7 Literature.indd


247Literature – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64 (2015) (3) 247–251.

L I T E R A T U R E

Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64 2015 (3)                                                                                                  247–251.

World soils contain approximately 1,500–2,000 Gtons 
of organic carbon in the top two meters. This large 
carbon reserve can increase atmospheric concentra-
tions of CO2 by soil misuse or mismanagement, or 
it can temperate the ‘greenhouse’ eff ect by proper 
land use and soil management. The recognition of 
importance of soil carbon reservoir on the climate 
and soil fertility led to increasing scientifi c activity on 
this fi eld. Specifi c workshops and conferences on soil 
organic carbon (SOC) are a manifestation of increas-

ing scientifi c activity. The number of publications 
concerning SOC has been also increasing steadily 
since early 2000s. Actually, more than 1,500 papers 
per year cited by diff erent scientifi c search engines.

International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) organ-
ised a Conference on Global Soil Carbon in June 2013, 
in Madison (Wisconsin, USA). 90 presentations were 
presented by more than 140 scientists from 35 coun-
tries. Organisers have invited 48 authors and teams 
to participate in this book. Chapters are grouped in 

four sections: I. Soil carbon in space and 
time; II. Soil carbon properties and proc-
esses; III. Soil use and carbon management; 
IV. Soil carbon and the environment. All 
of papers focus on novel and intriguing 
research from all over the world. 

The fi rst part of the book is an overview 
of the recent status of soil carbon research 
in the World’s science. It summarizes the 
history, the recent scientifi c potential and 
new tendencies of these studies. Several 
authors emphasize importance of low car-
bon saturation of soils due to the agricul-
ture and other human activities. However, 
capacity of the carbon sink depends on the 
land use (changes) and cultivation tech-
niques, process of the carbon storage is 
proportional to molecular interactions 
between organic and mineral phase. The 
macro-scale studies are actually prevailed 
by SOC monitoring studies. The micro-
scale researches on SOC follow these 
trends and deal with its chemical compo-
sition and structural properties. This part 
of the book provides a brief inventory of 
new developments for monitoring systems 
and the latest novel micro-morphological 
and analytical techniques for SOM. 

Some of previously introduced ana-
lytical methods for studying SOC and 
molecular and microbial processes of soil 
organic matter (SOM) are overviewed 
in the second part of the book. Some of 
the chapters introduce applications of 
novel techniques (e.g. X-ray Fluorescence 
Molecular Spectroscopy, Quartz Crystal 
Micro-gravimetry) and few articles de-
lineate new applications of traditional 

Hartemink, A.E. and McSweeney, K. (eds.): Soil Carbon. Progress in Soil Science, Springer, Heidelberg–
New York–Dordrecht–London, 2014. 506 p.



Literature – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64 (2015) (3) 247–251.248

methods, such as UV-ViS spectrometry and refl ect-
ance measurements. Most of the chapters deal with 
molecular structures of SOM and molecular processes 
of carbon storage in soils.

Chapters of the third part contain large scale stud-
ies: carbon management on diff erent landscapes and 
the agro-technical aspects of the carbon sequestration. 
Selected teams have introduced new achievements to 
increase SOC absorption in the soils of the croplands 
and grasslands from tropical and subtropical Third 
World countries through the temperate zone (Europe, 
US) until the boreal areas.

Chapters of the fourth part (Soil and the environ-
ment) are loosely aggregated. Some of the chapters 

are reviews on state of the art of soil mapping and on 
the relationship between climate change and soil car-
bon management. Most of the papers are overviews 
on the recent status of SOC researches of an area. 

Soil Carbon is a new and high quality element of 
the Springers’s Progress in Soil Science series. Several 
the authors (e.g. McBratney, A.B.; Monger, C.; Poch, 
R. etc.) belong to the top soil scientists of the world. 
This is an essential handbook for soil scientists, ge-
ographers and environmentalist to receive up to date 
knowledge about soil carbon.

Zoltán Szalai – Gergely Jakab