“Dr. Essington's book will be an outstanding choice as a textbook for those of us who teach soil chemistry, and will be an excellent resource for anyone working in the area of environmental soil science. He should be congratulated for producing a thorough, well-written book." Dr. George F. Vance, J.E. Warren Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie “I continue to be impressed by the quality of writing in this book. The author has a superb command of the subject matter and presents many difficult concepts in an easily understood manner. Material is covered in as complete a fashion as I have seen in any other soil chemistry textbook."

• Provides a comprehensive overview of the chemical and mineralogical characteristics and processes of soils Explores the methodologies, analytical techniques, and computations used to express soil chemical properties Utilizes environmentally and agronomically-based examples to highlight the dynamic nature of soil systems Provides a complete overview of water chemistry, with a detailed focus on hydration-hydrolysis, Lowry Bronsted and Lewis acidity and basicity, sampling methods, and more Examines the processes that distribute matter between solid and solution phases Highlights the genesis, characterization, management, and properties of acidic, saline, and sodic soil systems Contains more than 300 original figures and approximately 90 tables

THE SOIL CHEMICAL ENVIRONMENT: AN OVERVIEW / Phases and Chemical Processes in Soil lements in the Soil Environment: Their Concentrations and Important Species / Units and Conversions / Heterogeneity of Soil Chemical Characteristics / SOIL MINERALS / Chemical Bonds / Pauling's Rules / Silicate Classes / Clay Mineralogy / Division 1:1 Phyllosilicate Minerals / Division 2:1 Phyllosilicate Minerals / Hydrous Metal Oxides / X-Ray Diffraction Analysis / CHEMICAL WEATHERING / Hydrolysis and Oxidation / Balancing Chemical Reactions / Mineral Stability: Primary Silicates in the Sand- and Silt-Sized Fractions / Mineral Stability: Clay-Size Fraction / Weathering and Formation Characteristics of the Phyllosilicates / General Weathering Scheme for the Phyllosilicates/ ORGANIC MATTER IN SOIL / Determination of Soil Organic Carbon Concentrations / Organic Functional Groups: a Review / Nonhumic Substances /Humic Substances / Genesis of Humic Substances / Chemical and Structural Characteristics of Humic Substances/ SOIL WATER CHEMISTRY / Nature of Water / Ion Hydration / Electrolyte Solutions / Hydrolysis of Cations / Lowry-Brønsted Acids and Bases / Complex Ions and Ion Pairs / The ion association model / Ion Speciation in Soil Solutions / Qualitative Aspects of Ion Speciation / Soil Solution Sampling Methodologies / Methods of Chemical Analysis: Elemental Analysis / MINERAL SOLUBILITY / Mineral Solubility: Basic Principles / Application of Mineral Solubility Principles: Impediments / The Deviation of Ksp from Kdis / Mineral Solubility and Solution Composition / Stability Diagrams / Predicting Solution Composition / SURFACE CHEMISTRY AND ADSORPTION REACTIONS / Surface Functional Groups and Complexes / The Solid-Solution Interface: a Microscopic View / Quantitative Description of Adsorption / Specific Retention of Metals and Ligands/ Ligand Effects on Metal Adsorption / Organic Surface Functional Groups and Organic Molecular Retention Mechanisms / Surface Complexation Models / CATION EXCHANGE / Cation Exchange: a Beginning for Soil Chemistry / Qualitative aspects of Cation Exchange / Cation Exchange Capacity and Exchange Phase Composition / Quantitative Description of Cation Exchange / OXIDATION-REDUCTION REACTIONS IN SOILS / The Electron Activity / Redox Potential Measurements / Redox Status in Soils / pe - pH Predominance Diagrams / ACIDITY IN SOIL MATERIALS / Measurement of Soil Solution pH /Chemical and Biochemical Processes that Influence Soil Solution pH / Acid-Neutralizing Capacity and the Quantification of Soil Acidity / Neutralization of Soil Acidity / Acid Generation and Management in Mine Spoils: the Oxidation of Pyrite / SOIL SALINITY AND SODICITY / Sources of Salts / Diagnostic Characteristics of Saline and Sodic Soils / Irrigation Water Quality Parameters and Relationships / Genesis, Management, and Reclamation of Salt-Affected Soils

Graduate, Post Graduate Students, Professionals in soil sciences