This book is about the movements and transformations of energy and matter in
soils that are continuously or intermittently submerged with water. Submerged
soils cover a huge area, from 5 to 7 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, and they
are undoubtedly of great practical importance: in local, regional and global element
cycles, as habitats for plants and wildlife, and in food and fibre production.
The submerged soils in ricefields, for example, produce the basic food of more
than 2 billion people, a third of the world population. But submerged soils are
also inherently interesting scientifically, and that is the main theme of the book.