c.

Converting degraded and desertified soils to restorative land ▪ A handful of soils may be home to billions of
use organisms, belonging to thousands of species
Soil
d. Developing farming and cropping systems ▪ 1 gram soil in good condition can contain as many
● Medium for plant growth e. Creating reserves for species preservation, recreation and as 600 million bacteria belonging to up to 20,000
● Non-renewable natural resource
enhancing aesthetic value species
● 100 years to form 2.5 cm of soil ▪ Larger organisms also spend a part of their
● 1-2 years to destroy
APPROACHES IN THE STUDY OF SOILS existence in soil and depend on the soil for
1. Pedological (pedology) important parts of their daily life
Nomadic man
● Study of soils in its natural environment ▪ Many birds rely on soil for food supply
● Do not manage SOIL and water resources ● Deals with pedogenesis, morphology, properties 6.
Foundation support for buildings, road and other engineering
and classification structures
Peter Maurin ● Pedogenesis: ▪ The nature of the soil has an important influence
● It is impossible to have a healthy and sound society without a
✔ Science and study of the processes that on the foundations
proper respect for the soil lead to formation of soil (soil evolution) ▪ Engineering structures seal the soil and negates
Franklin Roosevelt
● Soil Morphology the use of land for other purposes
● A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. ✔ Field observable attributes of the soil 7.
Preservation of the earth’s history
within the various soil horizons and the ▪ Many village and town names today reflect the
THREE REVOLUTIONS description of the kind and relationship between soil and society in the past
A. Agricultural Revolution arrangement of the horizons ▪ For instance: Barton-le-Clay in the UK
● Hunter-gatherer (10,00-12,000 years ago) 2. Edaphological (Edaphology) Ideal Soil:
● Key component of Neolithic Revolution ● Study of soils with emphasis on their practical use ✔ 25% Air
● The combination of: ✔ 25% Water
i. Human settlements ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS, COMPONENTS, AND QUALITY OF SOILS ✔ 50% Organic Matter
ii. Forest margins 1. Medium for plant growth
iii. Fresh water streams ▪ Best soil function SOIL COMPONENTS
May have given rise to the earliest planned cultivation of root ▪ Key function in the preservation and advancement 1) Minerals
crops of human life on this planet ⮚ Derived from weathering of rocks
● Shifting cultivation was a common method of 2. Regulator of Water Supplies ⮚ Clay materials- most important weathering
farming (KAINGIN) ▪ Soil helps control the fate of water in hydrological products
B. Industrial Revolution system ⮚ Inorganic component of the soil
● Second Agricultural Revolution ▪ Fate of rainwater can be influenced in several ● Sand
● Move beyond subsistence ways: ● Silt
● Increase in farm size a. Run across the surface, supplementing ● Clay
● Fence surface bodies of water in extreme situations ⮚ More than 90% of the soil
● Instituted field rotation lead to flash flooding 2) Soil Organic Matter
● By the 1830s: b. Infiltrate to become stored in the soil for use ⮚ Organism matter encompasses all organic
o New fertilizers by vegetation growing on it and by the soil- components of a soil:
o Feeding artificial feeds based organisms ● 5% Living organisms
C. Green Revolution c. Flow through the soil to reach the ● 10% Fresh Residue
● Rapid diffusion of productive agriculture groundwater ● 33-50% Stabilized organic matter
techniques (1970s-1980s) ▪ With proper functioning, soil partitions water for (humus)
● Solution to massive global famine groundwater recharge and for use by plants and ● 33-50% Decomposing organic matter
● Both success and failure soil animals ⮚ Organic soils- more than 20% OM
3. Recycler of raw materials ⮚ Mineral soils- less than 20% OM
Role of the Soil as: ▪ C, N, P and many other nutrients are stored, ⮚ Most soils are classified as mineral soils.
a. A component of the system transformed and cycled through the soil 3) Soil Water/Soil solution
b. As a medium for crop production and ▪ Nutrients can be transformed into plant available ⮚ Soil solution contains:
c. As a resource, is highly indispensable forms ● Soluble salts
= foundation of food production and agriculture 4. Modifier of the atmosphere ● Organic solutes
▪ Soil organic matter is one of the major pools of ● Suspended colloids
Demands on soil resources during the 21 century and beyond include:
st
carbon in the biosphere, capable of acting both as ⮚ Water is controlled by pore size:
a. Increasing production to meet the food needs of 3.5 billion a source and sink of carbon ● Small pores have a great affinity for
people 5. Habitat for soil organisms/ other fauna water
b. Sequestering carbon in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem ▪ Soil harbours much of the earth’s genetic diversity ● Large pores allow water to escape
easily
 ⮚ Contains small but significant quantities of soluble ● Agriculture o Soil layers with calcium carbonate or other salt
inorganic compounds ● Human Settlements accumulations from this way
⮚ Supply essential elements ● Commerce, industry and tourism development o If this cycle occurs several times, a calcareous
⮚ Acidity/ alkalinity hardpan can form
● Chemical and biological reactions are Soil Forming o HARDPAN- a hard usually clay-rich layer of soil
dependent on the levels of H+ and OH- ● Synonymous to soil genesis lying at or just below the ground surface, in which
ions ● The process of creating soil from not soil soil particles are cemented together by silica, iron
● Influences solubility/availability of ● Scientific name for not soil is parent material oxide, calcium carbonate or organic matter that
several essential elements has precipitated from water
4) Soil Air SOIL FORMING PROCESS o Water moves fine clay particles, dissolved organic
⮚ Soil has more CO2 but less O2 than the atmosphere ● Transformations substances through the soil through percolation
● Respiring organisms in the soil consume o Occur when soil constituents are chemically or and capillary action
O2 and produce CO2 physically modified or destroyed and others are o Soil organisms such as earthworms, Mound
⮚ Soil are always, has a relative humidity near 100% synthesized building organisms, burrowing of rodents
● Respiration releases water which o Includes: o CHELATION also helps in translocation
evaporates more slowly in the soil than ▪ Weathering of primary minerals o Metal ions such as Fe and Al combine with organic
on/above the soil ▪ Decomposition of organic residues molecules released during humus foundation
SOIL QUALITY ▪ Synthesis of organic acids, humus and o The organic metal chelate is more soluble than the
- The capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within other products Fe or Al minerals and is readily transported
natural or managed ecosystem boundaries to: ▪ Change in the size/arrangement of through Pedon
o Sustain plant and animal productivity mineral particles ● Additions
o Maintain or enhance water and air quality and o Parent materials are transformed into silicate clays o Inputs of materials to the soil profile are
o Support human health and habitation through chemical and physical weathering considered additions
Factors affecting soil quality: o These silicate clays and decomposition products o Both human activity and natural processes could
a. Inherent properties: TWOBADT recombine to form new minerals such as hydrous result in the addition of materials to the soil
✔ Texture oxides of iron and aluminum o The most obvious is addition of organic matter
✔ Water holding capacity o Other organic products such as organic acids and o As soon as plant life begins to grow in fresh parent
✔ OM humus are synthesized from organic materials material, organic matter begins to accumulate
✔ Bulk density o Weathering of large particles can cause the o Dead organisms, plant foliage, roots etc. add
✔ Aggregation formation of smaller particles organic materials to the soil
✔ Drainage o Particles can be arranged and built into aggregates o Most organic matter additions to the surface
✔ Topography ● Translocations increase cation exchange capacity and nutrients,
b. Management Related: TCORMS o Transfer of soil constituents which also increase plant nutrient availability
✔ Tillage intensity o Involve in the movement of inorganic and organic o Evaporated rainwater, groundwater and surface
✔ Compaction materials laterally within a horizon or vertically water can deposit salts and silica from other
✔ Organic additions from one horizon to another locations on the surface of the soil
✔ Residue management o The downward translocation of ions, clay and o By causing rivers to flood, rainfall is indirectly
✔ Microbial activity mineral fragments such as silica tetrahedral that responsible for the addition of new sediment to
✔ Salts recombine to the formation of subsoil horizons the soil on a flood plain
Mechanisms of soil quality o Overtime, this process is one of the more visibly o On the average, rainfall adds about 5 pounds of
● Water erosion noticeable as alterations in color, texture and nitrogen per acre per year
● Wind erosion structure become apparent o Minerals and other particles can be carried to and
● Chemical degradation o Downward translocation stops where the wetting added to a developing soil by wind, as wind-blown
● Physical degradation front stops or Aeolian material
o Maybe at the shallow depths in arid and semi-arid ● Losses
Causes of Soil Quality Degradation regimes and maybe mostly out of the profile in o Most losses occur by leaching
● Overgrazing humid areas o Leaching can remove water, salts, or silica
● Deforestation o Upward translocation of salts is important to the dissolved in water and organic acids and materials
● Agricultural activities
formation of the saline and alkali soils of arid and o Water moving through the soil dissolves certain
● Over-exploitation
semi-arid regions materials and transports them into deeper layers
● Industrialization
o Upward translocation stops at the soil surface
when water evaporates
o When the water stops moving, then evaporates,
salts are left behind WEATHERING
Competing Uses of Soil Resources
 - Any chemical or physical processes by which rocks undergo
chemical decomposition and physical disintegration
- Usually occurs at the earth’s surface but it can also occur at
significant depths for example the percolation of groundwater
through fractures in bedrock
- Usually results in changes in colour, texture, composition or B.
hardness of the affected rocks
- Controlled largely by climate
- In arid climates, weathering processes move very slowly
- Physical weathering will be dominant process but since it
relies on chemical weathering, it will be quite slow
A. Physical Weathering
● The breakdown of rocks and mineral particles by physical
forces
● Factors and Processes associated with Physical weathering
a. Wetting and Drying
▪ Wetted- prone to swelling
▪ Shrink when dry out
▪ These seasonal effects are termed
shrinkage and swelling
▪ Subsidence is based upon such
shrinkage and swelling of clays under
foundations
b. Freezing and Thawing/Melting
▪ Water expands when frozen and
literally pushes the soil apart, breaking
it down
▪ When ice thaws the soil can slump back
again
▪ The overall process is rather like a very
slow ‘churning’
▪ Freeze-thawing can literally grind
mountains down over time
c. Heating and Cooling
▪ Extremes of temperature can cause the
soil to expand and contract
▪ The effect is less pronounced than that
of freezing and thawing but over time
this can become significant
d. Grinding or Rubbing
▪ Grinding of particles against each other
leads to particle disintegration, most
obvious on the beach (evidence of
abrasion by water)
▪ Windblown dust and sand can also
water down rocks by abrasion
e. Unloading
▪ When pressure is placed upon soil,
glacier on soil, it becomes compressed
▪ When ice melts a huge weight is lifted
and the soils may react accordingly by
uplifting and expanding
SPECIFIC SOIL-FORMING PROCESSES
f. Organisms
▪ If plant roots can push through
concrete soil presents little obstacle
▪ Worm burrows their way
Chemical Weathering
● The process by which rocks are decomposed, dissolved
or loosened by chemical processes to form residual
materials
● Takes place in almost all types of rocks. Smaller rocks
are more susceptible. However, because they have a
greater amount of surface area
● Chemical weathering is much more common in locations
where there is a lot of water
● Biogeochemical weathering-
✔ Chemical weathering can be enhanced by
geological agents, such as the presence of
water and oxygen, as well as by biological
agents
Processes involved in Chemical weathering:
1) Hydration
⮚ Process where minerals in the rock absorb
water and expand, creating stress which
causes the disintegration of rocks
⮚ Softer, more stressed and more easily
decomposed mineral
2) Hydrolysis
⮚ Chemical reaction between the minerals in
the rock and hydrogen in rain water
⮚ Water molecules split H+ and OH-
components; H+ often replaces a cation from
the mineral structure
3) Carbonation
⮚ Dissolved carbon dioxide in rainwater or
moisture in surrounding air forms carbonic
acid and reacts with minerals in the rock
⮚ This process weakens the rock thus breaking
it down in the process
4) Dissolution
⮚ Process by which minerals in the rocks
dissolve directly in water
⮚ When the rocks dissolve, become ions in
solution in the water and are carried away
with it
5) Oxidation
⮚ Takes place when oxygen combines with
other elements in rocks to from new types of
rock
⮚ These new substances are usually much
softer, and thus easier for other forces to
break apart
⮚ Change in rock color is an indication of
oxidation. rust
1) Laterization
⮚ Occurs in the hot, rainy tropics where
chemical weathering proceeds at a rapid rate
2) Calcification
⮚ Process of precipitation and accumulation of
calcium in some part of the profile
⮚ The B horizon of the soil is enriched with
calcium carbonate precipitated from water
moving downward through the soil, or
upward by capillary action from below
⮚ Occurs in warm, semi-arid environments,
usually under grassland vegetation
3) Salinization
⮚ The accumulation of salts, such as sulphates
and chlorides of calcium, magnesium, sodium
and potassium, in soils in the form of a salty
horizon
⮚ Quite common in arid and semi-arid regions
4) Podzolization
⮚ Process of soil formation resulting in the
formation of podzols
⮚ Podzol- a leached soil formed mainly in cool
humid climates
⮚ Is the opposite of the calcification, since
calcification tends to concentrate calcium in
the lower part of B horizon, whereas
podzolization leaches the entire solum of
calcium carbonates
⮚ This process creates a sub-layer in the A
horizon that is white to gray in color and
composed of silica sand
⮚ Occurs in cool and moist climates under pine
forests
5) Gleization
⮚ Process of soil formation resulting in the
development of a gley horizon in the lower
part of the soil profile above the parent
material due to poor drainage condition
⮚ Accumulation of organic matter in the upper
layers of the soil
⮚ In lower horizons, mineral layers are stained
blue-gray because of the chemical reduction
of iron
SOIL FORMING FACTORS
● Soils are natural expressions of the environment in which
they were formed
● The conditions that are present during soil formation
ultimately determine how much and what kind of nutrients
the soil can naturally supply and hold
● Soil development is influenced by the climate, topography on
which soils occur, the plant and animal life which they
support and the amount of time which they have been
exposed to these conditions
● Soil fertility is greatly influenced by the factors of soil
formation
 ● Soil scientists recognize five major factors that influence soil
formation
o Parent material
o Climate
o Living organisms
o Topography
o Time
● Man is considered as the 6th factor of soil formation
● The combined influence of these soil-forming factor as
determines the properties of a soil and their degree of
expression
A. Parent Material
o The unconsolidated and more/less chemically
weathered mineral or organic matter from which
the solum of soils is developed by pedogenic
processes
o Initial state of the soil system
o The nature / type of the parent material influences
the soil characteristics and the minerals that will
predominate in the soil
o PRIMARY MINERALS- minerals that have not been
altered chemically since deposition and
crystallization from molten lava
o SECONDARY MINERALS- minerals resulting from
the decomposition of a primary mineral/ from the
re-precipitation of the products of decomposition
of a primary mineral
o Calcareous (limestone)
✔ High calcium content; alkaline
o Primary minerals; resistant to weathering
✔ Coarse-textured; soil with K content
o Secondary minerals
✔ Fine textured
Types of parent material:
Residual or sedentary
a. Experience long and intense weathering
b. The landscape should have been stable for a sufficient
period of time for weathering to occur
c. Developed in place (in situ) from the underlying
consolidated rock
The consolidated rocks consists of igneous, sedimentary and
Transported
metamorphic rocks
a) Igneous rocks
❖ Cooled molten lava that originated from
within the earth
❖ Most abundant class of rock in the earth’s
crust
❖ Either extrusive or intrusive
Extrusive- comprised of small crystals that
cool rapidly on the earth’s surface; often
associated with volcanic activity- basalt
Intrusive- large crystals that slowly cool
within the crust of the earth; also called
plutonic rocks- granite
b) Sedimentary rocks
❖ Most abundant group of rocks on the earth’s
surface
❖ Formed by the accumulation and subsequent
consolidation of sediments into various types
of rock
❖ Unconsolidated material and have different
origins
❖ Origins of these sediments is the weathering,
erosion and/or the chemical breakdown of
other rocks
❖ These other rocks could be igneous,
metamorphic or even other sedimentary
rocks
❖ Principal sedimentary rocks: sandstone,
shale, limestone
❖ Breaks into thin flat pieces
❖ Made up of sand size weathering debris
❖ Can form originally from the accumulation of
the shell, coral, algal and fecal debris
❖ Can also from chemically from the
precipitation of calcium carbonate from lake
or ocean water
c) Metamorphic Rocks
❖ Rocks generally altered from their previous
condition through the combined action of
heat and pressure, usually while buried deep
below earth’s surface
❖ Exposure to these extreme conditions has
altered the mineralogy, texture and chemical
composition of the rocks
❖ Marble- Produced from the metamorphism
of limestone and composed primarily of
calcium carbonate
❖ Slate- formed through the metamorphism of
shale, low grade rock that splits into thin
pieces
❖ Quartzite- metamorphism of sandstone and
composed primarily of quartz
a. Loose sediments or surficial materials, that have been
transported and deposited by gravity, wind, water or ice
● Weathering products of rocks that are not
cemented or consolidated
b. Materials are classified on the basis of the agents
responsible for their movement and deposition
a) Water transported
Alluvium
▪ Fast moving water deposits large stones
and gravel while slow moving deposits
sands and silts
▪ Parent material that deposited by
moving water in rivers or close to river
banks are called alluvium
▪ Alluvial deposits that occur where the
stream frequently floods over them are
called flood plains
▪ Central plains of Luzon
Lacustrine
▪ Water transported
▪ Parent material carried by water and
deposited in lakes
▪ Coarser sediments are deposited in
shallow water areas of lakes while finer
are deposited in deeper water areas of
lakes
Marine
▪ Parent material carried by water and
accumulating in oceans
▪ Waves pounding against coastal rocks
also contribute rock particles and
sediments being carried towards the
sea
b) Wind transported
Aeolian deposits
▪ composed primarily of sand-size
particles; materials are the main
component of sand dunes; carried for
relatively short distances
Loess-
▪ consists of silt-size particles; carried
longer distances
Volcanic Ash
▪ ash from volcanoes
c) Colluvial deposits
▪ Colluvium
▪ Materials that move downslope by
force of gravity and/or erosion and
collect at the base of mountains or
foothills with little or no sorting
▪ Soils tend to be coarse and stony
d) Glacial/drift
▪ Sediment deposited directly by glacial
ice or moving ice sheet
▪ Since it is transported with liquid water,
the material is not sorted by size
Cumulose
● Organic deposits that have been developed in place
from plant residues or animal region and have been
preserved by a high-water table
● These deposits are widespread and not restricted to any
climatic zone
● Peat- undecomposed or slightly decomposed organic
B. Climate
▪ Generally considered the most important factor
influencing physical and chemical weathering
processes; interacts with all other soil formation
factors
▪ Primary forces of climate are precipitation and
temperature
a) Precipitation/rainfall
▪ Rainfall intensity and distribution greatly
influences the extent of soil weathering
▪ Rainfall causes leaching. Rain dissolves some
minerals such as carbonates and transport
them deeper into the soil; it can be acid also
▪ Soils that are in a predominantly moist
environment tent to be highly weathered
▪ In general, areas with more rainfall will have
greater weathering and greater leaching
b) Temperature
▪ As the mean annual soil temperature
increases, the weathering of rocks and
minerals in the soil will be faster
▪ For every 10oC rise in temperature, the rate
of biochemical reactions doubles
▪ Warm, moist climates encourage rapid plant
growth and thus high OM production
▪ OM decomposition is also accelerated in
warm, moist climate. The opposite is true for
cold, dry climates
▪ Therefore, in the warm, wet climates of the
tropics, it is typical to have a well-developed,
highly weathered soils
C. Organisms/ Vegetation/Biota
▪ The biotic factor includes both plants and animals
▪ How do plants help in soil formation?
✔ Plants fix atmospheric carbon and add
it to the soil
✔ OM is added to the soil surface by plant
tops and to the subsurface by roots
✔ Grass roots near the soil surface are
fibrous and easily decompose, adding
OM
✔ Taproots open pathways through dense
layers that allow greater water
movement, which in turn aids in
leaching (forests)Root exudates and the
sloughing of cells push through the soil
are sources of nutrients and energy for
the soil microorganisms
✔ Leaves drop to the ground
✔ Cations and anions are added to water
when it is intercepted by above-ground
vegetation (crown drip)
✔ Soil animals create pores and structures
as they work their way through the soil
✔ Leaves, twigs and bark from plants fall ▪ The process and products are very different from
onto the soil and are broken down by natural soils
fungi, bacteria, insects, earthworms i. Large scale- golf courses
and burrowing animals ii. Small scale- potting soils for indoor and
✔ Organisms not only decompose organic outer plants
materials; they also mix them with the
upper part of the soil (bioturbation)
✔ Microscopic organisms and the humus
they produce act as a kind of glue to
hold soil particles together in
aggregates
D. Topography
▪ Refers to the shape or contour of the land surface
▪ May also describe the orientation of the land with
respect to the direction of the sun, or it may
describe depressions and elevations of the land
As a soil-forming factor, it is related to:
a. Soils position in the landscape
- some soils occur on the summit of a hill,
some on the shoulder, some on the
backslope and some on the footslope
b. Depth of the water table in relation to slope
position
- as the water goes up closer to the soil-
surface, drainage becomes poor to very
poorly-drained
c. Slope angle and slope length
- as slope becomes steeper, erosion
increases and soil development
decreases
d. Slope aspect
- Direction a slope faces
- North-facing slope where temperature
is limiting to development, soils are
shallower
E. Time
▪ Age of the soil can be reckoned when the parent
material is first deposited and the land surface
become stable
▪ The starting point of soil genesis is when plants
first grow on the fresh parent material
▪ Soil formation rates are too slow to measure
directly, and so ages must be
determined/estimated indirectly of with some
assumptions:
i. Soil formation occurs at a constant rate
ii. Soil thickness is the major indication of
age
iii. The major processes of soil formation
act uniformly over-time
F. People
▪ Human population have directly or indirectly
created soils
▪ When natural soils are not suitable, people create
or extensively modify soils to suit their needs