Scanning Electron Microscope

The larger inhabitants of the soil are often easily visible - but there is a whole world of activity in the soil by organisms so small that you need special equipment to see them. Such a tool is the Scanning Electron Microscope. This extraordinary machine is capable of imaging the most minute aspects of soil, with breathtaking clarity. It really looks like another world - and in a way compared to our physical size it is. But it is important not to forget that soil is a vibrant and dymanic habitat even at these tiny scales.

Microscopic organisms are extremely important because of their numbers (billions in just a teaspoon full of soil), the fact that they break down the organic remains, the dying vegetation, deposited on and in soils, to release nutrients for the next generation of plants, and they also play a big part in creating the structure (or architecture) of soils.

Here are a few further images taken of the soil using a scanning electron microscope. The soils are from an alluvial estuarine mudflat and show the truly astonishing variety of structures and life within the soil microstructure.

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