SOIL

WHAT IS GOING TO STUDY?

SOIL
 Definition
 Factors influencing soil formation
 Soil profile
 Classification of soil based on size
 SOIL
 Soil is the thin top layer on the
earth’s crust comprising rock particles
mixed with organic matter.
 Pedology is the study of soil
 Pedogenesis is the natural process of
soil formation
 The soil is formed by the breaking
down of rocks by the action of wind,
water and climate.
FACTORS EFFECTIG SOIL
FORMATION
 Parent rock material
 Surface relief
 Climate
 Natural vegetation
 Time
 A vertical section through different
layers of the soil is called the soil
profile.
 Each layer differs in feel (texture),
colour, depth and chemical
composition.
O HORIZON
 Layers dominated by organic
material.
 Some O layers consist of
undecomposed or partially
decomposed litter (such as leaves,
needles, twigs, moss, and
lichens).
A HORIZON OR SURFACE
SOIL
 It is the part of top soil.
 In this layer, organic matter is mixed
with mineral matter.
 It is the layer of mineral soil with the
most organic matter accumulation
and soil life.
 This layer is depleted of iron, clay,
aluminum, organic compounds, and
other soluble constituents.
E HORIZON
 “E” stands for eluviated layer.
 It is the horizon that has been
significantly leached of clay, iron,
and aluminum oxides, which leaves
a concentration of resistant
minerals, such as quartz, in the sand
and silt sizes.
 These are present only in older, well-
developed soils, and generally occur
between the A and B horizons.
B HORIZON OR SUBSOIL
 It is subsurface layer reflecting
chemical or physical alteration of
parent material.
 This layer accumulates all the
leached minerals from A and E
horizon.
 Thus iron, clay, aluminum and
organic compounds accumulate
in this horizon [illuviation]
C HORIZON OR PARENT ROCK
 Weathered parent material
accumulates in this layer, i.e. the
parent material in sedimentary
deposits.
 It is a layer of large unbroken rocks.
R HORIZON OR BEDROCK
 This layer denotes the layer of
partially weathered bedrock at the
base of the soil profile.
 Unlike the above layers, R
horizons largely comprise
continuous masses of hard rock.
 Soils formed in situ will exhibit
strong similarities to this bedrock
layer.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL BASED ON
IT’S SIZE
 The soil is classified on the basis of the
proportion of particles of various sizes.
 If soil contains greater proportion of big
particles it is called sandy soil.
 If the proportion of fine particles is
relatively higher, then it is called clayey
soil.
 If the amount of large and fine particles
is about the same, then the soil is called
loamy soil
THAK YOU