000117427 001__ 117427 000117427 005__ 20240503120756.0 000117427 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109802 000117427 0248_ $$2sideral$$a128256 000117427 037__ $$aART-2022-128256 000117427 041__ $$aeng 000117427 100__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-0702-733X$$aValero, A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000117427 245__ $$aExergy assessment of topsoil fertility 000117427 260__ $$c2022 000117427 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000117427 5203_ $$aSoil degradation, affecting around 38% of the world''s cropland, threatens the global food supply. Due to the soil''s complexity, the measure of soil degradation that involves the loss of soil fertility due to crop system management processes represents an unsolved problem. Exergy is a property with the potential to be used in soil fertility and/or degradation analysis. A methodology to determine the exergy value fenced in a fertile soil due to its inorganic and organic components is established in this study and will be applied to evaluate soil fertility, degradation, and quality. As a first step, the exergy of perfect topsoil with optimum characteristics called "OptSOIL" is determined. The "OptSOIL" is established by agronomic expertise and will allow establishing a general theoretical reference suitable to execute exergy assessments of soils and compare the degradation grade of any soil concerning the best possible. Consequently, we introduce a perfect fertile planetary crust made of “OptNUT” and “OptSOM” invariant and independent of the different local textures, but not independent of their water content and aeration. We call this imaginary crust -copiously fertile- Pristinia as opposed to Thanatia, a dead state referring to abiotic resources. Thus, any real agricultural soil will be an intermediate soil between Pristinia and Thanatia. This idea might serve to quantitatively diagnose an assessment of all the concepts by which soil is degraded. The methodology has been validated through laboratory agronomic tests for different soils, concluding that exergy is a rigorous indicator to measure topsoil fertility. © 2021 The Authors 000117427 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2020-116851RB-I00$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/RTC-2017-5887-5 000117427 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby-nc-nd$$uhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ 000117427 590__ $$a3.1$$b2022 000117427 592__ $$a0.888$$b2022 000117427 591__ $$aECOLOGY$$b65 / 171 = 0.38$$c2022$$dQ2$$eT2 000117427 593__ $$aEcology$$c2022$$dQ1 000117427 593__ $$aEcological Modeling$$c2022$$dQ2 000117427 594__ $$a5.9$$b2022 000117427 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000117427 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-2783-0314$$aPalacino, B. 000117427 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-4202-9437$$aAscaso, S. 000117427 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-3330-1793$$aValero, A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000117427 7102_ $$15004$$2590$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Ingeniería Mecánica$$cÁrea Máquinas y Motores Térmi. 000117427 773__ $$g464, 109802 (2022), [11 pp]$$pEcol. model.$$tEcological Modelling$$x0304-3800 000117427 8564_ $$s1206040$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/117427/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000117427 8564_ $$s2513484$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/117427/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000117427 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:117427$$particulos$$pdriver 000117427 951__ $$a2024-05-03-12:04:08 000117427 980__ $$aARTICLE