄与した著名な学者には、ロシアのグリンカ、アメリカのマーブットC. F. MarbutやヨッフェJ. S. Joffeなどがあり、ゲラシモフはソ連の地理学会会長も務めた土壌研究の第一人者である。

　なお学際的研究として、第四紀学があるが、地質、地形、気候、生物、考古学の各分野の接点にある土壌の研究はとくに第四紀研究のなかで重要である。また土壌汚染の原因や実態を公害防止の観点から究明することも、最近の土壌学の課題の一つに加えられる。

［浅海重夫・渡邊眞紀子］

『河田弘著『森林土壌学概論』（1989・博友社）』▽『松井健・岡崎正規編著『環境土壌学――人間の環境としての土壌学』（1993・朝倉書店）』▽『山根一郎著『土壌学の基礎と応用』改訂新版（1993・農山漁村文化協会）』▽『久馬一剛編『最新土壌学』（1997・朝倉書店）』▽『犬伏和之・安西徹郎編、梅宮善章・後藤逸男・妹尾啓史・筒木潔・松中照夫著『土壌学概論』（2001・朝倉書店）』▽『久馬一剛著『熱帯土壌学』（2001・名古屋大学出版会）』▽『松中照夫著『土壌学の基礎――生成・機能・肥沃度・環境』（2003・農山漁村文化協会）』

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