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Manna from Heaven?
Manna from Heaven?
Getting the hang of these small creatures, you begin to realise there is a lot more to them than many people think.
Where did they come from? When did they appear on earth? Yet they do not 'appear' on earth, but an integral part of it.
I suspect many of us have not given this matter much thought. It is as if soil has always been there. But it has not. It was not there when we span off from some planet over 4 billion years ago. Some may think it arrived like some 'manna from heaven'. But - like all living entities - it must have evolved. That means it started as something, but due to various forces of nature, changed into something different - what we now call soil. Soils are much the same the world over - although differing every few yards, consisting of various minerals, particularly sand, clay loam, and millions of organic components, including bacteria, fungi, plant debris, small fauna, mesofauna and larger creatures.
But how what why when and where did soil come from?
Here we are going to ask these questions in relation to the small soil creatures.
Where did they come from?
When were they first around?
What is the geological relation with plants?
How do they go back in time with plants?
Suddenly there are so many questions..
There is a whole new world to explore and discover.
When did the Soil Evolve?
When did the Soil Evolve?
We have to go back in geological time frames, to study the evolution of the world's most valuable long-term asset - its soil. Starting with the zoology of the small soil creatures, mixing with the botany around them, controlled by the chemical conditions, exerted by the physical forces, the story of how the soil evolved brings together all these forces. It is the small soil animals that gave me the clue to how it all fits together..
When did 'Higher Plants evolve?
We know ferns and mosses and 'bryophytes' have been around a long time. They all tend to need a lot of moisture. But when did 'Higher' plants appear? 'Higher' doesn't mean taller, although in this case, it coincides. 'Higher' means' further up the evolutionary ladder - having differentiated - distinctly different parts - like stems, roots, leaves and flowers. We are talking about trees, which happen to grow higher.
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
1. Determine when you consider the soil EVOLVED. If it is a living entity it must have developed over a period of time into the consistency and consitituency that it is today. It is remarkably similar all over the world, despite every inch being different from the next.
OR
2. Determine when trees first appeared on the planet.
Discuss what time frames each of you came up with and whether they are the same.
Soil seems to have been around for a long time. But not 'forever'. Can you remember it in any representations of various geological ages?
Make your prediction - and see how it matches up to this..
Let's look into this a lot more.. with Birth of the Earth...
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