topsoil

Etymology

top + soil

noun

1. The upper layer of soil, typically most fertile and easiest to start new plants in.
   Little grew on the farm, after the floods from the hurricane washed away the topsoil.
   Without urgent action, the majority of the Earth’s topsoil could be severely degraded or lost before the end of this century. In China, topsoil is being lost fifty-seven times faster than this natural replacement process; in Europe seventeen times faster. 2013, Al Gore, “Outgrowth”, in The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, New York: Random House, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 183

verb

1. (transitive) To remove the topsoil from.