Minerals are essential players in soils, serving as dynamic interfaces for the exchange of matter and energy between the liquid, gaseous, and solid phase. Their properties across scales—ranging from crystallographic characteristics and the availability of reactive sites to the spatial arrangement in aggregates—determine the reactivity of the soil solid phase. Thus, mineral properties control key soil functions, such as the retention or release of organic carbon, nutrients, and contaminants. Minerals shape habitats for soil organisms of all kingdoms and thereby regulate aboveground productivity. Understanding these interdependencies requires collaborative, interdisciplinary effort. This session explores the diverse and dynamic world of inorganic solids in soils, with a particular focus on mineralogical influences on abiotic and biological soil processes, including, but not limited to, mineral transformations, soil structure formation, organic matter cycling, and nutrient dynamics.
We invite contributions addressing both “classical” clay minerals and more “exotic” phases, such as manganates or layered double hydroxides. Interdisciplinary and methodological studies as well as work by early-career researchers are especially welcome. We aim to provide a collaborative forum where mineralogists, soil scientists, biogeochemists, and ecologists can deepen the understanding of mineral-structure–function relationships, nutrient cycling, and soil responses to dynamic environmental challenges.