A type of brown soil with a dark, rich surface layer, found particularly in prairie and grassland regions, containing high amounts of organic matter.
From German 'Braun' (brown) combined with Russian 'zemlya' (earth/soil), blending terminology from European soil science. The term was created by soil scientists studying prairie soils in the 19th-20th centuries.
Brunizems are prairie soils so fertile that they became the 'breadbasket' of North America—what makes them brown is thousands of years of decomposed grass roots, making them literally crystallized ancient plant life.
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