In the beginning was the Big Bang.
Trillions of stars were created,
10 billion years ago, our Milky Way was formed,
One of whose stars was to become our sun.
4 and half billion years ago
Earth formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in
To become the third planet from the Sun.
Seas arrived a quarter of a billion years later.
Another half billion years went by before
A primeval soup, in a warm pond (according to Darwin)
Made chemical compounds that became the building blocks of life.
They could organise into patterns, so
Organisms emerged that could create oxygen, so
From a billion years ago, all sorts of – now multicellular - organisms
were swimming around, competing with each other,
which made a case for having protective coverings.
There was land for them to ‘land’ on, but they couldn't survive long on that lump of rock
Even half a billion years later,
There were only rocks and sediments, in the form of sand, silt and mud.
There would have been water films with life
Encouraging fungi and algae on the rocks
But not such sign of our living soil.
But three hundred million years later, dinosaurs walked on soil
So they must have been pretty resilient,
Telling us the soil must have evolved before then.
Yet, we take this soil for granted as if they had been here forever
It has been here for only about a tenth of the life of this planet,
Since when they have withstood at least three mass extinctions
There is almost certainly no similar living community, no ecosystem,
In any of those myriads of stars and planets in the universe
Yet, we keep spending trillions looking in other galaxies for ‘signs of life’
When we could be spending trillions looking under our feet.
Especially its soil
Perhaps if we knew better and understood our soil
How all the characters and creatures worked together to make soils
We would value better and respect this wonderful world under our feet.
How did our soils arrive?
Have you ever asked your self that question?
Or do you just take those tons of brown stuff under your feet for granted?
As if it had always been there.
But when where and how did it arrive?
We can be pretty sure they did not just arrive like 'manna from heaven', ie descended out of the blue..
The answer to this could help use understand better what is under our feet?
Surely if it is living, it must have evolved?
When and the key actors appear and where from?
The is the first time this scientific detective story has been told
This story of soils’ evolution expands existing frameworks
of soil science, geology, biology, palaeontology - and evolution
If we work out what went on underground
If we can shed light from the dark recesses underground
It may help give further insights into our great natural world above ground,
We may unlock many other mysteries – like the evolution of insects
And the spread of flowering plants - Darwin's dilemma.
Soils consist of more than lumps of sand silt and clay,
Soil consists of structures, where minerals and organic matter cement together
That build complete complex cities of fabulous architecture housing living communities,
Consisting of a mix of millions for different sorts of creatures together
We now talk about worms and microorganisms.
Yet in addition to these there are billions of small soil legged creatures crawling around.
In the UK, there are estimated - as nobody has counted - 14 quadrillion.
A quadrillion is a 1,000 trillion, which is a 1,000 billion, itself 1,000 X million.
Very few people can name any one single group, let alone species
This story of the secrets of soil evolution hidden beneath our feet is a moving story
Soil is in constant motion. It is not a dead lump of stuff. Everything in soil - chemicals, electrons, microbes, legged creatures, & worms - all move all the time from 100s of millions of years ago to the distant future.
Hopefully this site spells out the importance of soil and:
sheds light on how our soils come to be here
makes us value soil much more
brings soil to life
saves us from the next extinction