#soil functions

“Do you come from a land down under?

Where women glow and men plunder?

Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?”

… the Men at Work sang in 1981. 

Cryptic lyric to describe the world down under. World that, exactly because it is under our feet, we do not know enough. Unknown world that, yes, sometimes has dark and disturbing sides…

… but, mostly, it is a resource. 

A, resource that we know little about. Especially, its skin, the soil, the first meter below our feet. Ignorance of these potentialities lead to confusing rules in spatial planning, and therefore chances can be vanished in terms of potential paybacks that its responsible use might provide.

Functions of the subsurface  doi>10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.114 [1]

“Underground resource provides several competing or coexisting subsurface functions – e.g. space for infrastructure and space for storage of gas, oil, carbon dioxide and waste, which turn into services when utilised by humans. The subsurface should be recognised as a valuable resource, which provides physical space, water, energy, materials, habitats for ecosystems, support to surface life and holds cultural heritage archives” (doi>10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104316 [2]). 

Utilisation of the different subsurface functions to yield services requires not only careful planning but also a framework to support the decision-making process in achieving a balance between utilisation and preservation (doi>10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.01.019 [3]).

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[1] Griffioen et al. (2014). A technical investigation on tools and concepts for sustainable management of the subsurface in The Netherlands. Science of The Total Environment. Volumes 485–486, 1 July 2014, Pages 810-819  doi>10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.114

[2] Volchko et al. (2020)  Subsurface planning: Towards a common understanding of the subsurface as a multifunctional resource. Land Use Policy. Volume 90, January 2020, 104316 doi>10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104316