Toward a Unified Soil–Bedrock Continuum: Building a Systems Understanding

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Abstract
Soil is the foundation of life itself, and without healthy soils our day‐to‐day lives would be forever changed. A significant proportion of soil science focuses on the topsoil, overlooking much of the soil profile. If soil science is to fully serve society, we must expand our understanding to the full soil–bedrock continuum, extending beyond the top 30 cm into the deeper profile that includes weathered bedrock. This argument has been raised before, with many scientists calling for whole‐profile sampling and characterization, yet these calls have gone largely unheeded, and recent studies suggest we may even be narrowing our focus to shallower depths. In this opinion, we present the case for studying the full soil profile by examining its historical treatment, current paradigms, and we highlight some of the opportunities that are being missed. To fully understand and steward the systems that underpin life: we must be willing to go deeper in our sampling, in our thinking, and in our collaborations across disciplines.

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