Knowra Volcanic soil Volcanic soil Volcanic soil forms partly from ash, lava, and other erupted materials. Its mineral composition and development produce properties that vary with volcanic source, climate, and age.
Volcanic ash : Fine fragments of volcanic glass, minerals, and rock blasted into the air during eruptions. Ash is a widespread parent material from which volcanic soil develops.
Weathering : The breakdown and alteration of rocks and minerals at or near Earth’s surface. It converts unstable volcanic glass and minerals into clays and other soil constituents.
Agriculture : The cultivation of crops and raising of animals for food, materials, and other products. Farming is a major use of volcanic landscapes, but soil fertility is not uniform.
Jeju Island : A volcanic island off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Its volcanic terrain includes porous soils formed from basalt and volcanic ash.
Andisol : A soil order characterized by substantial influence from volcanic ejecta, especially volcanic glass and short-range-order minerals. This soil order captures many soils whose properties are strongly shaped by volcanic materials.
Cation-exchange capacity : A measure of a soil’s ability to retain and exchange positively charged ions. Allophane and organic matter can give volcanic soils substantial, pH-dependent nutrient retention.
Coffee production : The cultivation, harvesting, processing, and trade of coffee beans. Coffee is widely grown in volcanic highlands where climate and soil conditions can suit the crop.
Java : An Indonesian island with numerous active and dormant volcanoes. Volcanic deposits and tropical weathering shape extensive, intensively cultivated soils there.
Allophane : A poorly crystalline aluminosilicate mineral commonly formed in soils from volcanic ash. Its high surface area helps give many ash-derived soils distinctive water and nutrient behavior.
Phosphate fixation : The conversion of soluble phosphate into forms that are less available to plants. Aluminum- and iron-rich minerals in many volcanic soils bind phosphate strongly.
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